https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/fake-relationship-stories--7190042
Each story follows the emotional mechanics behind false relationships, romance scams, catfishing, and calculated betrayal without turning heartbreak into spectacle. The focus is on how trust is created, how warning signs become easier to dismiss, and what happens when the truth finally breaks through. Sometimes the hardest part is not discovering that someone lied—it is realizing how convincingly they made the relationship feel real.]]>enRelationships© 2026 OBOMEDIA Creatorshttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/0a01d51a2a6f4cddb1b9e0eec401e0a1.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/fake-relationship-stories--7190042Sun, 25 Oct 2026 13:00:53 +0000Creator at ObomediaCreator at Obomediacreators@obomedia.comWhat if the person saying all the right things never meant any of them? Fake relationship stories explores romances built on deception, hidden motives, and identities carefully shaped to earn trust. What begins as affection can slowly become...
Each story follows the emotional mechanics behind false relationships, romance scams, catfishing, and calculated betrayal without turning heartbreak into spectacle. The focus is on how trust is created, how warning signs become easier to dismiss, and what happens when the truth finally breaks through. Sometimes the hardest part is not discovering that someone lied—it is realizing how convincingly they made the relationship feel real.]]>false19100c06-2ca9-5e8b-b170-f036e9198745episodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-badge-in-the-creek-how-a-un-peacekeeper-never-existed--73099032
A laminated credential bearing the name "WALKER, R." emerges from Sallow Creek in eastern New Mexico on a January morning, pristine despite months underwater. The face on the badge belongs to a man named Stuart Albright, a retired civil engineer in Flagstaff who has never heard of Roger Walker. How did a constructed identity built from stolen photographs pull two women into a grief they did not expect, and what did a four-minute video call reveal that unraveled everything?

In this episode, we follow the architecture of a romance fraud operation that researched its victims for over two years, using stolen CD maturity dates and a shell vendor account to engineer crises that arrived in perfect synchronization with Susan Jones's available funds. We examine the wire transfers, the deepfake video, and the moment a claims investigator ran a reverse image search that exposed a civilian's face being used to build a lie.

Person: Susan Jones
Perpetrator: Emeka Adeyemi
Location: Broken Bow Ranch, Harlan County, New Mexico
Amount stolen: approximately $62,000 from Susan Jones; $62,000 from Barbara Novak
Event: Romance fraud via constructed "Roger Walker" identity
Sentence: eleven years federal prison

- Susan Jones's husband Dale died of a cardiac event in March 2017; he had structured six staggered certificates of deposit at Kellner Savings and Loan.
- Roger Walker's friend request arrived in early June 2018, claiming to be a UN peacekeeper deployed to Mali.
- A laminated UN credential bearing the name WALKER, R. was mailed to Broken Bow Ranch in September 2018 with deployment orders on UN letterhead.
- The first wire transfer of $4,000 left Kellner Savings and Loan in late November 2018, each subsequent transfer timed precisely to CD maturity dates across months.
- Investigators traced the shell vendor account used for wire transfers to Emeka Adeyemi in Houston; the account had been dormant since targeting Barbara Novak between 2016 and 2017.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099032Mon, 26 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe badge in the creek: how a UN peacekeeper never existed A laminated credential bearing the name "WALKER, R." emerges from Sallow Creek in eastern New Mexico on a January morning, pristine despite months underwater. The face on the badge belongs...
A laminated credential bearing the name "WALKER, R." emerges from Sallow Creek in eastern New Mexico on a January morning, pristine despite months underwater. The face on the badge belongs to a man named Stuart Albright, a retired civil engineer in Flagstaff who has never heard of Roger Walker. How did a constructed identity built from stolen photographs pull two women into a grief they did not expect, and what did a four-minute video call reveal that unraveled everything?

In this episode, we follow the architecture of a romance fraud operation that researched its victims for over two years, using stolen CD maturity dates and a shell vendor account to engineer crises that arrived in perfect synchronization with Susan Jones's available funds. We examine the wire transfers, the deepfake video, and the moment a claims investigator ran a reverse image search that exposed a civilian's face being used to build a lie.

Person: Susan Jones
Perpetrator: Emeka Adeyemi
Location: Broken Bow Ranch, Harlan County, New Mexico
Amount stolen: approximately $62,000 from Susan Jones; $62,000 from Barbara Novak
Event: Romance fraud via constructed "Roger Walker" identity
Sentence: eleven years federal prison

- Susan Jones's husband Dale died of a cardiac event in March 2017; he had structured six staggered certificates of deposit at Kellner Savings and Loan.
- Roger Walker's friend request arrived in early June 2018, claiming to be a UN peacekeeper deployed to Mali.
- A laminated UN credential bearing the name WALKER, R. was mailed to Broken Bow Ranch in September 2018 with deployment orders on UN letterhead.
- The first wire transfer of $4,000 left Kellner Savings and Loan in late November 2018, each subsequent transfer timed precisely to CD maturity dates across months.
- Investigators traced the shell vendor account used for wire transfers to Emeka Adeyemi in Houston; the account had been dormant since targeting Barbara Novak between 2016 and 2017.

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.]]>1201falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-missing-knight-how-one-chess-piece-undid-a-romance-scammer--73099031
On December fourteenth, a county surveyor named Judith Stroud found a black lacquered chess piece in a frozen drainage culvert along Colbert Road. Two miles away, Angela Richardson was sitting at her grandmother's dinner table, unaware that two thousand two hundred dollars had already left her bank account. How did a small wooden object discarded in the winter dark become the evidence that tied together a carefully constructed double life?

In this episode, we trace the eleven-week romance between a twenty-two-year-old reception desk worker and a man claiming to be a civil engineer in Scotland-a man who was actually forty-one-year-old Randy Christensen living in a rented duplex twenty-six miles away. We follow the IP logs, the routing numbers, the deleted text message reading "took care of the set, will explain," and the moment Christensen realized the chess piece he threw away had already been found.

Person: Angela Richardson
Person: Randy Christensen
Perpetrator: Randy Christensen, age 41
Amount stolen: $2,200
Location: Sycamore Township, Millhaven
Event: Arrest warrant executed December 28

- Angela Richardson transferred $800 on December 3rd and $1,400 on December 9th to an escrow account that did not exist.
- Randy Christensen created a fake profile using photographs stolen from Brian Kowalski, a real civil engineer in Tulsa, whom Kowalski had reported three months before Angela received the first message.
- Judith Stroud found a black lacquered knight in a drainage culvert thirty meters from Christensen's rented duplex carport on December 14th.
- On December 27th, Christensen discarded one knight from his regulation chess set; forensic analysis confirmed the recovered piece matched the empty slot in his carrying case.
- Christensen was convicted on four counts in April after deliberating less than four hours; he received a six-year federal sentence.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099031Sun, 25 Oct 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe missing knight: how one chess piece undid a romance scammer On December fourteenth, a county surveyor named Judith Stroud found a black lacquered chess piece in a frozen drainage culvert along Colbert Road. Two miles away, Angela Richardson was...
On December fourteenth, a county surveyor named Judith Stroud found a black lacquered chess piece in a frozen drainage culvert along Colbert Road. Two miles away, Angela Richardson was sitting at her grandmother's dinner table, unaware that two thousand two hundred dollars had already left her bank account. How did a small wooden object discarded in the winter dark become the evidence that tied together a carefully constructed double life?

In this episode, we trace the eleven-week romance between a twenty-two-year-old reception desk worker and a man claiming to be a civil engineer in Scotland-a man who was actually forty-one-year-old Randy Christensen living in a rented duplex twenty-six miles away. We follow the IP logs, the routing numbers, the deleted text message reading "took care of the set, will explain," and the moment Christensen realized the chess piece he threw away had already been found.

Person: Angela Richardson
Person: Randy Christensen
Perpetrator: Randy Christensen, age 41
Amount stolen: $2,200
Location: Sycamore Township, Millhaven
Event: Arrest warrant executed December 28

- Angela Richardson transferred $800 on December 3rd and $1,400 on December 9th to an escrow account that did not exist.
- Randy Christensen created a fake profile using photographs stolen from Brian Kowalski, a real civil engineer in Tulsa, whom Kowalski had reported three months before Angela received the first message.
- Judith Stroud found a black lacquered knight in a drainage culvert thirty meters from Christensen's rented duplex carport on December 14th.
- On December 27th, Christensen discarded one knight from his regulation chess set; forensic analysis confirmed the recovered piece matched the empty slot in his carrying case.
- Christensen was convicted on four counts in April after deliberating less than four hours; he received a six-year federal sentence.

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.]]>1290falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-blue-bin-how-a-fake-teacher-stole-from-her-walk--73099028
In this episode, we follow the discovery of the blue bin behind a concrete footer, the spiral notebook filled with women's names and dollar amounts, and the forensic moment when Detective Melvin Anderson asked Paula a single question that rewrote her understanding of intimacy and proximity. We trace how Kenneth Prouse built his infrastructure inside communities of grief and survival, how Stephen Norris's stolen face circulated for fourteen months after an FTC report no one acted on, and why the margin between Paula's second and third payment mattered more than any conviction.

Person: Paula Chambers
Perpetrator: Kenneth Prouse, age 49
Location: Harlan County; Sutter Mill Road rental property
Amount stolen: $2,200
Event: Discovery of blue storage bin in crawl space
Victim: Also used image of Stephen Norris, retired teacher in Flagstaff, Arizona

- Paula Chambers, age 38, had been in remission from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for three years and walked a two-mile route past a blue grain elevator near Route 15 every morning.
- Russell Long, a profile on Beyond the Bell with approximately 400 members, claimed to be a retired widowed teacher in Flagstaff, Arizona; he communicated only through voice messages, never live phone calls.
- Kimberly Phillips, a well-service contractor, discovered a pale blue locked storage container sealed with electrical tape in a crawl space on Sutter Mill Road on a morning when the temperature was thirty-one degrees.
- The container held 43 printed photographs of Stephen Norris (a real retired teacher in Arizona), a prepaid debit card, and a spiral notebook with columns of dates, dollar amounts, and women's first names.
- Kenneth Prouse rented the Sutter Mill Road property for nine months under the name R. Lonigan, paid with money orders, and drove a gray Chevrolet Equinox registered to a third alias; he was arrested six days after Detective Anderson's call and accepted a plea for wire fraud, identity theft, and two counts of theft by deception, receiving six 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099028Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe blue bin: how a fake teacher stole from her walk In this episode, we follow the discovery of the blue bin behind a concrete footer, the spiral notebook filled with women's names and dollar amounts, and the forensic moment when Detective Melvin...
In this episode, we follow the discovery of the blue bin behind a concrete footer, the spiral notebook filled with women's names and dollar amounts, and the forensic moment when Detective Melvin Anderson asked Paula a single question that rewrote her understanding of intimacy and proximity. We trace how Kenneth Prouse built his infrastructure inside communities of grief and survival, how Stephen Norris's stolen face circulated for fourteen months after an FTC report no one acted on, and why the margin between Paula's second and third payment mattered more than any conviction.

Person: Paula Chambers
Perpetrator: Kenneth Prouse, age 49
Location: Harlan County; Sutter Mill Road rental property
Amount stolen: $2,200
Event: Discovery of blue storage bin in crawl space
Victim: Also used image of Stephen Norris, retired teacher in Flagstaff, Arizona

- Paula Chambers, age 38, had been in remission from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for three years and walked a two-mile route past a blue grain elevator near Route 15 every morning.
- Russell Long, a profile on Beyond the Bell with approximately 400 members, claimed to be a retired widowed teacher in Flagstaff, Arizona; he communicated only through voice messages, never live phone calls.
- Kimberly Phillips, a well-service contractor, discovered a pale blue locked storage container sealed with electrical tape in a crawl space on Sutter Mill Road on a morning when the temperature was thirty-one degrees.
- The container held 43 printed photographs of Stephen Norris (a real retired teacher in Arizona), a prepaid debit card, and a spiral notebook with columns of dates, dollar amounts, and women's first names.
- Kenneth Prouse rented the Sutter Mill Road property for nine months under the name R. Lonigan, paid with money orders, and drove a gray Chevrolet Equinox registered to a third alias; he was arrested six days after Detective Anderson's call and accepted a plea for wire fraud, identity theft, and two counts of theft by deception, receiving six 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.]]>1377falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-letters-under-the-oak-tree-how-a-pen-pal-wasn-t-real--73099027
A birdwatcher found forty-three opened letters stacked under a white oak tree outside Galton, North Carolina, weighted down with a creek stone. Alice Chambers had spent two years writing to Paul Carlson, a refugee in a Greek transit camp, sharing her love of literature and her quiet retirement life. But Paul had never read a single word she sent.

In this episode, we trace how a carefully constructed literary romance was engineered months before the first letter arrived, revealing nine forged postmarks hidden beneath foreign stamps and a ledger that reduced two years of correspondence to operational shorthand. We follow the reverse-image search that exposed the real face, the man who appeared at Alice's door asking her to sign paperwork, and the ghostwriter whose words Alice kept in a box-a voice that was never actually anyone's.

Person: Alice Chambers
Location: Galton, North Carolina
Event: Romance scam via pen-pal letters
Perpetrator: Bruce Yoder, age 49
Date: 2019-2021
Amount: Four to eight thousand dollars (estimated; no transfer completed)

- Alice Chambers, 62, received 43 letters over two years from a pen pal named Paul Carlson in a Greek refugee camp.
- Nine of the 43 letters bore domestic cancellation marks from Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina, hidden under foreign stamps.
- Paul's photograph belonged to a real comparative literature professor at a university in Accra, Ghana, who had never heard of Alice Chambers.
- A spiral-bound ledger found in Bruce Yoder's storage unit in Concord, North Carolina listed Alice on page 23 as "lit angle, slow build, package play, est, yield four to eight thousand."
- Bruce Yoder was arrested six days after appearing at Alice's door requesting her signature on fraudulent paperwork; he carried a prior federal wire fraud conviction from Florida.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099027Fri, 23 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe letters under the oak tree: how a pen pal wasn't real A birdwatcher found forty-three opened letters stacked under a white oak tree outside Galton, North Carolina, weighted down with a creek stone. Alice Chambers had spent two years writing to...
A birdwatcher found forty-three opened letters stacked under a white oak tree outside Galton, North Carolina, weighted down with a creek stone. Alice Chambers had spent two years writing to Paul Carlson, a refugee in a Greek transit camp, sharing her love of literature and her quiet retirement life. But Paul had never read a single word she sent.

In this episode, we trace how a carefully constructed literary romance was engineered months before the first letter arrived, revealing nine forged postmarks hidden beneath foreign stamps and a ledger that reduced two years of correspondence to operational shorthand. We follow the reverse-image search that exposed the real face, the man who appeared at Alice's door asking her to sign paperwork, and the ghostwriter whose words Alice kept in a box-a voice that was never actually anyone's.

Person: Alice Chambers
Location: Galton, North Carolina
Event: Romance scam via pen-pal letters
Perpetrator: Bruce Yoder, age 49
Date: 2019-2021
Amount: Four to eight thousand dollars (estimated; no transfer completed)

- Alice Chambers, 62, received 43 letters over two years from a pen pal named Paul Carlson in a Greek refugee camp.
- Nine of the 43 letters bore domestic cancellation marks from Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina, hidden under foreign stamps.
- Paul's photograph belonged to a real comparative literature professor at a university in Accra, Ghana, who had never heard of Alice Chambers.
- A spiral-bound ledger found in Bruce Yoder's storage unit in Concord, North Carolina listed Alice on page 23 as "lit angle, slow build, package play, est, yield four to eight thousand."
- Bruce Yoder was arrested six days after appearing at Alice's door requesting her signature on fraudulent paperwork; he carried a prior federal wire fraud conviction from Florida.

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.]]>1403falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-envelope-he-mailed-to-himself--73099025
A fourteen-year-old mail carrier named Leon Price found something impossible in an outgoing mail flag on September fourth: a self-addressed envelope in the sender's own handwriting, containing a cashier's check drawn on his own account. How did Kent Baker, a careful twenty-four-year-old bookkeeper in Millhaven, Ohio, end up mailing money to himself without remembering doing it?

In this episode, we trace eight weeks of late-night messages from a man claiming to be Ronald Jensen, a deaf architect in Edinburgh, who used Kent's own sister's deafness as the key to his trust. We reveal how the targeting preceded the connection, how a single notation in Jensen's case file read "deaf angle - strong resonance," and how the same method had claimed another victim eight years earlier in Dayton, Ohio, before that case went cold.

Person: Kent Baker
Victim: Kent Baker, age 24, bookkeeper
Perpetrator: Jensen (also used the name Ronald Jensen)
Location: Millhaven, Ohio
Amount stolen: Seven thousand dollars
Date: July through September

- Kent Baker worked as a bookkeeper at Archer Logistics and visited Fenner's Diner every Thursday morning at seven-fifteen sharp for a short stack and black coffee.
- A dating app profile appeared in early July showing a man named Ronald Jensen, forty-one, claiming to be a deaf architect in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- On August twenty-ninth, Jensen requested four thousand dollars citing an emergency; Kent wired it on August thirtieth and three thousand more on September third.
- On September fourth at seven forty-two in the morning, Kent received a long message describing Jensen's fictional childhood of deafness; he mailed a self-addressed envelope containing a larger cashier's check before leaving for work.
- Eight years earlier in Dayton, Ohio, a man named Robert Gaines had been defrauded of more than thirty thousand dollars using the same method; he died by suicide before the case resolved, and DNA evidence later matched Jensen to that case.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099025Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe envelope he mailed to himself A fourteen-year-old mail carrier named Leon Price found something impossible in an outgoing mail flag on September fourth: a self-addressed envelope in the sender's own handwriting, containing a cashier's check...
A fourteen-year-old mail carrier named Leon Price found something impossible in an outgoing mail flag on September fourth: a self-addressed envelope in the sender's own handwriting, containing a cashier's check drawn on his own account. How did Kent Baker, a careful twenty-four-year-old bookkeeper in Millhaven, Ohio, end up mailing money to himself without remembering doing it?

In this episode, we trace eight weeks of late-night messages from a man claiming to be Ronald Jensen, a deaf architect in Edinburgh, who used Kent's own sister's deafness as the key to his trust. We reveal how the targeting preceded the connection, how a single notation in Jensen's case file read "deaf angle - strong resonance," and how the same method had claimed another victim eight years earlier in Dayton, Ohio, before that case went cold.

Person: Kent Baker
Victim: Kent Baker, age 24, bookkeeper
Perpetrator: Jensen (also used the name Ronald Jensen)
Location: Millhaven, Ohio
Amount stolen: Seven thousand dollars
Date: July through September

- Kent Baker worked as a bookkeeper at Archer Logistics and visited Fenner's Diner every Thursday morning at seven-fifteen sharp for a short stack and black coffee.
- A dating app profile appeared in early July showing a man named Ronald Jensen, forty-one, claiming to be a deaf architect in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- On August twenty-ninth, Jensen requested four thousand dollars citing an emergency; Kent wired it on August thirtieth and three thousand more on September third.
- On September fourth at seven forty-two in the morning, Kent received a long message describing Jensen's fictional childhood of deafness; he mailed a self-addressed envelope containing a larger cashier's check before leaving for work.
- Eight years earlier in Dayton, Ohio, a man named Robert Gaines had been defrauded of more than thirty thousand dollars using the same method; he died by suicide before the case resolved, and DNA evidence later matched Jensen to that case.

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.]]>1460falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-badge-in-the-gravel-how-a-photograph-became-a-key--73099023
In this episode, we follow the evidence chain from the photograph Debra sent Marcus on August third to the laminated badge that appeared eleven days later, and the magnetic key box pressed against her gas meter. We trace how Jennifer Russo, running a nonprofit teaching financial literacy, used a licensed reverse-image search tool to identify the stolen photographs of Derek Storey, a football coach in Tallahassee whose image became "Marcus Webb." We examine the spreadsheets found in the second storage unit listing nine women across multiple states, each assigned a column for contact date, cumulative transfer amount, and current stage of the script-and ask why Bruce Bowers stored his real name on the lease that led investigators straight to him.

Person: Debra Jones
Perpetrator: Bruce Bowers, age 44
Event: Romance fraud and planned home invasion, August 2024
Location: Hargrove, North Carolina
Amount stolen: $9,400
Victims identified: 9 women

- Debra Jones, 49, worked as billing coordinator at a dental practice and co-organized the board game club at Hargrove Public Library for four years.
- Marcus Webb's profile appeared in early April; by late May, Debra had sent $1,100, then additional payments totaling $9,400 by the end of June.
- Derek Storey, a football coach in Tallahassee, Florida, had his Instagram photographs stolen; both images were taken in the same parking lot wearing a dark green shirt.
- Bruce Bowers used a fake Piedmont Gas and Electric badge identifying himself as Travis Kemp and placed a magnetic key box containing a copied house key on Debra's gas meter on July 23rd.
- Investigators discovered two storage units: one with a laminator, blank ID cards, service uniforms, and the badge with Debra's photograph; a second in Cumberland County containing spreadsheets listing nine women with contact dates, transfer amounts, and script stages.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099023Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe badge in the gravel: how a photograph became a key In this episode, we follow the evidence chain from the photograph Debra sent Marcus on August third to the laminated badge that appeared eleven days later, and the magnetic key box pressed...
In this episode, we follow the evidence chain from the photograph Debra sent Marcus on August third to the laminated badge that appeared eleven days later, and the magnetic key box pressed against her gas meter. We trace how Jennifer Russo, running a nonprofit teaching financial literacy, used a licensed reverse-image search tool to identify the stolen photographs of Derek Storey, a football coach in Tallahassee whose image became "Marcus Webb." We examine the spreadsheets found in the second storage unit listing nine women across multiple states, each assigned a column for contact date, cumulative transfer amount, and current stage of the script-and ask why Bruce Bowers stored his real name on the lease that led investigators straight to him.

Person: Debra Jones
Perpetrator: Bruce Bowers, age 44
Event: Romance fraud and planned home invasion, August 2024
Location: Hargrove, North Carolina
Amount stolen: $9,400
Victims identified: 9 women

- Debra Jones, 49, worked as billing coordinator at a dental practice and co-organized the board game club at Hargrove Public Library for four years.
- Marcus Webb's profile appeared in early April; by late May, Debra had sent $1,100, then additional payments totaling $9,400 by the end of June.
- Derek Storey, a football coach in Tallahassee, Florida, had his Instagram photographs stolen; both images were taken in the same parking lot wearing a dark green shirt.
- Bruce Bowers used a fake Piedmont Gas and Electric badge identifying himself as Travis Kemp and placed a magnetic key box containing a copied house key on Debra's gas meter on July 23rd.
- Investigators discovered two storage units: one with a laminator, blank ID cards, service uniforms, and the badge with Debra's photograph; a second in Cumberland County containing spreadsheets listing nine women with contact dates, transfer amounts, and script stages.

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.]]>1312falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-on-the-pole-how-a-grief-forum-became-a-trap--73099022
A laminated picture wedged into utility hardware, custom-cut corners worn smooth from months in a pocket, a routing number inked on the back-found six miles from where Rachel Zimmerman lived. How did a photograph she posted to a members-only grief forum end up on a rural utility pole, and what did it reveal about the months of surveillance that preceded it?

In this episode, we trace Rachel's eighteen-month unbroken medication log for her diabetic beagle against the nine months she spent on daily calls with "Vernon," the false widower who quoted her own words about Brian's death back to her as proof of understanding. We follow the forty-eight thousand dollars that moved through a secret credit union account in eleven weeks, the cell tower records placing the same device at her apartment complex and at the pole on Carteret Road, and the moment she left Hector's seven o'clock injection undone to meet a man who did not exist.

Person: Rachel Zimmerman, dental hygienist, widow
Perpetrator: Vernon Hunter
Location: Orrville, North Carolina; Sayers County
Amount stolen: $48,000 from mutual fund inherited from Brian
Event: Photograph discovered on utility pole, July 16
Platform: Members-only grief forum

- Rachel posted a photograph to the grief forum in March showing herself and Hector with a caption about eighteen months without a missed insulin injection.
- Hunter used the stolen VOIP-connected phone number and posed as a forty-year-old widower named Vernon from Asheville with a daughter and yellow Lab.
- The first transfer was $4,000 in February; Rachel opened a secret credit union account in April and made two more transfers totaling $48,000 over eleven weeks.
- On July 9 at 6:22 p.m., Hunter entered Fairview Gardens apartment complex and questioned Joyce Pelletier about Rachel's family and work schedule before Joyce dead-bolted her door.
- The laminated photograph with routing number was discovered on Carteret Road at 8:10 a.m. on July 16 by utility lineman Amanda Russo; a partial thumbprint on the edge matched Hunter's left thumb.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099022Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:00:01 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph on the pole: how a grief forum became a trap A laminated picture wedged into utility hardware, custom-cut corners worn smooth from months in a pocket, a routing number inked on the back-found six miles from where Rachel Zimmerman...
A laminated picture wedged into utility hardware, custom-cut corners worn smooth from months in a pocket, a routing number inked on the back-found six miles from where Rachel Zimmerman lived. How did a photograph she posted to a members-only grief forum end up on a rural utility pole, and what did it reveal about the months of surveillance that preceded it?

In this episode, we trace Rachel's eighteen-month unbroken medication log for her diabetic beagle against the nine months she spent on daily calls with "Vernon," the false widower who quoted her own words about Brian's death back to her as proof of understanding. We follow the forty-eight thousand dollars that moved through a secret credit union account in eleven weeks, the cell tower records placing the same device at her apartment complex and at the pole on Carteret Road, and the moment she left Hector's seven o'clock injection undone to meet a man who did not exist.

Person: Rachel Zimmerman, dental hygienist, widow
Perpetrator: Vernon Hunter
Location: Orrville, North Carolina; Sayers County
Amount stolen: $48,000 from mutual fund inherited from Brian
Event: Photograph discovered on utility pole, July 16
Platform: Members-only grief forum

- Rachel posted a photograph to the grief forum in March showing herself and Hector with a caption about eighteen months without a missed insulin injection.
- Hunter used the stolen VOIP-connected phone number and posed as a forty-year-old widower named Vernon from Asheville with a daughter and yellow Lab.
- The first transfer was $4,000 in February; Rachel opened a secret credit union account in April and made two more transfers totaling $48,000 over eleven weeks.
- On July 9 at 6:22 p.m., Hunter entered Fairview Gardens apartment complex and questioned Joyce Pelletier about Rachel's family and work schedule before Joyce dead-bolted her door.
- The laminated photograph with routing number was discovered on Carteret Road at 8:10 a.m. on July 16 by utility lineman Amanda Russo; a partial thumbprint on the edge matched Hunter's left thumb.

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.]]>1309falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ring-on-the-stone-wall-how-he-returned-to-her-house--73099021
A navy velvet box sat on wet granite at six forty in the morning, dry only where it had rested. Inside: a diamond solitaire inscribed "Always yours, K" with a date from 2018-and a photograph of two unidentified faces. The woman who lived at that address had left Friday with her passport to meet someone. Why did the man who built that stone wall return to it in darkness, eleven years after construction, carrying a ring he claimed to have bought for her?

In this episode, we follow Marcia Wagner's fourteen-month romance with Kenneth Griffin, a fabricated civil engineer who called every Wednesday at 11:15 PM from a location he never disclosed. We trace the Akron postmark that should have ended everything, the $26,400 in wire transfers cleared through a Delaware shell company, and the moment Vicki Jenkins discovered the face in Griffin's profile belonged to Stephen Wurl, a retired Tennessee engineer who'd never met him. What was Griffin doing on that wall in June 2019, and why did Marcia agree to meet him six months after turning him in?

Person: Marcia Wagner
Location: 22 Birchwood Spur, Halverton, Ohio
Perpetrator: Kenneth Griffin (alias, using stolen identity of Stephen Wurl)
Amount stolen: $26,400
Event: Ring box found June 14, 2019
Conviction: March 2020, nine years

- Marcia created her dating profile in August 2017 and received Kenneth Griffin's message eight days later; they established Wednesday 11:15 PM calls by November 2017.
- Between May and July 2018, Marcia sent seven wire transfers totaling $26,400 through Greystone Project Consulting LLC, a Delaware shell company with no physical address or employees.
- A birthday card from Griffin arrived in late August 2018 postmarked Akron, Ohio-forty minutes from Halverton-while he claimed to be in Aberdeen, Scotland.
- A reverse image search identified Griffin's profile photograph as Stephen Wurl, a retired civil engineer from Knoxville, Tennessee, whose LinkedIn profile had been dormant since 2015.
- Griffin was arrested June 19, 2019, five days after the ring box was found; his rental closet contained a shoebox with a woman's watch, a handwritten letter, two empty ring boxes, and a laptop cataloguing seventeen active fraudulent profiles organized by victim name and amount extracted.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099021Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe ring on the stone wall: how he returned to her house A navy velvet box sat on wet granite at six forty in the morning, dry only where it had rested. Inside: a diamond solitaire inscribed "Always yours, K" with a date from 2018-and a photograph...
A navy velvet box sat on wet granite at six forty in the morning, dry only where it had rested. Inside: a diamond solitaire inscribed "Always yours, K" with a date from 2018-and a photograph of two unidentified faces. The woman who lived at that address had left Friday with her passport to meet someone. Why did the man who built that stone wall return to it in darkness, eleven years after construction, carrying a ring he claimed to have bought for her?

In this episode, we follow Marcia Wagner's fourteen-month romance with Kenneth Griffin, a fabricated civil engineer who called every Wednesday at 11:15 PM from a location he never disclosed. We trace the Akron postmark that should have ended everything, the $26,400 in wire transfers cleared through a Delaware shell company, and the moment Vicki Jenkins discovered the face in Griffin's profile belonged to Stephen Wurl, a retired Tennessee engineer who'd never met him. What was Griffin doing on that wall in June 2019, and why did Marcia agree to meet him six months after turning him in?

Person: Marcia Wagner
Location: 22 Birchwood Spur, Halverton, Ohio
Perpetrator: Kenneth Griffin (alias, using stolen identity of Stephen Wurl)
Amount stolen: $26,400
Event: Ring box found June 14, 2019
Conviction: March 2020, nine years

- Marcia created her dating profile in August 2017 and received Kenneth Griffin's message eight days later; they established Wednesday 11:15 PM calls by November 2017.
- Between May and July 2018, Marcia sent seven wire transfers totaling $26,400 through Greystone Project Consulting LLC, a Delaware shell company with no physical address or employees.
- A birthday card from Griffin arrived in late August 2018 postmarked Akron, Ohio-forty minutes from Halverton-while he claimed to be in Aberdeen, Scotland.
- A reverse image search identified Griffin's profile photograph as Stephen Wurl, a retired civil engineer from Knoxville, Tennessee, whose LinkedIn profile had been dormant since 2015.
- Griffin was arrested June 19, 2019, five days after the ring box was found; his rental closet contained a shoebox with a woman's watch, a handwritten letter, two empty ring boxes, and a laptop cataloguing seventeen active fraudulent profiles organized by victim name and amount extracted.

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.]]>1334falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-garden-he-built-how-a-man-staged-love-for-a-will--73099019
In this episode, we trace the architecture of constructed intimacy from a staged dead battery in a parking lot to a will signed in ninety minutes between choir rehearsal and a notary's office. We examine the false identity documents buried eighteen inches down in the east fence line, the $23,000 transferred in carefully timed phone calls, and the moment a meter reader noticed loose cedar planks where everything had always been kept tight.

Person: Rebecca Watson
Perpetrator: Gary Peterson (alias)
Location: Four Sycamore Terrace, Harwick Hills
Date range: June 2018 to May 2019
Amount stolen: $23,000
Verdic: Guilty on four counts; 14 years

- Gary Peterson staged a dead battery in a parking lot in June 2018, paying a tow truck driver $60 to appear as a favor for a friend.
- He spent eleven Saturdays in Rebecca's garden, arriving with gloves already on after she had mentioned the garden once in passing.
- Rebecca changed beneficiaries on two financial accounts in January 2019 with Gary in the house the night before paperwork was filed.
- The will was signed at 9:15 p.m. on April 9, 2019, twenty-two minutes after Rebecca left choir rehearsal at 8:45 p.m., naming Gary Peterson sole beneficiary.
- Investigators found two sets of identity documents buried eighteen inches down in a waterproof bag near the east fence line, with Gary's fingerprints on the bag interior and his DNA on the zipper.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099019Sun, 18 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe garden he built: how a man staged love for a will In this episode, we trace the architecture of constructed intimacy from a staged dead battery in a parking lot to a will signed in ninety minutes between choir rehearsal and a notary's office....
In this episode, we trace the architecture of constructed intimacy from a staged dead battery in a parking lot to a will signed in ninety minutes between choir rehearsal and a notary's office. We examine the false identity documents buried eighteen inches down in the east fence line, the $23,000 transferred in carefully timed phone calls, and the moment a meter reader noticed loose cedar planks where everything had always been kept tight.

Person: Rebecca Watson
Perpetrator: Gary Peterson (alias)
Location: Four Sycamore Terrace, Harwick Hills
Date range: June 2018 to May 2019
Amount stolen: $23,000
Verdic: Guilty on four counts; 14 years

- Gary Peterson staged a dead battery in a parking lot in June 2018, paying a tow truck driver $60 to appear as a favor for a friend.
- He spent eleven Saturdays in Rebecca's garden, arriving with gloves already on after she had mentioned the garden once in passing.
- Rebecca changed beneficiaries on two financial accounts in January 2019 with Gary in the house the night before paperwork was filed.
- The will was signed at 9:15 p.m. on April 9, 2019, twenty-two minutes after Rebecca left choir rehearsal at 8:45 p.m., naming Gary Peterson sole beneficiary.
- Investigators found two sets of identity documents buried eighteen inches down in a waterproof bag near the east fence line, with Gary's fingerprints on the bag interior and his DNA on the zipper.

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.]]>1299falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-watch-in-the-church-how-they-built-glenn-lane--73099013
A padded envelope sat in a church lost-and-found box for weeks before anyone opened it-inside, a Seiko watch with a scratched crystal and a handwritten note signed "G." It was never meant to arrive. Lauren Christensen believed she was building a relationship with a structural engineer named Glenn Lane over eight months of messages and calls. But the photographs were stolen, the voice belonged to a stranger, and the crises were scripted.

In this episode, we trace how a three-person operation in suburban Atlanta manufactured trust across three wire transfers totaling nine thousand seven hundred dollars, using a database of recycled scripts and prop kits mailed to freight forwarders. We follow the moment a social media manager looked at a photograph a beat too long, the DNA evidence found in a sealed envelope that connected this case to a victim two years earlier, and the question of how many other targets remain in the laptop archive that investigators recovered.

Person: Lauren Christensen
Location: Harlow, Indiana
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, Todd Mercer
Amount stolen: $9,700
Event: Romance scam via stolen identity, February-April 2022
Platform: Horizon dating app

- Lauren matched with a profile named Glenn Lane on the Horizon dating app in early February 2022, after eight months of scrolling.
- The photographs used in Glenn Lane's profile were taken directly from the real Glenn Lane's public Instagram account and Ohio Department of Transportation contractor listing.
- Lauren wired three transfers between mid-March and early April 2022: $3,000 for a bond filing fee, $4,500 for a hotel deposit, and $2,200 for an injured worker's hospital bill.
- Crystal O'Connor, a social media manager and casual acquaintance of Lauren's, ran a reverse image search on Glenn's photograph and found the real Glenn Lane's four-year Instagram history within seconds.
- Marcus Webb, the logistics coordinator arrested April 21, 2022, had mailed a Seiko watch with a scratched crystal and a handwritten note to a church freight-forwarding address in Harlow, following a prop kit protocol he had used on at least one prior victim, Sandra Poole in Knoxville, in 2020.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099013Sat, 17 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe watch in the church: how they built Glenn Lane A padded envelope sat in a church lost-and-found box for weeks before anyone opened it-inside, a Seiko watch with a scratched crystal and a handwritten note signed "G." It was never meant to...
A padded envelope sat in a church lost-and-found box for weeks before anyone opened it-inside, a Seiko watch with a scratched crystal and a handwritten note signed "G." It was never meant to arrive. Lauren Christensen believed she was building a relationship with a structural engineer named Glenn Lane over eight months of messages and calls. But the photographs were stolen, the voice belonged to a stranger, and the crises were scripted.

In this episode, we trace how a three-person operation in suburban Atlanta manufactured trust across three wire transfers totaling nine thousand seven hundred dollars, using a database of recycled scripts and prop kits mailed to freight forwarders. We follow the moment a social media manager looked at a photograph a beat too long, the DNA evidence found in a sealed envelope that connected this case to a victim two years earlier, and the question of how many other targets remain in the laptop archive that investigators recovered.

Person: Lauren Christensen
Location: Harlow, Indiana
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, Todd Mercer
Amount stolen: $9,700
Event: Romance scam via stolen identity, February-April 2022
Platform: Horizon dating app

- Lauren matched with a profile named Glenn Lane on the Horizon dating app in early February 2022, after eight months of scrolling.
- The photographs used in Glenn Lane's profile were taken directly from the real Glenn Lane's public Instagram account and Ohio Department of Transportation contractor listing.
- Lauren wired three transfers between mid-March and early April 2022: $3,000 for a bond filing fee, $4,500 for a hotel deposit, and $2,200 for an injured worker's hospital bill.
- Crystal O'Connor, a social media manager and casual acquaintance of Lauren's, ran a reverse image search on Glenn's photograph and found the real Glenn Lane's four-year Instagram history within seconds.
- Marcus Webb, the logistics coordinator arrested April 21, 2022, had mailed a Seiko watch with a scratched crystal and a handwritten note to a church freight-forwarding address in Harlow, following a prop kit protocol he had used on at least one prior victim, Sandra Poole in Knoxville, in 2020.

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.]]>1389falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-careful-woman-and-the-borrowed-face--73099011
A golden retriever found forty-one handwritten love letters in a cardboard box on the Portervale Greenway in early March 2023-each one addressed to a different woman, each one signed Norman, each one containing intimate details that made the recipient believe they alone were being seen. Nancy Stein, a meticulous dental office manager, had known the man for three months. Why would someone spend all that time building intimacy before asking for money, and what happens when the person you're falling for doesn't exist?

In this episode, we trace how a man using a stolen identity from a Spokane architect built parallel romantic relationships across a church congregation, how Monica Bennett's spiral notebook and reverse image search exposed the scheme, and the discovery of a prepaid card hidden in a car's wheel well that connected two victims separated by two years and two states. We examine the architecture of romance fraud-how declared love before any financial ask inoculates against suspicion, and why the handwritten letters, initially seeming like proof of genuine emotion, were actually a refined production tool.

Person: Nancy Stein
Location: Millhaven, Indiana; Portervale Greenway
Event: Romance fraud discovery, March 2023
Perpetrator: Norman Dale Hensley, age 49
Amount solicited: $6,000
Victim identified in prior case: Sandra Moss, Shelbyville, Kentucky

- Norman Hensley presented himself as a 61-year-old widowed civil engineer from Cincinnati but was actually 49 years old from eastern Tennessee.
- He joined Cornerstone Fellowship in September 2022 and began exchanging numbers with at least six women by mid-November.
- Monica Bennett used a reverse image search in a Thursday evening search and identified the photographs belonged to Douglas Pratt, a semi-retired architect in Spokane, Washington married for 30 years.
- The forty-one handwritten letters, found in a cardboard box under a collapsed split-rail fence, were addressed to four women and included marriage proposals with specific personal details from conversations each woman had shared.
- A prepaid card hidden under the wheel well of Hensley's vehicle connected him to Sandra Moss in Shelbyville, Kentucky, who had wired him $11,000 after meeting him at a grief support group in 2021.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099011Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe careful woman and the borrowed face A golden retriever found forty-one handwritten love letters in a cardboard box on the Portervale Greenway in early March 2023-each one addressed to a different woman, each one signed Norman, each one...
A golden retriever found forty-one handwritten love letters in a cardboard box on the Portervale Greenway in early March 2023-each one addressed to a different woman, each one signed Norman, each one containing intimate details that made the recipient believe they alone were being seen. Nancy Stein, a meticulous dental office manager, had known the man for three months. Why would someone spend all that time building intimacy before asking for money, and what happens when the person you're falling for doesn't exist?

In this episode, we trace how a man using a stolen identity from a Spokane architect built parallel romantic relationships across a church congregation, how Monica Bennett's spiral notebook and reverse image search exposed the scheme, and the discovery of a prepaid card hidden in a car's wheel well that connected two victims separated by two years and two states. We examine the architecture of romance fraud-how declared love before any financial ask inoculates against suspicion, and why the handwritten letters, initially seeming like proof of genuine emotion, were actually a refined production tool.

Person: Nancy Stein
Location: Millhaven, Indiana; Portervale Greenway
Event: Romance fraud discovery, March 2023
Perpetrator: Norman Dale Hensley, age 49
Amount solicited: $6,000
Victim identified in prior case: Sandra Moss, Shelbyville, Kentucky

- Norman Hensley presented himself as a 61-year-old widowed civil engineer from Cincinnati but was actually 49 years old from eastern Tennessee.
- He joined Cornerstone Fellowship in September 2022 and began exchanging numbers with at least six women by mid-November.
- Monica Bennett used a reverse image search in a Thursday evening search and identified the photographs belonged to Douglas Pratt, a semi-retired architect in Spokane, Washington married for 30 years.
- The forty-one handwritten letters, found in a cardboard box under a collapsed split-rail fence, were addressed to four women and included marriage proposals with specific personal details from conversations each woman had shared.
- A prepaid card hidden under the wheel well of Hensley's vehicle connected him to Sandra Moss in Shelbyville, Kentucky, who had wired him $11,000 after meeting him at a grief support group in 2021.

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.]]>1493falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-in-the-river-how-a-fishing-forum-comment-became-a-federal-case--73099010
A Saturday morning on the Redbud River: a fisherman pulls an anchor rope and finds a zip-lock bag tied to it, eight inches below the waterline. Inside, a four-by-six photograph of a woman with handwriting on the back-Howard, always yours, B. But Howard Henderson had put it there himself three days earlier, after learning the woman in the photograph was not real. How did a comment on a rural fishing forum about trotline placement become evidence in a federal wire fraud case, and what drove a young man to seal his heartbreak in a bag and lower it into a river?

In this episode, we trace Beverly Cox's method across multiple victims-targeting men from public forum comments, building a persona from stolen photographs of Army sergeant Monica Estrada, and orchestrating requests that escalated from $200 to $3,000. We examine the single missed Tuesday night at the food shelf that cracked Howard's carefully maintained routine, and the image search that revealed the lie: a photograph pulled from a river became Exhibit 31, and a shoebox in Biloxi held dozens of printed copies from the same service.

Person: Howard Henderson
Perpetrator: Beverly Cox, age 38
Location: Caldwell Falls, Pettis County, Missouri; Biloxi, Mississippi
Event: Wire fraud via fake military romance persona
Amount stolen: $3,000 from Howard Henderson; $11,000 from Warren Lott
Case: Federal wire fraud prosecution, fall 2019

- Howard Henderson, age 22, lived alone above a laundromat on Clement Street and worked the loading dock at a farm-supply warehouse on Route 9.
- Beverly Cox operated at least four simultaneous romance scams from a rented room in Biloxi, Mississippi, using stolen photographs of Monica Estrada, an actual Army sergeant stationed in Germany.
- Cox identified Howard through a public comment he posted on a fishing forum about trotline placement on the Redbud River in October 2018.
- The first request was $200 in December 2018; the third request, $3,000 in early February 2019, was the Tuesday Howard did not show up at the Pettis County Food Shelf where he had volunteered every week for three years without missing a single shift.
- Howard sealed the photograph in a zip-lock bag, tied it to a trotline anchor rope with paracord, and submerged it eight inches below the waterline on the night Erin Clark showed him the reverse image search; a fisherman named Julie Callahan pulled it from the river on Saturday, and it became Exhibit 31 in the federal case file.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099010Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph in the river: how a fishing forum comment became a federal case A Saturday morning on the Redbud River: a fisherman pulls an anchor rope and finds a zip-lock bag tied to it, eight inches below the waterline. Inside, a four-by-six...
A Saturday morning on the Redbud River: a fisherman pulls an anchor rope and finds a zip-lock bag tied to it, eight inches below the waterline. Inside, a four-by-six photograph of a woman with handwriting on the back-Howard, always yours, B. But Howard Henderson had put it there himself three days earlier, after learning the woman in the photograph was not real. How did a comment on a rural fishing forum about trotline placement become evidence in a federal wire fraud case, and what drove a young man to seal his heartbreak in a bag and lower it into a river?

In this episode, we trace Beverly Cox's method across multiple victims-targeting men from public forum comments, building a persona from stolen photographs of Army sergeant Monica Estrada, and orchestrating requests that escalated from $200 to $3,000. We examine the single missed Tuesday night at the food shelf that cracked Howard's carefully maintained routine, and the image search that revealed the lie: a photograph pulled from a river became Exhibit 31, and a shoebox in Biloxi held dozens of printed copies from the same service.

Person: Howard Henderson
Perpetrator: Beverly Cox, age 38
Location: Caldwell Falls, Pettis County, Missouri; Biloxi, Mississippi
Event: Wire fraud via fake military romance persona
Amount stolen: $3,000 from Howard Henderson; $11,000 from Warren Lott
Case: Federal wire fraud prosecution, fall 2019

- Howard Henderson, age 22, lived alone above a laundromat on Clement Street and worked the loading dock at a farm-supply warehouse on Route 9.
- Beverly Cox operated at least four simultaneous romance scams from a rented room in Biloxi, Mississippi, using stolen photographs of Monica Estrada, an actual Army sergeant stationed in Germany.
- Cox identified Howard through a public comment he posted on a fishing forum about trotline placement on the Redbud River in October 2018.
- The first request was $200 in December 2018; the third request, $3,000 in early February 2019, was the Tuesday Howard did not show up at the Pettis County Food Shelf where he had volunteered every week for three years without missing a single shift.
- Howard sealed the photograph in a zip-lock bag, tied it to a trotline anchor rope with paracord, and submerged it eight inches below the waterline on the night Erin Clark showed him the reverse image search; a fisherman named Julie Callahan pulled it from the river on Saturday, and it became Exhibit 31 in the federal case file.

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.]]>1465falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-filing-system-how-a-spreadsheet-revealed-the-real-target--73099008
Eleven pages of wire-transfer receipts, rubber-banded and organized in a rusted mailbox on an empty road, told a story no one expected: the fraud was scheduled. Lisa Zeller had spent nineteen months sending money to a man named Jeffrey Fisher, a structural engineer she believed existed. But when investigators recovered a backup drive in Accra, they found a spreadsheet with column headers for dates and row headers for initials-twenty-three planned crises timed to her paycheck, not her heart.

In this episode, we trace how a county surveyor's discovery of that mailbox led to a backup drive containing a crisis calendar so precise it proved the relationship was built backward: Lisa was selected as a target months before Jeffrey Fisher ever sent her a message. We examine the storage unit rented before first contact, the Thursday coffee series used to predict her schedule, and the spreadsheet that revealed an operation designed to defeat careful people, not catch naive ones.

Person: Lisa Zeller
Victim: Paula Hedges
Location: Kellerton, North Carolina; Accra, Ghana
Amount stolen: $93,000+ (Lisa lost $62,000, not recovered)
Perpetrator: 36-year-old Nigerian national, identity not publicly released
Event: March 2021 to March 2022

- Lisa joined an online hiking group in March 2021 and connected with Jeffrey Fisher, a profile using Brett Conley's stolen photograph from Baton Rouge.
- By July 2021, Jeffrey requested $4,000 for a port clearance in Accra; a beaded bracelet arrived weeks later as physical proof of his existence.
- Paula Hedges, 63, from Tempe Arizona, called Lisa in November 2021 after finding her in a fraud survivors forum, revealing she had sent the same Jeffrey Fisher $62,000 over fourteen months.
- A storage unit in Kellerton was rented in January 2021 under the name Kevin Farrow, accessed eleven times on weekday mornings-two access dates fell within two hours of the Thursday community coffee series where Lisa volunteered.
- The recovered drive in Accra contained a spreadsheet with dates as columns and victim initials as rows, showing twenty-three fabricated emergencies scheduled within four days of Lisa's known paycheck cycles.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099008Wed, 14 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe filing system: how a spreadsheet revealed the real target Eleven pages of wire-transfer receipts, rubber-banded and organized in a rusted mailbox on an empty road, told a story no one expected: the fraud was scheduled. Lisa Zeller had spent...
Eleven pages of wire-transfer receipts, rubber-banded and organized in a rusted mailbox on an empty road, told a story no one expected: the fraud was scheduled. Lisa Zeller had spent nineteen months sending money to a man named Jeffrey Fisher, a structural engineer she believed existed. But when investigators recovered a backup drive in Accra, they found a spreadsheet with column headers for dates and row headers for initials-twenty-three planned crises timed to her paycheck, not her heart.

In this episode, we trace how a county surveyor's discovery of that mailbox led to a backup drive containing a crisis calendar so precise it proved the relationship was built backward: Lisa was selected as a target months before Jeffrey Fisher ever sent her a message. We examine the storage unit rented before first contact, the Thursday coffee series used to predict her schedule, and the spreadsheet that revealed an operation designed to defeat careful people, not catch naive ones.

Person: Lisa Zeller
Victim: Paula Hedges
Location: Kellerton, North Carolina; Accra, Ghana
Amount stolen: $93,000+ (Lisa lost $62,000, not recovered)
Perpetrator: 36-year-old Nigerian national, identity not publicly released
Event: March 2021 to March 2022

- Lisa joined an online hiking group in March 2021 and connected with Jeffrey Fisher, a profile using Brett Conley's stolen photograph from Baton Rouge.
- By July 2021, Jeffrey requested $4,000 for a port clearance in Accra; a beaded bracelet arrived weeks later as physical proof of his existence.
- Paula Hedges, 63, from Tempe Arizona, called Lisa in November 2021 after finding her in a fraud survivors forum, revealing she had sent the same Jeffrey Fisher $62,000 over fourteen months.
- A storage unit in Kellerton was rented in January 2021 under the name Kevin Farrow, accessed eleven times on weekday mornings-two access dates fell within two hours of the Thursday community coffee series where Lisa volunteered.
- The recovered drive in Accra contained a spreadsheet with dates as columns and victim initials as rows, showing twenty-three fabricated emergencies scheduled within four days of Lisa's known paycheck cycles.

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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.]]>1446falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-voice-on-the-porch-how-they-built-a-man-from-audio--73099006
In this episode, we follow how a language-exchange platform connection became a neural voice model trained on regional audio data, how the perpetrator mapped Patricia's weekly Scrabble club schedule with surveyor's precision, and how investigators discovered this was not the first operation using the same device. We examine the database of forty-seven contacts found on a phone registered in Lagos, Nigeria, and the discovery that at least one earlier victim-an accountant named Norma Sutton-had stayed silent for five years.

Person: Patricia Ward
Victim Age: 63
Platform: TangleTongue (language exchange)
Amount: $61,000
Location: Dunmore, North Carolina
Conviction: February 2024

- Patricia Ward taught English as a second language for nineteen years at Dunmore Community College and had served four years as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa.
- The perpetrator used a synthesized neural network voice with a Singapore-Australian accent, stable across fourteen months of daily conversation, originating from a device registered in Lagos, Nigeria.
- Six of seven transfer requests arrived between 5 and 6 PM on Wednesdays-the forty-five minute window after Patricia left work and before her Scrabble club guests arrived; the seventh came on the one Wednesday the club was cancelled due to a burst pipe.
- The first transfer was $4,300 in early April 2022, one month after Patricia and "Alan Harris" first used the word love; transfers escalated in size through August 2022 when the final $18,000 was sent.
- Norma Sutton, an accountant from Asheville, had received a similar contact from "David Crane" in 2018 requesting $9,000; the IMEI number on the device matched both cases, and the database contained forty-seven total contacts with Patricia listed as number thirty-one.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099006Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe voice on the porch: how they built a man from audio In this episode, we follow how a language-exchange platform connection became a neural voice model trained on regional audio data, how the perpetrator mapped Patricia's weekly Scrabble club...
In this episode, we follow how a language-exchange platform connection became a neural voice model trained on regional audio data, how the perpetrator mapped Patricia's weekly Scrabble club schedule with surveyor's precision, and how investigators discovered this was not the first operation using the same device. We examine the database of forty-seven contacts found on a phone registered in Lagos, Nigeria, and the discovery that at least one earlier victim-an accountant named Norma Sutton-had stayed silent for five years.

Person: Patricia Ward
Victim Age: 63
Platform: TangleTongue (language exchange)
Amount: $61,000
Location: Dunmore, North Carolina
Conviction: February 2024

- Patricia Ward taught English as a second language for nineteen years at Dunmore Community College and had served four years as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa.
- The perpetrator used a synthesized neural network voice with a Singapore-Australian accent, stable across fourteen months of daily conversation, originating from a device registered in Lagos, Nigeria.
- Six of seven transfer requests arrived between 5 and 6 PM on Wednesdays-the forty-five minute window after Patricia left work and before her Scrabble club guests arrived; the seventh came on the one Wednesday the club was cancelled due to a burst pipe.
- The first transfer was $4,300 in early April 2022, one month after Patricia and "Alan Harris" first used the word love; transfers escalated in size through August 2022 when the final $18,000 was sent.
- Norma Sutton, an accountant from Asheville, had received a similar contact from "David Crane" in 2018 requesting $9,000; the IMEI number on the device matched both cases, and the database contained forty-seven total contacts with Patricia listed as number thirty-one.

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.]]>1317falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-larkspur-card-how-a-spreadsheet-operator-sent-flowers-nobody-asked-about--73099003
In this episode, we follow how a social worker's screenshot of a deleted Facebook post, a retired postal worker's camera, and a reversed image search led to the exposure of a network intrusion targeting vulnerable people in grief forums-and how the spreadsheet's precise columns labeled "stage: intro," "stage: trust," "stage: first ask," and "stage: repaid" account for every manipulation except the larkspur. We examine the borrowed phrase from a published therapist interview, the fake work order using a real technician's retired identity, and the seven-minute gap in security cameras at Riverside Commons, alongside the one element Aldridge never explained: whether the card was calculated intimacy or something that broke outside his system entirely.

Person: Pamela Clark
Person: Beverly Ostrowski
Person: Marcus Aldridge
Perpetrator: Marcus Aldridge
Location: Macon, Georgia; Phenix City, Alabama
Amount: Pamela Clark lost $4,200; Beverly Ostrowski lost $11,000
Event: Arrest November 22 in Phenix City, Alabama; sentence 14 years

- Pamela Clark, twenty-six, worked as a dental office coordinator and joined an online veteran support forum in spring, seven months before the card arrived.
- Marcus Aldridge used the fake profile "Chad Bowers" with a photograph belonging to Sergeant First Class David Kohler, whose account Aldridge had deleted two years earlier.
- Christine Snyder, social worker running the peer support program, took a screenshot of Beverly Ostrowski's deleted post before it disappeared and traced "Chad Bowers'" profile photo through a reverse image search.
- Aldridge placed a device on the fiber optic node at Riverside Commons that intercepted unencrypted traffic for seven minutes, capturing forum credentials and payment app data.
- The printed spreadsheet found on the motel bed in Phenix City contained forty-three rows tracking three years of victims across stages labeled intro, trust, first ask, repaid, and second ask; the larkspur card was never mentioned in any confession, charge document, or investigator's record.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099003Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe larkspur card: how a spreadsheet operator sent flowers nobody asked about In this episode, we follow how a social worker's screenshot of a deleted Facebook post, a retired postal worker's camera, and a reversed image search led to the exposure...
In this episode, we follow how a social worker's screenshot of a deleted Facebook post, a retired postal worker's camera, and a reversed image search led to the exposure of a network intrusion targeting vulnerable people in grief forums-and how the spreadsheet's precise columns labeled "stage: intro," "stage: trust," "stage: first ask," and "stage: repaid" account for every manipulation except the larkspur. We examine the borrowed phrase from a published therapist interview, the fake work order using a real technician's retired identity, and the seven-minute gap in security cameras at Riverside Commons, alongside the one element Aldridge never explained: whether the card was calculated intimacy or something that broke outside his system entirely.

Person: Pamela Clark
Person: Beverly Ostrowski
Person: Marcus Aldridge
Perpetrator: Marcus Aldridge
Location: Macon, Georgia; Phenix City, Alabama
Amount: Pamela Clark lost $4,200; Beverly Ostrowski lost $11,000
Event: Arrest November 22 in Phenix City, Alabama; sentence 14 years

- Pamela Clark, twenty-six, worked as a dental office coordinator and joined an online veteran support forum in spring, seven months before the card arrived.
- Marcus Aldridge used the fake profile "Chad Bowers" with a photograph belonging to Sergeant First Class David Kohler, whose account Aldridge had deleted two years earlier.
- Christine Snyder, social worker running the peer support program, took a screenshot of Beverly Ostrowski's deleted post before it disappeared and traced "Chad Bowers'" profile photo through a reverse image search.
- Aldridge placed a device on the fiber optic node at Riverside Commons that intercepted unencrypted traffic for seven minutes, capturing forum credentials and payment app data.
- The printed spreadsheet found on the motel bed in Phenix City contained forty-three rows tracking three years of victims across stages labeled intro, trust, first ask, repaid, and second ask; the larkspur card was never mentioned in any confession, charge document, or investigator's record.

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.]]>1499falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-kept-for-fourteen-months-how-a-collector-built-a-life-from-studying-mark--73099002
In this episode, we trace how a senior museum curator lost $214,000 across thirteen months of correspondence with a man claiming to be a repatriated artifact dealer, how fraud investigator Charles Schmidt discovered the four-minute email replies that proved the contact was local, and why the photograph itself reveals that the financial scheme may have been secondary to something far more disturbing: sustained observation, careful study, and a keepsake kept in the dark.

Person: Mark Mitchell, Dennis Farrow
Event: Photograph found at museum service entrance, October
Location: Aldenmere Regional Museum of Art and Natural History
Amount stolen: $214,000
Perpetrator: Dennis Farrow

- Mark Mitchell was a senior curator of antiquities with eleven years at the Aldenmere Regional Museum.
- Dennis Farrow contacted Mark through a professional networking platform in late summer, using the alias Roy Coleman and claiming to be a repatriated artifact dealer.
- The photograph was taken through Mark's bedroom window in August, fourteen months before it was found and six weeks before the first online message.
- Mark wired ten transfers over thirteen months, starting with $11,000 framed as a loan for a Brussels export permit, with subsequent amounts ranging to $31,000.
- Dennis Farrow was sentenced to fourteen years: four counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft using Alan Whitfield's photograph, and one count of stalking under state statute.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099002Sun, 11 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph kept for fourteen months: how a collector built a life from studying Mark In this episode, we trace how a senior museum curator lost $214,000 across thirteen months of correspondence with a man claiming to be a repatriated artifact...
In this episode, we trace how a senior museum curator lost $214,000 across thirteen months of correspondence with a man claiming to be a repatriated artifact dealer, how fraud investigator Charles Schmidt discovered the four-minute email replies that proved the contact was local, and why the photograph itself reveals that the financial scheme may have been secondary to something far more disturbing: sustained observation, careful study, and a keepsake kept in the dark.

Person: Mark Mitchell, Dennis Farrow
Event: Photograph found at museum service entrance, October
Location: Aldenmere Regional Museum of Art and Natural History
Amount stolen: $214,000
Perpetrator: Dennis Farrow

- Mark Mitchell was a senior curator of antiquities with eleven years at the Aldenmere Regional Museum.
- Dennis Farrow contacted Mark through a professional networking platform in late summer, using the alias Roy Coleman and claiming to be a repatriated artifact dealer.
- The photograph was taken through Mark's bedroom window in August, fourteen months before it was found and six weeks before the first online message.
- Mark wired ten transfers over thirteen months, starting with $11,000 framed as a loan for a Brussels export permit, with subsequent amounts ranging to $31,000.
- Dennis Farrow was sentenced to fourteen years: four counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft using Alan Whitfield's photograph, and one count of stalking under state statute.

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.]]>1463falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-silk-flowers-left-after-the-rain-who-was-debra-kern-mourning--73099001
Dry orange and yellow flowers sealed in a laminating pouch appeared on a locked gate on Route Nine at dawn on September 7, 2022, after heavy rain that should have destroyed them. The card inside read "For my Megan. You were real to me." But Megan Moore had never met the woman who left them-and the person whose face she thought she knew was a stolen photograph. How did a former agricultural technician spend seven months studying a stranger's garden before building an elaborate deception, and what drove her to return to a locked gate in the dark after everything unraveled?

In this episode, we trace the construction of Amy Stein-a false long-haul trucker with a sick daughter and a researched medical history-from the moment Debra Kern found Megan's profile in February 2022, four months before Megan even joined HeartlandMeet. We follow the four payments totaling $2,600 documented in Kern's spiral notebook, the reverse image search that took Ralph Marshall fifteen seconds, and the bicycle tracks in the mud that led back to someone who had already run this scam before. But the bouquet itself-purchased days after the scheme collapsed, laminated so the rain would not reach it-remains unexplained by anything in the record.

Person: Megan Moore
Perpetrator: Debra Kern, age 40
False Identity: Amy Stein
Platform: HeartlandMeet
Amount: $2,600
Location: Dellard County, Nebraska

- Megan Moore created her HeartlandMeet profile in March 2022; Kern had found and studied it in February, before Megan joined.
- Kern spent four months gathering details about Megan's garden rotation and choir singing before sending the first message about tomato soil drainage in mid-June.
- Amy Stein's photograph came from Brenda Ochoa, a diesel mechanic in Salina, Kansas, who had posted it on Facebook in 2019 celebrating a new job-with no knowledge her face had been stolen.
- Megan transferred eight hundred dollars in mid-August, followed by two hundred, five hundred, and eleven hundred-four payments over three weeks documented in a spiral notebook found in Kern's apartment.
- The silk flowers left at the padlocked grain facility on September 7 at dawn were purchased on September 5, two days after Ralph's phone call revealed the fraud, and placed by bicycle after rain that ended at 2 a.m.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73099001Sat, 10 Oct 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe silk flowers left after the rain: who was Debra Kern mourning? Dry orange and yellow flowers sealed in a laminating pouch appeared on a locked gate on Route Nine at dawn on September 7, 2022, after heavy rain that should have destroyed them....
Dry orange and yellow flowers sealed in a laminating pouch appeared on a locked gate on Route Nine at dawn on September 7, 2022, after heavy rain that should have destroyed them. The card inside read "For my Megan. You were real to me." But Megan Moore had never met the woman who left them-and the person whose face she thought she knew was a stolen photograph. How did a former agricultural technician spend seven months studying a stranger's garden before building an elaborate deception, and what drove her to return to a locked gate in the dark after everything unraveled?

In this episode, we trace the construction of Amy Stein-a false long-haul trucker with a sick daughter and a researched medical history-from the moment Debra Kern found Megan's profile in February 2022, four months before Megan even joined HeartlandMeet. We follow the four payments totaling $2,600 documented in Kern's spiral notebook, the reverse image search that took Ralph Marshall fifteen seconds, and the bicycle tracks in the mud that led back to someone who had already run this scam before. But the bouquet itself-purchased days after the scheme collapsed, laminated so the rain would not reach it-remains unexplained by anything in the record.

Person: Megan Moore
Perpetrator: Debra Kern, age 40
False Identity: Amy Stein
Platform: HeartlandMeet
Amount: $2,600
Location: Dellard County, Nebraska

- Megan Moore created her HeartlandMeet profile in March 2022; Kern had found and studied it in February, before Megan joined.
- Kern spent four months gathering details about Megan's garden rotation and choir singing before sending the first message about tomato soil drainage in mid-June.
- Amy Stein's photograph came from Brenda Ochoa, a diesel mechanic in Salina, Kansas, who had posted it on Facebook in 2019 celebrating a new job-with no knowledge her face had been stolen.
- Megan transferred eight hundred dollars in mid-August, followed by two hundred, five hundred, and eleven hundred-four payments over three weeks documented in a spiral notebook found in Kern's apartment.
- The silk flowers left at the padlocked grain facility on September 7 at dawn were purchased on September 5, two days after Ralph's phone call revealed the fraud, and placed by bicycle after rain that ended at 2 a.m.

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.]]>1202falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-margin-note-how-a-dead-writer-s-words-became-a-weapon--73098996
A utility worker finds a folded restaurant review tucked behind a breaker panel in a storage unit in eastern Raleigh, with a number written in careful ink: forty-one thousand dollars. The article belonged to a dead writer named Arthur Beem. The number belonged to a man named Todd Mills, who had never been inside that room. How did one fraudster spend three years memorizing a dead man's prose to convince a food blogger he had found a peer?

In this episode, we follow the construction of Marvin Reynolds's deception from the location of Beem's archive in 2018 through three years of preparation, the first contact in September 2021, and five wire transfers totaling thirty-eight thousand dollars before a fact-checker's forty-minute search exposed the theft. We examine the fireproof box discovered behind the manipulated breaker panel, the handwritten ledgers documenting nine years of operations against five victims across multiple states, and the handwriting that matched both the margin note and every prior victim's record.

Person: Todd Mills, food blogger
Perpetrator: Marvin Reynolds
Victim Count: Five victims across nine years
Amount Stolen: Over two hundred thousand dollars
Location: Durham, North Carolina; Decatur, Georgia; east Raleigh storage unit
Date: September 2021 to August 2022

- Todd Mills ran Fork and Latitude, a food blog based in Durham, North Carolina, with approximately eighty thousand monthly visitors at its peak.
- Reynolds memorized Arthur Beem's published work for three years starting around 2018, before Beem died of a cardiac event in Rome in January 2019.
- Reynolds left the first comment on Todd's blog in September 2021 and they moved to email within weeks; video calls began by November 2021.
- Between June and August 2022, Todd sent thirty-eight thousand dollars across five transfers to three different accounts for supposed emergencies in Italy.
- A fact-checker named Karen Vogel discovered the article Reynolds sent Todd-about hand-rolled pasta and early-evening light on the Via del Governo Vecchio-was originally published by Arthur Beem in November 2014.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098996Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe margin note: how a dead writer's words became a weapon A utility worker finds a folded restaurant review tucked behind a breaker panel in a storage unit in eastern Raleigh, with a number written in careful ink: forty-one thousand dollars. The...
A utility worker finds a folded restaurant review tucked behind a breaker panel in a storage unit in eastern Raleigh, with a number written in careful ink: forty-one thousand dollars. The article belonged to a dead writer named Arthur Beem. The number belonged to a man named Todd Mills, who had never been inside that room. How did one fraudster spend three years memorizing a dead man's prose to convince a food blogger he had found a peer?

In this episode, we follow the construction of Marvin Reynolds's deception from the location of Beem's archive in 2018 through three years of preparation, the first contact in September 2021, and five wire transfers totaling thirty-eight thousand dollars before a fact-checker's forty-minute search exposed the theft. We examine the fireproof box discovered behind the manipulated breaker panel, the handwritten ledgers documenting nine years of operations against five victims across multiple states, and the handwriting that matched both the margin note and every prior victim's record.

Person: Todd Mills, food blogger
Perpetrator: Marvin Reynolds
Victim Count: Five victims across nine years
Amount Stolen: Over two hundred thousand dollars
Location: Durham, North Carolina; Decatur, Georgia; east Raleigh storage unit
Date: September 2021 to August 2022

- Todd Mills ran Fork and Latitude, a food blog based in Durham, North Carolina, with approximately eighty thousand monthly visitors at its peak.
- Reynolds memorized Arthur Beem's published work for three years starting around 2018, before Beem died of a cardiac event in Rome in January 2019.
- Reynolds left the first comment on Todd's blog in September 2021 and they moved to email within weeks; video calls began by November 2021.
- Between June and August 2022, Todd sent thirty-eight thousand dollars across five transfers to three different accounts for supposed emergencies in Italy.
- A fact-checker named Karen Vogel discovered the article Reynolds sent Todd-about hand-rolled pasta and early-evening light on the Via del Governo Vecchio-was originally published by Arthur Beem in November 2014.

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.]]>1357falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-shoes-on-the-beach-how-a-voice-stole-a-life--73098995
Black oxford lace-ups with double-knotted laces sit at the waterline of Pelican Flat Beach, North Carolina, a cedar shoe tree placed deliberately inside the left one. A man's hand put them there on July 13, 2019-but why would Ryan Coleman, a precise civil engineer, abandon his good shoes on the sand pointing toward the Atlantic before driving away in the dark?

In this episode, we follow Ryan's five-month correspondence with "Commander James James," the Coast Guard officer who asked the right technical questions before the voice became the most present relationship in his life. We trace Edward Price's deliberate observation-watching Ryan enter his security code in an elevator, photographing his financial files, building intimacy through four hundred and twelve voice messages-and the single email from a retired man in Pensacola that shattered everything in less than twenty-four hours.

Person: Ryan Coleman
Perpetrator: Edward Price
Location: Pelican Flat Beach, North Carolina
Date: July 14, 2019
Amount: $237,000
Platform: Maritime enthusiast forum, prepaid phone, voice messages

- Ryan Coleman, age 44, worked as a civil engineer at Tidewater Associates modeling coastal erosion and flood risk.
- Edward Price contracted as an IT maintenance vendor in a building adjacent to Tidewater Associates and watched Ryan enter his security code in a shared elevator.
- On July 12, 2019, Price used a cloned badge to access Tidewater at 11:40 PM, photographed Ryan's financial files, and left at 12:19 AM without triggering alarms.
- Warren Albright, a 71-year-old retired man in Pensacola, received a fraud-monitoring alert on July 13 showing his photographs being used across multiple profiles under the name "Commander James James" since early 2019.
- Ryan Coleman had saved 412 voice messages from the fraudster in a folder labeled "JW" and sent $237,000 across 17 transactions over five months before the scheme collapsed.
- Edward Price was arrested on August 4, 2019, in a Raleigh apartment where he was operating under a new alias as a recently widowed veterinarian, having never paused his predatory activity.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098995Thu, 08 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe shoes on the beach: how a voice stole a life Black oxford lace-ups with double-knotted laces sit at the waterline of Pelican Flat Beach, North Carolina, a cedar shoe tree placed deliberately inside the left one. A man's hand put them there on...
Black oxford lace-ups with double-knotted laces sit at the waterline of Pelican Flat Beach, North Carolina, a cedar shoe tree placed deliberately inside the left one. A man's hand put them there on July 13, 2019-but why would Ryan Coleman, a precise civil engineer, abandon his good shoes on the sand pointing toward the Atlantic before driving away in the dark?

In this episode, we follow Ryan's five-month correspondence with "Commander James James," the Coast Guard officer who asked the right technical questions before the voice became the most present relationship in his life. We trace Edward Price's deliberate observation-watching Ryan enter his security code in an elevator, photographing his financial files, building intimacy through four hundred and twelve voice messages-and the single email from a retired man in Pensacola that shattered everything in less than twenty-four hours.

Person: Ryan Coleman
Perpetrator: Edward Price
Location: Pelican Flat Beach, North Carolina
Date: July 14, 2019
Amount: $237,000
Platform: Maritime enthusiast forum, prepaid phone, voice messages

- Ryan Coleman, age 44, worked as a civil engineer at Tidewater Associates modeling coastal erosion and flood risk.
- Edward Price contracted as an IT maintenance vendor in a building adjacent to Tidewater Associates and watched Ryan enter his security code in a shared elevator.
- On July 12, 2019, Price used a cloned badge to access Tidewater at 11:40 PM, photographed Ryan's financial files, and left at 12:19 AM without triggering alarms.
- Warren Albright, a 71-year-old retired man in Pensacola, received a fraud-monitoring alert on July 13 showing his photographs being used across multiple profiles under the name "Commander James James" since early 2019.
- Ryan Coleman had saved 412 voice messages from the fraudster in a folder labeled "JW" and sent $237,000 across 17 transactions over five months before the scheme collapsed.
- Edward Price was arrested on August 4, 2019, in a Raleigh apartment where he was operating under a new alias as a recently widowed veterinarian, having never paused his predatory activity.

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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.]]>1622falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rosemary-at-the-door-how-a-therapist-s-recommendation-became-a-trap--73098994
A hand-painted ceramic pot sits on a doorstep with fresh soil and a card signed "R" - but the man who lived there hasn't been seen in weeks, his mailbox overflowing, his Tuesday volunteer shift abandoned after two years without a single miss. How did an empty apartment and a watered plant connect to a seven-month online friendship that never existed?

In this episode, we trace Vernon Becker's path from a therapist-recommended peer support forum to a fake identity named Roger Osborne, a fabricated cryptocurrency platform called Meridian Vault, and the moment investigators discovered the man in the profile photo was a real landscaper in North Carolina whose image had been stolen. We follow the discovery of the partial palm print on the planter's underside, the federal investigation into Douglas Pratt, and the question Patricia Woo could never answer: where exactly did trust become a weapon?

Person: Vernon Becker
Perpetrator: Douglas Pratt, age 41
Location: Millhaven, Oregon; Spartanburg, South Carolina
Event: Disappearance and financial fraud, May-June 2023
Amount stolen: $12,200

- Vernon Becker, 28, worked remotely processing compliance documents for Arbor Bridge insurance and had not missed a single Tuesday volunteer shift at Millhaven Food Collective in two years and four months.
- Vernon joined the peer-support forum Forward Ground on October 4, 2022, after his therapist Patricia Woo referred him via a continuing education newsletter.
- Roger Osborne's profile photo showed a man on a ridgeline with work-worn hands; the image belonged to Pete Hollis, a real landscaping contractor in western North Carolina.
- Vernon transferred $12,200 total to the fraudulent Meridian Vault platform between late March and late April 2023, believing he was helping Roger with a financial investment.
- A rosemary planter with a card signed "R" was found on Vernon's doorstep on June 7, 2023; forensic analysis matched a partial palm print on the pot's underside to Douglas Pratt eighteen months 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098994Wed, 07 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe rosemary at the door: how a therapist's recommendation became a trap A hand-painted ceramic pot sits on a doorstep with fresh soil and a card signed "R" - but the man who lived there hasn't been seen in weeks, his mailbox overflowing, his...
A hand-painted ceramic pot sits on a doorstep with fresh soil and a card signed "R" - but the man who lived there hasn't been seen in weeks, his mailbox overflowing, his Tuesday volunteer shift abandoned after two years without a single miss. How did an empty apartment and a watered plant connect to a seven-month online friendship that never existed?

In this episode, we trace Vernon Becker's path from a therapist-recommended peer support forum to a fake identity named Roger Osborne, a fabricated cryptocurrency platform called Meridian Vault, and the moment investigators discovered the man in the profile photo was a real landscaper in North Carolina whose image had been stolen. We follow the discovery of the partial palm print on the planter's underside, the federal investigation into Douglas Pratt, and the question Patricia Woo could never answer: where exactly did trust become a weapon?

Person: Vernon Becker
Perpetrator: Douglas Pratt, age 41
Location: Millhaven, Oregon; Spartanburg, South Carolina
Event: Disappearance and financial fraud, May-June 2023
Amount stolen: $12,200

- Vernon Becker, 28, worked remotely processing compliance documents for Arbor Bridge insurance and had not missed a single Tuesday volunteer shift at Millhaven Food Collective in two years and four months.
- Vernon joined the peer-support forum Forward Ground on October 4, 2022, after his therapist Patricia Woo referred him via a continuing education newsletter.
- Roger Osborne's profile photo showed a man on a ridgeline with work-worn hands; the image belonged to Pete Hollis, a real landscaping contractor in western North Carolina.
- Vernon transferred $12,200 total to the fraudulent Meridian Vault platform between late March and late April 2023, believing he was helping Roger with a financial investment.
- A rosemary planter with a card signed "R" was found on Vernon's doorstep on June 7, 2023; forensic analysis matched a partial palm print on the pot's underside to Douglas Pratt eighteen months 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.]]>1363falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-package-that-arrived-before-it-was-sent--73098992
A flat-rate Priority mailer sits on Wendy Lane's porch with a postmark dated Wednesday, May third-but she found it Tuesday morning. Inside: a four-dollar Penguin Classics edition of Chekhov and a note from Angela Simmons, a rare book dealer in Edinburgh who had just convinced Wendy to wire six thousand dollars for a customs emergency. But Angela Simmons never existed. How did a man in Georgia spend six months building a false identity around obscure Chekhov scholarship to penetrate a community where Wendy finally felt genuinely known?

In this episode, we trace Derek Malone's operation across four simultaneous personas on collectors' forums, the methodical spreadsheet tracking trust levels and projected yields, and the impossible postmark that exposed the seam. We examine how Malone sourced a real Glasgow librarian's photograph without consent, maintained flawless literary scholarship across eleven weeks of private messages, and engineered a single misattributed Chekhov passage and its perfectly timed correction to move Wendy from stranger to confidant. The question becomes not just who did this, but what exactly he did when the emotional connection was entirely manufactured but the knowledge behind it was genuinely learned.

Person: Wendy Lane
Perpetrator: Derek Malone, age 31
Event: Wire transfer, April 29, 2022
Amount stolen: $6,000
Location: Dellwood, North Carolina; Marietta, Georgia
Case: Romance fraud using fake "Angela Simmons" profile

- Wendy owned fourteen editions of Chekhov's collected stories and taught eighth-grade English at Dellwood Middle School.
- Derek Malone spent six months researching collectors' forums and Chekhov scholarship before posting as Angela Simmons on February 2022.
- Every Chekhov quote Angela Simmons sent across eleven weeks was accurate; Wendy verified each one after the conviction.
- The customs hold notice cited an agricultural goods authority code that would never apply to books, discovered by neighbor Howard Whitley in forty minutes.
- The box with UK postmark dated May 3 arrived on Wendy's porch May 2; reverse image search showed the profile photo was Margaret Osei, a Glasgow librarian, posted publicly in 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098992Tue, 06 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe package that arrived before it was sent A flat-rate Priority mailer sits on Wendy Lane's porch with a postmark dated Wednesday, May third-but she found it Tuesday morning. Inside: a four-dollar Penguin Classics edition of Chekhov and a note...
A flat-rate Priority mailer sits on Wendy Lane's porch with a postmark dated Wednesday, May third-but she found it Tuesday morning. Inside: a four-dollar Penguin Classics edition of Chekhov and a note from Angela Simmons, a rare book dealer in Edinburgh who had just convinced Wendy to wire six thousand dollars for a customs emergency. But Angela Simmons never existed. How did a man in Georgia spend six months building a false identity around obscure Chekhov scholarship to penetrate a community where Wendy finally felt genuinely known?

In this episode, we trace Derek Malone's operation across four simultaneous personas on collectors' forums, the methodical spreadsheet tracking trust levels and projected yields, and the impossible postmark that exposed the seam. We examine how Malone sourced a real Glasgow librarian's photograph without consent, maintained flawless literary scholarship across eleven weeks of private messages, and engineered a single misattributed Chekhov passage and its perfectly timed correction to move Wendy from stranger to confidant. The question becomes not just who did this, but what exactly he did when the emotional connection was entirely manufactured but the knowledge behind it was genuinely learned.

Person: Wendy Lane
Perpetrator: Derek Malone, age 31
Event: Wire transfer, April 29, 2022
Amount stolen: $6,000
Location: Dellwood, North Carolina; Marietta, Georgia
Case: Romance fraud using fake "Angela Simmons" profile

- Wendy owned fourteen editions of Chekhov's collected stories and taught eighth-grade English at Dellwood Middle School.
- Derek Malone spent six months researching collectors' forums and Chekhov scholarship before posting as Angela Simmons on February 2022.
- Every Chekhov quote Angela Simmons sent across eleven weeks was accurate; Wendy verified each one after the conviction.
- The customs hold notice cited an agricultural goods authority code that would never apply to books, discovered by neighbor Howard Whitley in forty minutes.
- The box with UK postmark dated May 3 arrived on Wendy's porch May 2; reverse image search showed the profile photo was Margaret Osei, a Glasgow librarian, posted publicly in 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.]]>1487falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-coloring-book-in-the-mud-how-one-fraudster-built-eight-victims--73098990
A golden retriever named Biscuit dragged a child's coloring book out of the mud on Gregory Lewis Trail in Ohio on a Tuesday morning in April 2022. Inside the back cover were words in a child's handwriting: "Thank you Miss Crystal. God bless you and Thomas." Tucked in the spine was a Western Union receipt for six hundred dollars sent fourteen months earlier to Ghana. But the book should never have been there-it should have been on another continent. How did a carefully constructed missionary named Thomas Adeyemi convince a 22-year-old early childhood educator to drain her entire savings, and what did that ledger with eight names suggest about how many others had already been victimized?

In this episode, we follow Crystal Collins's eighteen-month relationship with a man who didn't exist, the reverse image searches that exposed stolen photographs from a legitimate Ghana charity, and the filing cabinet discovered in Gahanna containing scripts organized by emotional register-urgent/crisis, reassuring/grateful, romantic/personal-along with instructions for voice-modulation software. A fraud prevention analyst named Stanley Myers found the partial street sign visible in the coloring book photograph and traced it to Chadwick Avenue in Columbus, forty-five miles from Crystal's home, raising the question: how many victims were documented in that handwritten ledger, and how long had Rachel Sanders been running this operation before anyone noticed?

Person: Crystal Collins
Perpetrator: Rachel Sanders
Location: Millbrook Township, Ohio
Amount stolen: $22,000 (Crystal); $15,000+ (Pickaway County victim); eight victims total
Event: Coloring book discovery, April 2022
Date range: October 2020 to April 2022

- Crystal Collins, 22 years old, worked as an early childhood educator at a daycare on Perch Street in Millbrook Township, Ohio.
- Thomas Adeyemi first appeared in a Facebook group for Christian educators in fall 2020 and Crystal responded to his post about building a school near Kumasi for flood-displaced children.
- Crystal sent forty-one wire transfers between June 2021 and April 2022, totaling just over $22,000 from her "someday fund" and $11,000 borrowed from her sister Patrice.
- A coloring book Crystal mailed to Ghana in August 2021 was found in mud on Gregory Lewis Trail in Millbrook on April 4, 2022, containing a Western Union receipt for $600 dated fourteen months prior.
- Fraud prevention analyst Stanley Myers reverse-image-searched eleven photographs and found one had been cropped from a Sunrise Forward charity newsletter; he identified the partial street sign in the coloring book photo as Chadwick Avenue in Columbus, forty-five miles from Crystal's home.
- A storage unit on Chadwick Avenue rented under a false LLC contained two laptops, three prepaid phones, forty-six issues of Sunrise Forward newsletters spanning three years, and a handwritten ledger with eight names listed by first name and state abbreviation with corresponding dollar amounts.
- Rachel Sanders was arrested April 17, 2022; a cellmate recording from May 8, 2022 in Franklin County pretrial detention became her formal confession after plea negotiations collapsed; she was convicted on eleven counts of wire fraud, two counts of identity fraud using Victor Anand's photographs, and one count of theft by deception exceeding $15,000, and sentenced to seven 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098990Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe coloring book in the mud: how one fraudster built eight victims A golden retriever named Biscuit dragged a child's coloring book out of the mud on Gregory Lewis Trail in Ohio on a Tuesday morning in April 2022. Inside the back cover were words...
A golden retriever named Biscuit dragged a child's coloring book out of the mud on Gregory Lewis Trail in Ohio on a Tuesday morning in April 2022. Inside the back cover were words in a child's handwriting: "Thank you Miss Crystal. God bless you and Thomas." Tucked in the spine was a Western Union receipt for six hundred dollars sent fourteen months earlier to Ghana. But the book should never have been there-it should have been on another continent. How did a carefully constructed missionary named Thomas Adeyemi convince a 22-year-old early childhood educator to drain her entire savings, and what did that ledger with eight names suggest about how many others had already been victimized?

In this episode, we follow Crystal Collins's eighteen-month relationship with a man who didn't exist, the reverse image searches that exposed stolen photographs from a legitimate Ghana charity, and the filing cabinet discovered in Gahanna containing scripts organized by emotional register-urgent/crisis, reassuring/grateful, romantic/personal-along with instructions for voice-modulation software. A fraud prevention analyst named Stanley Myers found the partial street sign visible in the coloring book photograph and traced it to Chadwick Avenue in Columbus, forty-five miles from Crystal's home, raising the question: how many victims were documented in that handwritten ledger, and how long had Rachel Sanders been running this operation before anyone noticed?

Person: Crystal Collins
Perpetrator: Rachel Sanders
Location: Millbrook Township, Ohio
Amount stolen: $22,000 (Crystal); $15,000+ (Pickaway County victim); eight victims total
Event: Coloring book discovery, April 2022
Date range: October 2020 to April 2022

- Crystal Collins, 22 years old, worked as an early childhood educator at a daycare on Perch Street in Millbrook Township, Ohio.
- Thomas Adeyemi first appeared in a Facebook group for Christian educators in fall 2020 and Crystal responded to his post about building a school near Kumasi for flood-displaced children.
- Crystal sent forty-one wire transfers between June 2021 and April 2022, totaling just over $22,000 from her "someday fund" and $11,000 borrowed from her sister Patrice.
- A coloring book Crystal mailed to Ghana in August 2021 was found in mud on Gregory Lewis Trail in Millbrook on April 4, 2022, containing a Western Union receipt for $600 dated fourteen months prior.
- Fraud prevention analyst Stanley Myers reverse-image-searched eleven photographs and found one had been cropped from a Sunrise Forward charity newsletter; he identified the partial street sign in the coloring book photo as Chadwick Avenue in Columbus, forty-five miles from Crystal's home.
- A storage unit on Chadwick Avenue rented under a false LLC contained two laptops, three prepaid phones, forty-six issues of Sunrise Forward newsletters spanning three years, and a handwritten ledger with eight names listed by first name and state abbreviation with corresponding dollar amounts.
- Rachel Sanders was arrested April 17, 2022; a cellmate recording from May 8, 2022 in Franklin County pretrial detention became her formal confession after plea negotiations collapsed; she was convicted on eleven counts of wire fraud, two counts of identity fraud using Victor Anand's photographs, and one count of theft by deception exceeding $15,000, and sentenced to seven 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...]]>1386falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-orange-phone-case-how-a-gift-became-evidence--73098989
A loan processor in Morrow Bluff, Tennessee receives a waterproof phone case as a gift from a new friend-bright orange, designed to survive submersion in water. James Norris doesn't spend time near water. Six weeks later, he places that phone inside the case, sets it on a dock railing above Calvert Creek, and drives away. Why would a man destroy his own phone to end a friendship?

In this episode, we trace James's routine-the gym schedule, the laminated tortoise feeding chart, the Sunday calls to his sister-and how a carefully constructed person named Eric Tillman was designed to study that predictability. We follow Gina Jensen's reverse image search that exposed stolen photographs, the cell tower data that placed Victor Marsh at every Saturday meeting, and the eight thousand dollars that moved through two intermediary accounts into Marsh's control.

Person: James Norris
Perpetrator: Victor Marsh
Location: Morrow Bluff, Tennessee
Date: March 14, 2019
Amount stolen: $8,000
Pattern: At least four cities over seven years

- James Norris worked as a loan processor at Tri-County Federal Credit Union for nine years, maintaining a schedule of gym visits on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
- Eric Tillman's Facebook profile used stolen photographs from Alan Voss, a real structural engineer in Knoxville, Tennessee, taken during a Colorado hiking trip in 2017.
- Gina Jensen photographed two different men exiting the same silver pickup truck on separate visits to Hatcher Road, discovering that Eric Tillman had no single face.
- James transferred $8,000 within 24 hours of Eric's call about his hospitalized mother with lapsed insurance.
- Victor Marsh's cell phone placed him at the Hatcher Road trailhead every Saturday, contradicting his claimed locations, confirmed by tower data that prosecutors presented on the trial's fourth day.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098989Sun, 04 Oct 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe orange phone case: how a gift became evidence A loan processor in Morrow Bluff, Tennessee receives a waterproof phone case as a gift from a new friend-bright orange, designed to survive submersion in water. James Norris doesn't spend time near...
A loan processor in Morrow Bluff, Tennessee receives a waterproof phone case as a gift from a new friend-bright orange, designed to survive submersion in water. James Norris doesn't spend time near water. Six weeks later, he places that phone inside the case, sets it on a dock railing above Calvert Creek, and drives away. Why would a man destroy his own phone to end a friendship?

In this episode, we trace James's routine-the gym schedule, the laminated tortoise feeding chart, the Sunday calls to his sister-and how a carefully constructed person named Eric Tillman was designed to study that predictability. We follow Gina Jensen's reverse image search that exposed stolen photographs, the cell tower data that placed Victor Marsh at every Saturday meeting, and the eight thousand dollars that moved through two intermediary accounts into Marsh's control.

Person: James Norris
Perpetrator: Victor Marsh
Location: Morrow Bluff, Tennessee
Date: March 14, 2019
Amount stolen: $8,000
Pattern: At least four cities over seven years

- James Norris worked as a loan processor at Tri-County Federal Credit Union for nine years, maintaining a schedule of gym visits on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
- Eric Tillman's Facebook profile used stolen photographs from Alan Voss, a real structural engineer in Knoxville, Tennessee, taken during a Colorado hiking trip in 2017.
- Gina Jensen photographed two different men exiting the same silver pickup truck on separate visits to Hatcher Road, discovering that Eric Tillman had no single face.
- James transferred $8,000 within 24 hours of Eric's call about his hospitalized mother with lapsed insurance.
- Victor Marsh's cell phone placed him at the Hatcher Road trailhead every Saturday, contradicting his claimed locations, confirmed by tower data that prosecutors presented on the trial's fourth day.

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.]]>1361falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-roses-on-the-fence-how-a-stolen-face-built-a-life-that-never-existed--73098986
A surveyor found dried ivory roses tied to a fence post on a frost-hardened gravel road outside Kellerton, Ohio on the morning of February seventh, 2023. The card inside read: For the life we were going to build. Two hundred yards away, the man who placed them was unconscious on his kitchen floor. How did a retired plant manager transfer twenty-two thousand two hundred dollars to a person who didn't exist, and what did it take to uncover the man behind the profile?

In this episode, we trace how a Brazilian fitness influencer's photograph was stolen and paired with a fake Oregon address, how a public county drainage dispute filing was weaponized to describe land that was never for sale, and how a man named Neil Snyder had cycled through two prior fraud convictions with no internet restrictions. We follow the chain from a nutrition app match in March 2022 to the bouquet placed in February 2023, and ask why a social worker's ninety-second reverse image search found what six years of inaction on a prior report had not.

Person: Ronald Cooper
Perpetrator: Neil Snyder, age 51
Location: Kellerton, Ohio and Decatur, Georgia
Amount stolen: $22,200
Event: Bouquet discovery, February 7, 2023
Platform: ClearPath nutrition coaching app

- Ronald Cooper, retired plant operations manager after 24 years, turned 62 the summer before the fraud began and moved to rural property outside Kellerton, Ohio.
- In March 2022, Cooper downloaded ClearPath and was matched with "Neil Snyder," a certified nutritionist from Portland, Oregon whose profile photograph was taken without authorization from Brazilian fitness influencer Marco Ferreira.
- By September 2022, Cooper's calls with the impostor had moved off-platform to a 503 area code number registered to a prepaid card with an Atlanta address that did not exist.
- Between October 2022 and January 2023, Cooper transferred money in five installments: $4,200 for an audit fee, $6,000 for a cardiac event, and $12,000 as a down payment on rural property near Kellerton described using details from a public county drainage dispute filing.
- Neil Snyder had two prior fraud convictions in Tennessee and Alabama, each resolved through plea agreements requiring no internet registration or restrictions; he was arrested on February 22, 2023, at a Decatur residence wearing a utility company vest and holding a clipboard, both props, and pleaded guilty in April 2023 to three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, receiving a six-year federal sentence.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098986Sat, 03 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe roses on the fence: how a stolen face built a life that never existed A surveyor found dried ivory roses tied to a fence post on a frost-hardened gravel road outside Kellerton, Ohio on the morning of February seventh, 2023. The card inside...
A surveyor found dried ivory roses tied to a fence post on a frost-hardened gravel road outside Kellerton, Ohio on the morning of February seventh, 2023. The card inside read: For the life we were going to build. Two hundred yards away, the man who placed them was unconscious on his kitchen floor. How did a retired plant manager transfer twenty-two thousand two hundred dollars to a person who didn't exist, and what did it take to uncover the man behind the profile?

In this episode, we trace how a Brazilian fitness influencer's photograph was stolen and paired with a fake Oregon address, how a public county drainage dispute filing was weaponized to describe land that was never for sale, and how a man named Neil Snyder had cycled through two prior fraud convictions with no internet restrictions. We follow the chain from a nutrition app match in March 2022 to the bouquet placed in February 2023, and ask why a social worker's ninety-second reverse image search found what six years of inaction on a prior report had not.

Person: Ronald Cooper
Perpetrator: Neil Snyder, age 51
Location: Kellerton, Ohio and Decatur, Georgia
Amount stolen: $22,200
Event: Bouquet discovery, February 7, 2023
Platform: ClearPath nutrition coaching app

- Ronald Cooper, retired plant operations manager after 24 years, turned 62 the summer before the fraud began and moved to rural property outside Kellerton, Ohio.
- In March 2022, Cooper downloaded ClearPath and was matched with "Neil Snyder," a certified nutritionist from Portland, Oregon whose profile photograph was taken without authorization from Brazilian fitness influencer Marco Ferreira.
- By September 2022, Cooper's calls with the impostor had moved off-platform to a 503 area code number registered to a prepaid card with an Atlanta address that did not exist.
- Between October 2022 and January 2023, Cooper transferred money in five installments: $4,200 for an audit fee, $6,000 for a cardiac event, and $12,000 as a down payment on rural property near Kellerton described using details from a public county drainage dispute filing.
- Neil Snyder had two prior fraud convictions in Tennessee and Alabama, each resolved through plea agreements requiring no internet registration or restrictions; he was arrested on February 22, 2023, at a Decatur residence wearing a utility company vest and holding a clipboard, both props, and pleaded guilty in April 2023 to three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, receiving a six-year federal sentence.

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.]]>1454falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-un-badge-in-the-frozen-pasture-how-a-ledger-of-eleven-victims-broke-open--73098984
In this episode, we trace how a carefully timed romance scam unraveled through four certificates of deposit, a grain elevator camera recording an eighty-nine-minute window on choir night, and a storage unit containing a handwritten ledger naming eleven victims across four years. We examine how Vincent Pruett synchronized fake deployment extensions to Sarah Reed's financial maturity dates, moved money through rotating domestic accounts disguised as international transfers, and why the badge-the one piece of physical evidence he left behind-was never fully explained in his confession.

Person: Sarah Reed, age 26
Perpetrator: Vincent Pruett, age 44
Location: Vance, Nebraska; Kearney, Nebraska rental
Amount stolen: $94,000 (Sarah Reed); eleven victims over four years
Event: UN badge discovery, January 9, 2023
Platform: Christian singles dating service

- Sarah Reed's husband Cody died in a rollover accident in March 2021, leaving her four laddered certificates of deposit totaling roughly $214,000.
- Howard Underwood's profile appeared in late February 2022 using a stolen photograph of Stephen Farrell, a logistics coordinator in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- The first wire transfer of $2,000 cleared eleven days after Sarah's first CD matured in May 2022; a $38,000 transfer went out nine days after the second CD matured in August.
- A grain elevator camera two miles south recorded a dark blue Ford F-150 with obscured plates passing the Reed property at 6:12 p.m. and returning at 7:41 p.m. on January 7, 2023-Thursday choir night.
- Deputies recovered a laminating machine, a printer with UN-logotype cartridges, and a handwritten ledger with eleven names spanning 2018 to 2023 from a storage unit in Minden, Nebraska on February 8, 2023.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098984Fri, 02 Oct 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe UN badge in the frozen pasture: how a ledger of eleven victims broke open In this episode, we trace how a carefully timed romance scam unraveled through four certificates of deposit, a grain elevator camera recording an eighty-nine-minute...
In this episode, we trace how a carefully timed romance scam unraveled through four certificates of deposit, a grain elevator camera recording an eighty-nine-minute window on choir night, and a storage unit containing a handwritten ledger naming eleven victims across four years. We examine how Vincent Pruett synchronized fake deployment extensions to Sarah Reed's financial maturity dates, moved money through rotating domestic accounts disguised as international transfers, and why the badge-the one piece of physical evidence he left behind-was never fully explained in his confession.

Person: Sarah Reed, age 26
Perpetrator: Vincent Pruett, age 44
Location: Vance, Nebraska; Kearney, Nebraska rental
Amount stolen: $94,000 (Sarah Reed); eleven victims over four years
Event: UN badge discovery, January 9, 2023
Platform: Christian singles dating service

- Sarah Reed's husband Cody died in a rollover accident in March 2021, leaving her four laddered certificates of deposit totaling roughly $214,000.
- Howard Underwood's profile appeared in late February 2022 using a stolen photograph of Stephen Farrell, a logistics coordinator in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- The first wire transfer of $2,000 cleared eleven days after Sarah's first CD matured in May 2022; a $38,000 transfer went out nine days after the second CD matured in August.
- A grain elevator camera two miles south recorded a dark blue Ford F-150 with obscured plates passing the Reed property at 6:12 p.m. and returning at 7:41 p.m. on January 7, 2023-Thursday choir night.
- Deputies recovered a laminating machine, a printer with UN-logotype cartridges, and a handwritten ledger with eleven names spanning 2018 to 2023 from a storage unit in Minden, Nebraska on February 8, 2023.

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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.]]>1313falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-chess-queen-on-the-windowsill-how-a-four-year-old-photograph-became-proof--73098983
A pale soapstone chess piece sat centered on Gregory Allen's bathroom windowsill one December morning in 2019, placed there while he slept in a locked house. Gregory had never owned a chess set in his life. How did a carved queen left by a man he believed lived four thousand miles away become the linchpin of a seven-year fraud operation that had already stolen $114,000?

In this episode, we follow the nine-month chess correspondence that masked a calculated romance scam, the reverse image search that connected a stolen LinkedIn profile to a retired architect in Portland, and the structural weakness in a bathroom window frame that a technician had photographed four years earlier. We examine how one man studied an amateur player's game patterns for months before making contact, how $114,000 moved through three intermediary accounts to a mail drop in Atlanta, and why the person who finally found the evidence was watching a yellow-rumped warbler.

Person: Gregory Allen
Perpetrator: Marcus Tilden
Location: Clover Run, Roanoke, Virginia
Amount stolen: $114,000 from Gregory Allen; $61,000 from Louise Farber
Event: Marcus Tilden placed soapstone chess queen on December 9, 2019
Sentence: Nine years federal prison

- Gregory Allen joined Correspondence King chess platform in February 2019 and received a game challenge from "Eric Bishop" within two weeks.
- Marcus Tilden worked as a contracted IT technician for the property management company servicing Clover Run subdivision in 2015 and photographed a loose bathroom window panel during a service visit.
- The eleven transfers from Gregory to "Eric Bishop" totaled $114,000; money moved through three intermediary accounts and prepaid debit cards registered to a mail drop in Atlanta.
- Reverse image search revealed photographs of "Eric Bishop" belonged to Stephen Vane, a retired architect in Portland, Oregon who had no connection to Gregory Allen.
- Carol Riley, a birdwatcher tracking a yellow-rumped warbler on December 9, 2019, noted a pale object on Gregory's exterior bathroom windowsill and mentioned it to a neighbor two days later, triggering the investigation.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098983Thu, 01 Oct 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe chess queen on the windowsill: how a four-year-old photograph became proof A pale soapstone chess piece sat centered on Gregory Allen's bathroom windowsill one December morning in 2019, placed there while he slept in a locked house. Gregory had...
A pale soapstone chess piece sat centered on Gregory Allen's bathroom windowsill one December morning in 2019, placed there while he slept in a locked house. Gregory had never owned a chess set in his life. How did a carved queen left by a man he believed lived four thousand miles away become the linchpin of a seven-year fraud operation that had already stolen $114,000?

In this episode, we follow the nine-month chess correspondence that masked a calculated romance scam, the reverse image search that connected a stolen LinkedIn profile to a retired architect in Portland, and the structural weakness in a bathroom window frame that a technician had photographed four years earlier. We examine how one man studied an amateur player's game patterns for months before making contact, how $114,000 moved through three intermediary accounts to a mail drop in Atlanta, and why the person who finally found the evidence was watching a yellow-rumped warbler.

Person: Gregory Allen
Perpetrator: Marcus Tilden
Location: Clover Run, Roanoke, Virginia
Amount stolen: $114,000 from Gregory Allen; $61,000 from Louise Farber
Event: Marcus Tilden placed soapstone chess queen on December 9, 2019
Sentence: Nine years federal prison

- Gregory Allen joined Correspondence King chess platform in February 2019 and received a game challenge from "Eric Bishop" within two weeks.
- Marcus Tilden worked as a contracted IT technician for the property management company servicing Clover Run subdivision in 2015 and photographed a loose bathroom window panel during a service visit.
- The eleven transfers from Gregory to "Eric Bishop" totaled $114,000; money moved through three intermediary accounts and prepaid debit cards registered to a mail drop in Atlanta.
- Reverse image search revealed photographs of "Eric Bishop" belonged to Stephen Vane, a retired architect in Portland, Oregon who had no connection to Gregory Allen.
- Carol Riley, a birdwatcher tracking a yellow-rumped warbler on December 9, 2019, noted a pale object on Gregory's exterior bathroom windowsill and mentioned it to a neighbor two days later, triggering the investigation.

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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.]]>1359falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-wedding-invitation-that-was-never-mailed--73098982
A cream-colored card sits on a kitchen table in a small Indiana town, addressed to a woman who does not exist and a venue that was never built. Rhonda Hoffman, a cancer survivor relearning how to trust the future, received it ten days before the scheduled wedding-but something shifted in the early hours of November fourteenth, two thousand and twenty-one, and she walked out without her coat instead.

In this episode, we trace how a fake oncology nurse named Rachel Powell built a fourteen-month romance across a private cancer support group, extracting twenty-two thousand dollars through carefully engineered emotional precision. We examine the notebook found in a storage unit in Ohio-eleven women, five states, each entry including an emotional profile and a financial estimate-and the single detail that stopped the operation before it reached its conclusion: a coworker who noticed a changed commute route and ran a reverse image search.

Person: Rhonda Hoffman
Perpetrator: Scott Verner, age 28
Location: Maplewood, Indiana; Garfield, Ohio
Amount stolen: $22,000
Event: November 14, 2021
Case: Romance fraud via fake identity "Rachel Powell"

- Rhonda Hoffman was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma in her late twenties and entered remission in spring of two thousand and nineteen.
- She joined the private Facebook group Steady Ground in late summer of two thousand and twenty, where she was contacted within the hour by group administrator Rachel Powell.
- Scott Verner used photographs stolen without permission from Connie Fairweather, a nurse practitioner in Asheville, North Carolina, to build the fake Rachel Powell profile.
- The first money request arrived in February of two thousand and twenty-one for eight hundred dollars via Cash App; by August, the total transferred was twenty-two thousand dollars.
- Verner's car broke down on Interstate 70, fifteen miles east of Maplewood, on the night of November twelfth, two thousand and twenty-one, and he was arrested two days later on November sixteenth in Hendricks County, Indiana.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098982Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe wedding invitation that was never mailed A cream-colored card sits on a kitchen table in a small Indiana town, addressed to a woman who does not exist and a venue that was never built. Rhonda Hoffman, a cancer survivor relearning how to trust...
A cream-colored card sits on a kitchen table in a small Indiana town, addressed to a woman who does not exist and a venue that was never built. Rhonda Hoffman, a cancer survivor relearning how to trust the future, received it ten days before the scheduled wedding-but something shifted in the early hours of November fourteenth, two thousand and twenty-one, and she walked out without her coat instead.

In this episode, we trace how a fake oncology nurse named Rachel Powell built a fourteen-month romance across a private cancer support group, extracting twenty-two thousand dollars through carefully engineered emotional precision. We examine the notebook found in a storage unit in Ohio-eleven women, five states, each entry including an emotional profile and a financial estimate-and the single detail that stopped the operation before it reached its conclusion: a coworker who noticed a changed commute route and ran a reverse image search.

Person: Rhonda Hoffman
Perpetrator: Scott Verner, age 28
Location: Maplewood, Indiana; Garfield, Ohio
Amount stolen: $22,000
Event: November 14, 2021
Case: Romance fraud via fake identity "Rachel Powell"

- Rhonda Hoffman was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma in her late twenties and entered remission in spring of two thousand and nineteen.
- She joined the private Facebook group Steady Ground in late summer of two thousand and twenty, where she was contacted within the hour by group administrator Rachel Powell.
- Scott Verner used photographs stolen without permission from Connie Fairweather, a nurse practitioner in Asheville, North Carolina, to build the fake Rachel Powell profile.
- The first money request arrived in February of two thousand and twenty-one for eight hundred dollars via Cash App; by August, the total transferred was twenty-two thousand dollars.
- Verner's car broke down on Interstate 70, fifteen miles east of Maplewood, on the night of November twelfth, two thousand and twenty-one, and he was arrested two days later on November sixteenth in Hendricks County, Indiana.

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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.]]>1484falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-crate-in-the-drainage-ditch-how-a-snowplow-found-a-two-year-romance-scam--73098981
A wooden chest-freezer-sized crate sits in a roadside drainage easement at dawn, pried open and nearly empty-containing only a laminated photograph of a schoolteacher named Susan Carlson, her name on white label tape, fastened with a single brass nail. Inside that crate should have been the arrival of a man she had been waiting for across two and a half years of pale blue airmail letters, pressed flowers, and seven wire transfers totaling forty-one thousand dollars. What happens when one transposed digit on a shipping label stops a romance scam inches from its final destination?

In this episode, we trace Susan's correspondence with "Troy Ward," a supposedly displaced Liberian teacher in European resettlement facilities, and follow the investigation backward from the crate to a storage unit in Marietta, Georgia filled with a printer, three boxes of pale blue stationery, a hard drive organized by victim name, and evidence that her folder was the thickest of them all. We examine the botanist's finding that the pressed flower-claimed to have grown in a Belgian exercise yard-was actually native to suburban Atlanta, and we confront what the brass nail gun and laminator suggest about the scheme's true purpose when one digit error redirected everything to a ditch.

Person: Susan Carlson
Perpetrator: Troy Ward, age 41
Location: Halverson County; storage unit in Marietta, Georgia
Amount stolen: $41,000
Event: Crate discovered October 2019; arrest November 2019
Platform: Bridgeway Correspondence Project; wire transfers January-September 2019

- Susan Carlson taught fourth grade at Breckenridge Elementary for nineteen years and volunteered at Halverson County Literacy Coalition every Thursday evening without missing a shift in six years.
- She joined the Bridgeway Correspondence Project in spring 2017 and began corresponding with "Troy Ward," who claimed to be a thirty-eight-year-old former teacher from Liberia waiting in resettlement facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium.
- The first pressed flower arrived in November 2017 postmarked from Rotterdam on pale blue airmail stationery; a botanist later determined it was common wood sorrel native to the southeastern United States, not Belgium.
- Susan sent seven wire transfers totaling forty-one thousand dollars between January and September 2019, prompted by letters describing visa denials, legal fees, and his sister's medical emergency.
- A snowplow operator named Steven Allen found the wooden crate in a drainage easement on Kettner Road at 4:40 a.m. on the second Tuesday of October 2019; the crate's address label had one digit transposed, redirecting it from Susan's doorstep to the ditch.
- Investigators discovered that Troy Ward operated Westport Logistics LLC from a Delaware mail drop and maintained a storage unit containing a printer, laminator, hard drive organized by victim names, and the thickest folder on Susan Carlson with draft letters containing bracketed blanks for personal details extracted from her life.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098981Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe crate in the drainage ditch: how a snowplow found a two-year romance scam A wooden chest-freezer-sized crate sits in a roadside drainage easement at dawn, pried open and nearly empty-containing only a laminated photograph of a schoolteacher...
A wooden chest-freezer-sized crate sits in a roadside drainage easement at dawn, pried open and nearly empty-containing only a laminated photograph of a schoolteacher named Susan Carlson, her name on white label tape, fastened with a single brass nail. Inside that crate should have been the arrival of a man she had been waiting for across two and a half years of pale blue airmail letters, pressed flowers, and seven wire transfers totaling forty-one thousand dollars. What happens when one transposed digit on a shipping label stops a romance scam inches from its final destination?

In this episode, we trace Susan's correspondence with "Troy Ward," a supposedly displaced Liberian teacher in European resettlement facilities, and follow the investigation backward from the crate to a storage unit in Marietta, Georgia filled with a printer, three boxes of pale blue stationery, a hard drive organized by victim name, and evidence that her folder was the thickest of them all. We examine the botanist's finding that the pressed flower-claimed to have grown in a Belgian exercise yard-was actually native to suburban Atlanta, and we confront what the brass nail gun and laminator suggest about the scheme's true purpose when one digit error redirected everything to a ditch.

Person: Susan Carlson
Perpetrator: Troy Ward, age 41
Location: Halverson County; storage unit in Marietta, Georgia
Amount stolen: $41,000
Event: Crate discovered October 2019; arrest November 2019
Platform: Bridgeway Correspondence Project; wire transfers January-September 2019

- Susan Carlson taught fourth grade at Breckenridge Elementary for nineteen years and volunteered at Halverson County Literacy Coalition every Thursday evening without missing a shift in six years.
- She joined the Bridgeway Correspondence Project in spring 2017 and began corresponding with "Troy Ward," who claimed to be a thirty-eight-year-old former teacher from Liberia waiting in resettlement facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium.
- The first pressed flower arrived in November 2017 postmarked from Rotterdam on pale blue airmail stationery; a botanist later determined it was common wood sorrel native to the southeastern United States, not Belgium.
- Susan sent seven wire transfers totaling forty-one thousand dollars between January and September 2019, prompted by letters describing visa denials, legal fees, and his sister's medical emergency.
- A snowplow operator named Steven Allen found the wooden crate in a drainage easement on Kettner Road at 4:40 a.m. on the second Tuesday of October 2019; the crate's address label had one digit transposed, redirecting it from Susan's doorstep to the ditch.
- Investigators discovered that Troy Ward operated Westport Logistics LLC from a Delaware mail drop and maintained a storage unit containing a printer, laminator, hard drive organized by victim names, and the thickest folder on Susan Carlson with draft letters containing bracketed blanks for personal details extracted from her life.

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.]]>1387falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-table-set-for-one-how-a-retired-teacher-lost-11-000-to-paula-reed--73098980
In this episode, we follow Kimberly's seven-month email and phone correspondence with Paula Reed through four escalating financial requests totaling $11,000, the moment her nephew Tyler spotted an unusually new domain for a logistics assistant, and the forty-second reverse image search that exposed Paula as Renata Solberg, a real architect in Bend, Oregon who had no idea her photographs were being used. We trace the devices left behind at Sycamore Bend Road back to Sandra Koble, who had been running seventeen simultaneous aliases and extracting over $140,000 from twelve victims across at least seven years.

Person: Kimberly Simmons
Perpetrator: Sandra Koble, age 40
Alias: Paula Reed
Location: Sycamore Bend Road, Grover Falls; Portland, Oregon (claimed)
Amount stolen from Kimberly: $11,000
Total extracted across all victims: $140,000
Arrest date: September 22, 2019

- Kimberly Simmons had been a fourth-grade teacher at Willowbrook Elementary for nineteen years before retiring in spring 2017 at age 42.
- Paula Reed's profile claimed she was a 47-year-old architect in Portland who had been deaf since a car accident at age 31.
- The first money request arrived in June 2019 for $4,000 to cover a permit invoice error with a 72-hour window.
- Kimberly's nephew Tyler Webb noticed the logistics assistant's email domain had been registered only six weeks earlier, which was unusual for an established firm.
- Tammy Casey ran a reverse image search on a photograph Paula sent in late August 2019 and discovered it belonged to Renata Solberg, a 39-year-old hearing architect in Bend, Oregon with four years of public Instagram posts.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098980Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe table set for one: how a retired teacher lost $11,000 to Paula Reed In this episode, we follow Kimberly's seven-month email and phone correspondence with Paula Reed through four escalating financial requests totaling $11,000, the moment her...
In this episode, we follow Kimberly's seven-month email and phone correspondence with Paula Reed through four escalating financial requests totaling $11,000, the moment her nephew Tyler spotted an unusually new domain for a logistics assistant, and the forty-second reverse image search that exposed Paula as Renata Solberg, a real architect in Bend, Oregon who had no idea her photographs were being used. We trace the devices left behind at Sycamore Bend Road back to Sandra Koble, who had been running seventeen simultaneous aliases and extracting over $140,000 from twelve victims across at least seven years.

Person: Kimberly Simmons
Perpetrator: Sandra Koble, age 40
Alias: Paula Reed
Location: Sycamore Bend Road, Grover Falls; Portland, Oregon (claimed)
Amount stolen from Kimberly: $11,000
Total extracted across all victims: $140,000
Arrest date: September 22, 2019

- Kimberly Simmons had been a fourth-grade teacher at Willowbrook Elementary for nineteen years before retiring in spring 2017 at age 42.
- Paula Reed's profile claimed she was a 47-year-old architect in Portland who had been deaf since a car accident at age 31.
- The first money request arrived in June 2019 for $4,000 to cover a permit invoice error with a 72-hour window.
- Kimberly's nephew Tyler Webb noticed the logistics assistant's email domain had been registered only six weeks earlier, which was unusual for an established firm.
- Tammy Casey ran a reverse image search on a photograph Paula sent in late August 2019 and discovered it belonged to Renata Solberg, a 39-year-old hearing architect in Bend, Oregon with four years of public Instagram posts.

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.]]>1391falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-card-on-the-wet-bench-how-norman-wright-built-amanda-sanders-twice--73098978
A man placed an identical handmade card on a soaking park bench at four in the morning, hours after rain stopped falling in Kellerton. Amanda Sanders had received the same card five days earlier, with the same handwriting, the same inscription in blue ballpoint: "You are the only real thing I have ever made." But who was the second card for, and why did Norman Wright stop talking the moment his fingerprint was found inside it?

In this episode, we follow Amanda's careful eighteen-day romance with a man called Nathan Cole-built from a Columbus engineer's photographs, a Cincinnati man's stolen identity, and a fake contracting company registered fourteen months before their first coffee shop date. We trace the deliberately placed "coincidence" at Briar Pond, the four-thousand-dollar wire transfer framed as a penalty clause, and the duplicate card that appeared on a bench with Wright's fingerprint inside-a question he refused to answer even in court.

Person: Amanda Sanders
Location: Kellerton, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky
Perpetrator: Norman Wright, age 36
Amount stolen: Four thousand dollars (Kellerton); eighteen thousand dollars (Louisville)
Event: Romance fraud with duplicate handmade cards
Platform: Brantley Connect dating app

- Amanda Sanders was a 28-year-old licensed dental hygienist who listed trail running on her Brantley Connect profile in early June.
- Norman Wright, living on Caldecott Street on a sublease for fourteen months, created the "Nathan Cole" profile using photographs stolen from Columbus engineer Brian Weston and the real identity of Cincinnati man Nathan Cole, who had filed a fraud report six weeks prior.
- Wright waited at Briar Pond and positioned himself on Amanda's running path on a Saturday in late June; cell records placed him there deliberately, not by coincidence.
- Amanda transferred four thousand dollars on August eleventh after Wright claimed a contract penalty clause required immediate cash; that same morning, Randy Sullivan found an identical handmade card-with matching blue ballpoint handwriting and signature-placed on a bench at Briar Pond in a waterproof condition after heavy rain.
- Wright's right index fingerprint was found inside the back cover of the duplicate card on the bench; he pleaded guilty rather than explain its purpose, and DNA evidence later connected him to a two-year-old Louisville case involving eighteen thousand dollars stolen from a woman named Susan Alcott under the alias "Derek Miles," who also received a handmade card with a flower.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098978Sun, 27 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe card on the wet bench: how Norman Wright built Amanda Sanders twice A man placed an identical handmade card on a soaking park bench at four in the morning, hours after rain stopped falling in Kellerton. Amanda Sanders had received the same card...
A man placed an identical handmade card on a soaking park bench at four in the morning, hours after rain stopped falling in Kellerton. Amanda Sanders had received the same card five days earlier, with the same handwriting, the same inscription in blue ballpoint: "You are the only real thing I have ever made." But who was the second card for, and why did Norman Wright stop talking the moment his fingerprint was found inside it?

In this episode, we follow Amanda's careful eighteen-day romance with a man called Nathan Cole-built from a Columbus engineer's photographs, a Cincinnati man's stolen identity, and a fake contracting company registered fourteen months before their first coffee shop date. We trace the deliberately placed "coincidence" at Briar Pond, the four-thousand-dollar wire transfer framed as a penalty clause, and the duplicate card that appeared on a bench with Wright's fingerprint inside-a question he refused to answer even in court.

Person: Amanda Sanders
Location: Kellerton, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky
Perpetrator: Norman Wright, age 36
Amount stolen: Four thousand dollars (Kellerton); eighteen thousand dollars (Louisville)
Event: Romance fraud with duplicate handmade cards
Platform: Brantley Connect dating app

- Amanda Sanders was a 28-year-old licensed dental hygienist who listed trail running on her Brantley Connect profile in early June.
- Norman Wright, living on Caldecott Street on a sublease for fourteen months, created the "Nathan Cole" profile using photographs stolen from Columbus engineer Brian Weston and the real identity of Cincinnati man Nathan Cole, who had filed a fraud report six weeks prior.
- Wright waited at Briar Pond and positioned himself on Amanda's running path on a Saturday in late June; cell records placed him there deliberately, not by coincidence.
- Amanda transferred four thousand dollars on August eleventh after Wright claimed a contract penalty clause required immediate cash; that same morning, Randy Sullivan found an identical handmade card-with matching blue ballpoint handwriting and signature-placed on a bench at Briar Pond in a waterproof condition after heavy rain.
- Wright's right index fingerprint was found inside the back cover of the duplicate card on the bench; he pleaded guilty rather than explain its purpose, and DNA evidence later connected him to a two-year-old Louisville case involving eighteen thousand dollars stolen from a woman named Susan Alcott under the alias "Derek Miles," who also received a handmade card with a flower.

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.]]>1305falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-coffee-maker-that-ran-after-he-died--73098976
In this episode, we follow eight months of carefully orchestrated contact between Melissa and a man claiming to be Dean Hunter, a civil engineer from Dayton, Ohio-complete with a thank-you note from his daughter on lighthouse-watermarked stationery and six separate requests for money, each followed by full repayment plus a personal gesture. We trace how investigator Marvin Hensley and analyst Beth Kwon discovered that the stationery came from Indiana gift shops forty miles away from Dayton, that the face in the dating profile belonged to an architect named Scott Peavy from Michigan, and how a second victim named Barbara Neel lost sixty thousand dollars to the same operation under a different alias on a different forum.

Person: Melissa Gardner
Victim: Barbara Neel
Perpetrator: Dean Hunter (real name: not disclosed in transcript)
Amount stolen: Forty-two thousand dollars (Melissa); sixty thousand dollars (Barbara)
Location: Kellerton, Ohio and Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: March 2018 to July 2019

- Melissa Gardner was a fifty-four-year-old earth science teacher who lost her husband Warren Gardner to a cerebral hemorrhage in October 2017.
- Dean Hunter's first message asked Melissa not who Warren was, but what he was like, leading to eight months of contact and six separate money requests totaling forty-two thousand dollars.
- A thank-you note from Hunter's daughter Sophie used stationery with a lighthouse watermark traced to Indiana gift shops, forty miles from Dayton where Hunter claimed to live.
- Barbara Neel from Fort Wayne lost sixty thousand dollars over eighteen months to the same perpetrator using a different alias, Thomas Breck, on a forum called Anchor & Shore.
- The fake profile photographs of both Dean Hunter and Thomas Breck belonged to Scott Peavy, a real architect from Traverse City, Michigan, whose images were taken from a dormant home renovation blog updated until 2015.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098976Sat, 26 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe coffee maker that ran after he died In this episode, we follow eight months of carefully orchestrated contact between Melissa and a man claiming to be Dean Hunter, a civil engineer from Dayton, Ohio-complete with a thank-you note from his...
In this episode, we follow eight months of carefully orchestrated contact between Melissa and a man claiming to be Dean Hunter, a civil engineer from Dayton, Ohio-complete with a thank-you note from his daughter on lighthouse-watermarked stationery and six separate requests for money, each followed by full repayment plus a personal gesture. We trace how investigator Marvin Hensley and analyst Beth Kwon discovered that the stationery came from Indiana gift shops forty miles away from Dayton, that the face in the dating profile belonged to an architect named Scott Peavy from Michigan, and how a second victim named Barbara Neel lost sixty thousand dollars to the same operation under a different alias on a different forum.

Person: Melissa Gardner
Victim: Barbara Neel
Perpetrator: Dean Hunter (real name: not disclosed in transcript)
Amount stolen: Forty-two thousand dollars (Melissa); sixty thousand dollars (Barbara)
Location: Kellerton, Ohio and Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: March 2018 to July 2019

- Melissa Gardner was a fifty-four-year-old earth science teacher who lost her husband Warren Gardner to a cerebral hemorrhage in October 2017.
- Dean Hunter's first message asked Melissa not who Warren was, but what he was like, leading to eight months of contact and six separate money requests totaling forty-two thousand dollars.
- A thank-you note from Hunter's daughter Sophie used stationery with a lighthouse watermark traced to Indiana gift shops, forty miles from Dayton where Hunter claimed to live.
- Barbara Neel from Fort Wayne lost sixty thousand dollars over eighteen months to the same perpetrator using a different alias, Thomas Breck, on a forum called Anchor & Shore.
- The fake profile photographs of both Dean Hunter and Thomas Breck belonged to Scott Peavy, a real architect from Traverse City, Michigan, whose images were taken from a dormant home renovation blog updated until 2015.

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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.]]>1456falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-receipts-hidden-in-bibles-how-a-small-town-scam-hid-in-plain-sight--73098974
Forty-seven transfer confirmations tucked inside donated Bible spines, totaling thirty-one thousand dollars, discovered by a retired postal worker sorting books in a church basement in June 2022. A small Ohio city, a twenty-two-year-old woman who kept her phone face-down at dinner, and Wednesday nights that didn't add up - but how did one man in Ghana orchestrate an eleven-month romance that nearly escaped detection entirely?

In this episode, we trace the investigation from a single receipt marked "for my future" through the currency converter Nicole discovered on Marcia's laptop, the borrowed photograph from Edinburgh Castle, and the ledger found in a Kumasi house purchased with stolen money. We explore how a paralegal's attention to detail - noticing oat milk replaced with whole milk - unraveled a coordinated multi-victim operation, and why the man who taught Dennis Hughes Acheampong this craft remains unidentified.

Person: Marcia Meyer, age 22
Perpetrator: Dennis Hughes Acheampong, age 44
Location: Talbot Falls, Ohio and Kumasi, Ghana
Amount stolen: $31,416
Event: Romance fraud investigation, June 2022
Platform: SilverBridge dating profile

- Pamela Campbell found the first receipt on a Tuesday morning in June 2022 while sorting donated books at First Covenant Community Church in Talbot Falls, Ohio.
- Marcia Meyer made her first transfer of $412 in February 2022, with the memo line "for my future."
- Nicole Russo discovered a currency converter window on Marcia's laptop converting dollars to Ghanaian cedis before Marcia closed it reflexively.
- Reverse-image search revealed the photograph Marcia believed was "Dennis Hughes" belonged to Brett Calloway, a civil engineer in Tucson, Arizona, taken at Edinburgh Castle.
- Detective Leon Prater traced thirty-one thousand four hundred and sixteen dollars through a routing chain crossing three financial institutions before it disappeared into cash withdrawals in Kumasi, Ghana.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098974Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe receipts hidden in Bibles: how a small-town scam hid in plain sight Forty-seven transfer confirmations tucked inside donated Bible spines, totaling thirty-one thousand dollars, discovered by a retired postal worker sorting books in a church...
Forty-seven transfer confirmations tucked inside donated Bible spines, totaling thirty-one thousand dollars, discovered by a retired postal worker sorting books in a church basement in June 2022. A small Ohio city, a twenty-two-year-old woman who kept her phone face-down at dinner, and Wednesday nights that didn't add up - but how did one man in Ghana orchestrate an eleven-month romance that nearly escaped detection entirely?

In this episode, we trace the investigation from a single receipt marked "for my future" through the currency converter Nicole discovered on Marcia's laptop, the borrowed photograph from Edinburgh Castle, and the ledger found in a Kumasi house purchased with stolen money. We explore how a paralegal's attention to detail - noticing oat milk replaced with whole milk - unraveled a coordinated multi-victim operation, and why the man who taught Dennis Hughes Acheampong this craft remains unidentified.

Person: Marcia Meyer, age 22
Perpetrator: Dennis Hughes Acheampong, age 44
Location: Talbot Falls, Ohio and Kumasi, Ghana
Amount stolen: $31,416
Event: Romance fraud investigation, June 2022
Platform: SilverBridge dating profile

- Pamela Campbell found the first receipt on a Tuesday morning in June 2022 while sorting donated books at First Covenant Community Church in Talbot Falls, Ohio.
- Marcia Meyer made her first transfer of $412 in February 2022, with the memo line "for my future."
- Nicole Russo discovered a currency converter window on Marcia's laptop converting dollars to Ghanaian cedis before Marcia closed it reflexively.
- Reverse-image search revealed the photograph Marcia believed was "Dennis Hughes" belonged to Brett Calloway, a civil engineer in Tucson, Arizona, taken at Edinburgh Castle.
- Detective Leon Prater traced thirty-one thousand four hundred and sixteen dollars through a routing chain crossing three financial institutions before it disappeared into cash withdrawals in Kumasi, Ghana.

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.]]>1522falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-notebook-under-the-ferns-how-a-beagle-exposed-a-serial-elder-fraud--73098972
A beagle named Biscuit pulled his owner toward a drainage ditch on Crestwood Drive and exposed a spiral notebook bound in synthetic tortoiseshell. Inside was a photograph of seventy-nine-year-old Harlan Moss smiling in a floral armchair, alongside a handwritten ledger documenting sixty-one thousand dollars drained from accounts bearing his daughter's name. How did a woman named Nicole Dixon turn genuine companionship into the perfect mechanism for theft, and how many other elderly men were filed away in that storage unit?

In this episode, we trace the eleven-month operation from the first utility-company uniform visit through the forged notarial seal, the counterfeit power of attorney, and the appointment book that revealed Dixon's methodology with clinical precision. We examine why Brenda Moss's two calls to the sheriff went unescalated before her father died, and what the folder containing Howard Alp's photograph suggests about the true scope of the fraud.

Person: Harlan Moss
Person: Nicole Dixon
Person: Brenda Moss
Location: Crestwood Drive, Talbert County
Amount stolen: $61,000
Event: Death on or about May 9; notebook discovered May 14

- Harlan Moss was seventy-nine years old, a widower whose wife Louise died in 2019, and attended Tuesday choir rehearsals at Millbrook Presbyterian for eleven years.
- Nicole Dixon arrived on Crestwood Drive in March 2020 and established a pattern of renting short-term apartments in mid-sized counties near elderly residential corridors, never exceeding fourteen months per location.
- Brenda Moss made two calls to the Talbert County Sheriff's Office in August and October reporting sixty-one thousand dollars moving through an account opened in her name at an address she had not lived at for eleven years, neither call was escalated.
- The appointment book contained dated entries with initials HD and amounts from August through May 3, with a second notation added later in different ink reading Done.
- A storage unit in Ardmore contained three service uniforms with different logos, a portable notary kit, clipboard sets, and a manila folder holding photographs of multiple elderly men with target assessments written on the backs, including Howard Alp from Brenwick County who died fourteen months after a woman named Carrie Nix arrived.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098972Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe notebook under the ferns: how a beagle exposed a serial elder fraud A beagle named Biscuit pulled his owner toward a drainage ditch on Crestwood Drive and exposed a spiral notebook bound in synthetic tortoiseshell. Inside was a photograph of...
A beagle named Biscuit pulled his owner toward a drainage ditch on Crestwood Drive and exposed a spiral notebook bound in synthetic tortoiseshell. Inside was a photograph of seventy-nine-year-old Harlan Moss smiling in a floral armchair, alongside a handwritten ledger documenting sixty-one thousand dollars drained from accounts bearing his daughter's name. How did a woman named Nicole Dixon turn genuine companionship into the perfect mechanism for theft, and how many other elderly men were filed away in that storage unit?

In this episode, we trace the eleven-month operation from the first utility-company uniform visit through the forged notarial seal, the counterfeit power of attorney, and the appointment book that revealed Dixon's methodology with clinical precision. We examine why Brenda Moss's two calls to the sheriff went unescalated before her father died, and what the folder containing Howard Alp's photograph suggests about the true scope of the fraud.

Person: Harlan Moss
Person: Nicole Dixon
Person: Brenda Moss
Location: Crestwood Drive, Talbert County
Amount stolen: $61,000
Event: Death on or about May 9; notebook discovered May 14

- Harlan Moss was seventy-nine years old, a widower whose wife Louise died in 2019, and attended Tuesday choir rehearsals at Millbrook Presbyterian for eleven years.
- Nicole Dixon arrived on Crestwood Drive in March 2020 and established a pattern of renting short-term apartments in mid-sized counties near elderly residential corridors, never exceeding fourteen months per location.
- Brenda Moss made two calls to the Talbert County Sheriff's Office in August and October reporting sixty-one thousand dollars moving through an account opened in her name at an address she had not lived at for eleven years, neither call was escalated.
- The appointment book contained dated entries with initials HD and amounts from August through May 3, with a second notation added later in different ink reading Done.
- A storage unit in Ardmore contained three service uniforms with different logos, a portable notary kit, clipboard sets, and a manila folder holding photographs of multiple elderly men with target assessments written on the backs, including Howard Alp from Brenwick County who died fourteen months after a woman named Carrie Nix arrived.

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.]]>1475falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-shoe-that-drifted-how-a-careful-woman-lost-thirty-one-thousand-dollars--73098971
A pale blue canvas shoe caught on a fishing line thirty yards downstream from where Emily Donnelly stood in the dark at Marker Creek. She had just lost thirty-one thousand dollars to a man named Wayne Harrison-a man who did not exist, constructed entirely from stolen photographs and a script perfected across six simultaneous victims. How did someone who spent twenty-six years catching billing errors to the penny become the target of a romance scam so precisely engineered that it exploited her greatest strength?

In this episode, we trace the eleven-week operation from Emily's first match on Silver Compass to the moment a college basketball game aired at the wrong time zone, revealing Harrison working in a back office between two and five in the morning. We examine how Douglas Marsh's stolen photographs had been reported twice before without action, how a single typo-"checking account" instead of "current account"-exposed the fraud's American location, and what happened to the three prior reports that might have stopped him before Emily transferred her late husband's certificate of deposit.

Person: Emily Donnelly
Perpetrator: Wayne Harrison, age 29
Platform: Silver Compass dating application
Amount stolen: $31,000
Location: Sutter Flats; Atlanta (perpetrator); Aberdeen, Scotland (fake location)
Event: April 9, 2019 discovery at Marker Creek

- Emily Donnelly, 61, worked as a medical billing coordinator in Sutter Flats for 26 years, known for catching discrepancies others missed.
- She joined Silver Compass in January 2019 and matched with "Wayne Harrison," a supposedly 64-year-old widowed civil engineer working in Aberdeen, Scotland.
- Between early March and early April 2019, Emily transferred $31,000 across three payments, including funds from a certificate of deposit she had kept untouched since her husband Tom died in 2014.
- Harrison worked at Meridian Call Partners in Atlanta and used an unmonitored back office workstation between 2 and 5 a.m. for nine weeks after his termination in December 2018, running six simultaneous victim conversations.
- Investigators discovered Harrison was actually in Atlanta's Eastern time zone when he messaged about watching a college basketball game at 9 p.m. Eastern-a game that would have aired at 2 a.m. in Scotland, revealing the timestamp as the operational mistake that broke the case.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098971Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe shoe that drifted: how a careful woman lost thirty-one thousand dollars A pale blue canvas shoe caught on a fishing line thirty yards downstream from where Emily Donnelly stood in the dark at Marker Creek. She had just lost thirty-one thousand...
A pale blue canvas shoe caught on a fishing line thirty yards downstream from where Emily Donnelly stood in the dark at Marker Creek. She had just lost thirty-one thousand dollars to a man named Wayne Harrison-a man who did not exist, constructed entirely from stolen photographs and a script perfected across six simultaneous victims. How did someone who spent twenty-six years catching billing errors to the penny become the target of a romance scam so precisely engineered that it exploited her greatest strength?

In this episode, we trace the eleven-week operation from Emily's first match on Silver Compass to the moment a college basketball game aired at the wrong time zone, revealing Harrison working in a back office between two and five in the morning. We examine how Douglas Marsh's stolen photographs had been reported twice before without action, how a single typo-"checking account" instead of "current account"-exposed the fraud's American location, and what happened to the three prior reports that might have stopped him before Emily transferred her late husband's certificate of deposit.

Person: Emily Donnelly
Perpetrator: Wayne Harrison, age 29
Platform: Silver Compass dating application
Amount stolen: $31,000
Location: Sutter Flats; Atlanta (perpetrator); Aberdeen, Scotland (fake location)
Event: April 9, 2019 discovery at Marker Creek

- Emily Donnelly, 61, worked as a medical billing coordinator in Sutter Flats for 26 years, known for catching discrepancies others missed.
- She joined Silver Compass in January 2019 and matched with "Wayne Harrison," a supposedly 64-year-old widowed civil engineer working in Aberdeen, Scotland.
- Between early March and early April 2019, Emily transferred $31,000 across three payments, including funds from a certificate of deposit she had kept untouched since her husband Tom died in 2014.
- Harrison worked at Meridian Call Partners in Atlanta and used an unmonitored back office workstation between 2 and 5 a.m. for nine weeks after his termination in December 2018, running six simultaneous victim conversations.
- Investigators discovered Harrison was actually in Atlanta's Eastern time zone when he messaged about watching a college basketball game at 9 p.m. Eastern-a game that would have aired at 2 a.m. in Scotland, revealing the timestamp as the operational mistake that broke the case.

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.]]>1149falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ring-on-ridgeline-road-how-a-careful-woman-still-didn-t-see-it--73098970
In this episode, we follow nine months of constructed affection across four victims at Cedar Ridge Community, a man using stolen photographs from Andrew Solis, a civil engineer in Tucson, and the forensic paper trail that connected him to an unresolved case from 2015 in Shasta County. We examine the four engagement rings purchased in cash on a single October day, the topographic survey map found in his motel room in Redding, and the question that shaped every theory about what he was planning next-a question the evidence cannot fully answer.

Person: Michelle Whitley, Sandra Pelton, Vera Hutchins, Tom Braddock
Perpetrator: Marvin Christensen (name possibly false, DNA-linked to 2015 Shasta County case)
Location: Cedar Ridge Community, Porterville, California; Ridgeline Road property; motel outside Redding
Amount stolen: Nine thousand dollars from Michelle Whitley; forty-one thousand dollars from Beverly Odom in 2015; sixty-three thousand dollars total documented from all four victims
Event: Ring discovered March 11, 2019; arrest December 4, 2018; conviction autumn 2019
Platform: In-person recruitment at church community

- Michelle Whitley was a billing coordinator, twenty-four years old, who lived in Porterville her entire life and color-coded her calendar.
- Marvin Christensen had worked inside Cedar Ridge Community three years earlier, contracted through a regional maintenance company to perform HVAC work, and knew the building's interior layout.
- The four engagement rings were purchased on a single day in October at a jewelry store in Sacramento and paid in cash.
- Janet Lane, Michelle's friend, identified the fraud by recognizing the same facial expression on Vera Hutchins and Sandra Pelton that she had seen on Michelle, then reverse-image-searched the photographs and found they belonged to Andrew Solis, a civil engineer in Tucson.
- Detective Lisa Corbett connected the Marvin Christensen case to an unresolved 2015 Shasta County file where Beverly Odom had transferred forty-one thousand dollars to a man with the same face but a different name.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098970Tue, 22 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe ring on Ridgeline Road: how a careful woman still didn't see it In this episode, we follow nine months of constructed affection across four victims at Cedar Ridge Community, a man using stolen photographs from Andrew Solis, a civil engineer in...
In this episode, we follow nine months of constructed affection across four victims at Cedar Ridge Community, a man using stolen photographs from Andrew Solis, a civil engineer in Tucson, and the forensic paper trail that connected him to an unresolved case from 2015 in Shasta County. We examine the four engagement rings purchased in cash on a single October day, the topographic survey map found in his motel room in Redding, and the question that shaped every theory about what he was planning next-a question the evidence cannot fully answer.

Person: Michelle Whitley, Sandra Pelton, Vera Hutchins, Tom Braddock
Perpetrator: Marvin Christensen (name possibly false, DNA-linked to 2015 Shasta County case)
Location: Cedar Ridge Community, Porterville, California; Ridgeline Road property; motel outside Redding
Amount stolen: Nine thousand dollars from Michelle Whitley; forty-one thousand dollars from Beverly Odom in 2015; sixty-three thousand dollars total documented from all four victims
Event: Ring discovered March 11, 2019; arrest December 4, 2018; conviction autumn 2019
Platform: In-person recruitment at church community

- Michelle Whitley was a billing coordinator, twenty-four years old, who lived in Porterville her entire life and color-coded her calendar.
- Marvin Christensen had worked inside Cedar Ridge Community three years earlier, contracted through a regional maintenance company to perform HVAC work, and knew the building's interior layout.
- The four engagement rings were purchased on a single day in October at a jewelry store in Sacramento and paid in cash.
- Janet Lane, Michelle's friend, identified the fraud by recognizing the same facial expression on Vera Hutchins and Sandra Pelton that she had seen on Michelle, then reverse-image-searched the photographs and found they belonged to Andrew Solis, a civil engineer in Tucson.
- Detective Lisa Corbett connected the Marvin Christensen case to an unresolved 2015 Shasta County file where Beverly Odom had transferred forty-one thousand dollars to a man with the same face but a different name.

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.]]>1420falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-name-tag-in-the-septic-tank-how-a-dead-soldier-s-identity-became-a-con--73098967
In this episode, we follow Clifford Simpson from his private grief support group in 2020 through nine months of messages from "Jennifer Hargrove," a woman who did not exist. We trace the escalating transfers-from $340 for a tow truck to $11,000 from an emergency fund Clifford built with his deceased wife Karen-and the cell tower data that places Dale Adams a quarter mile from Clifford's property during the fraud. We examine how Adams researched a real dead soldier, carried his photocopied military records in a motel room, and ran nine simultaneous profiles targeting other bereaved victims.

Person: Clifford Simpson
Person: Dale Adams
Victim: Bonnie Strickland
Date: February 2022
Location: Briarthorn Road, Harlan Township
Amount stolen: $18,000

- Karen Simpson died of a cerebral aneurysm in 2018 at age 44; Clifford and Karen had built an emergency fund together over 15 years.
- Clifford joined a private grief support group online in autumn 2020 and volunteered at Harlan Township hockey rink every Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Dale Adams, age 37 with a prior fraud conviction, created a fake "Jennifer Hargrove" profile in March 2021 using a stock photo and messages typed from a motel room 210 miles away.
- The first transfer was $340 in September 2021; by December 2021, Clifford sent $11,000 from the emergency fund for "property taxes" on David Hargrove's land.
- Cell tower data placed Adams's phone on Briarthorn Road in September and October 2021; a name tag for Staff Sergeant David Hargrove (killed in action 2014) was found in Clifford's septic cleanout in February 2022.
- Adams was arrested March 3, 2022 with nine active female profiles on his laptop, prepaid phones, and a manila envelope containing photocopied military records and photographs of David Hargrove in uniform.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098967Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe name tag in the septic tank: how a dead soldier's identity became a con In this episode, we follow Clifford Simpson from his private grief support group in 2020 through nine months of messages from "Jennifer Hargrove," a woman who did not...
In this episode, we follow Clifford Simpson from his private grief support group in 2020 through nine months of messages from "Jennifer Hargrove," a woman who did not exist. We trace the escalating transfers-from $340 for a tow truck to $11,000 from an emergency fund Clifford built with his deceased wife Karen-and the cell tower data that places Dale Adams a quarter mile from Clifford's property during the fraud. We examine how Adams researched a real dead soldier, carried his photocopied military records in a motel room, and ran nine simultaneous profiles targeting other bereaved victims.

Person: Clifford Simpson
Person: Dale Adams
Victim: Bonnie Strickland
Date: February 2022
Location: Briarthorn Road, Harlan Township
Amount stolen: $18,000

- Karen Simpson died of a cerebral aneurysm in 2018 at age 44; Clifford and Karen had built an emergency fund together over 15 years.
- Clifford joined a private grief support group online in autumn 2020 and volunteered at Harlan Township hockey rink every Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Dale Adams, age 37 with a prior fraud conviction, created a fake "Jennifer Hargrove" profile in March 2021 using a stock photo and messages typed from a motel room 210 miles away.
- The first transfer was $340 in September 2021; by December 2021, Clifford sent $11,000 from the emergency fund for "property taxes" on David Hargrove's land.
- Cell tower data placed Adams's phone on Briarthorn Road in September and October 2021; a name tag for Staff Sergeant David Hargrove (killed in action 2014) was found in Clifford's septic cleanout in February 2022.
- Adams was arrested March 3, 2022 with nine active female profiles on his laptop, prepaid phones, and a manila envelope containing photocopied military records and photographs of David Hargrove in uniform.

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.]]>1402falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-word-that-broke-the-scam-how-one-phrase-exposed-a-local-fraud--73098965
In this episode, we follow the forensic trail from George Andrews' organized life in Preller through stolen laptop credentials, carefully timed wire transfers tied to his paychecks, and the moment a stylometric expert identified an idiolect that could not be ignored. We examine how Leon Collins built the Diane Foster profile using stolen photographs, accessed George's financial dashboard to confirm the existence of his father's dementia care account, and then asked for exactly $6,000 from it. But what connects Collins to a second, earlier fraud case that may have cost another man $61,000?

Person: George Andrews
Perpetrator: Leon Collins, age 38
Location: Preller; Harmon Freight Solutions; Harlow Reservoir
Amount stolen: $43,200
Platform: MeetForward dating application
Event: Phone discovered on ice, January 9

- George Andrews, 32, accounts coordinator at Harmon Freight Solutions, wired $43,200 to a profile named Diane Foster over roughly four months starting late summer.
- Diane Foster's photographs belonged to Bethany Kohler, a real civil engineer in Portland, Oregon, with no connection to the fraud.
- Leon Collins, 38, a facilities contractor with legitimate after-hours access to Harmon Freight, used George's corporate credentials to access his personal financial dashboard on three evenings in December.
- Eight of Collins's eleven wire transfer requests arrived within three days of George's biweekly paycheck clearing; the sixth request, for $6,000, targeted George's secondary savings account earmarked for his father Harold's dementia care.
- Stylometric analysis found the word "arrangement" used nine times in Diane Foster's messages and six times in Collins's personal text messages, with identical non-standard meaning, leading Collins to enter a guilty plea on day four of trial.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098965Sun, 20 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe word that broke the scam: how one phrase exposed a local fraud In this episode, we follow the forensic trail from George Andrews' organized life in Preller through stolen laptop credentials, carefully timed wire transfers tied to his paychecks,...
In this episode, we follow the forensic trail from George Andrews' organized life in Preller through stolen laptop credentials, carefully timed wire transfers tied to his paychecks, and the moment a stylometric expert identified an idiolect that could not be ignored. We examine how Leon Collins built the Diane Foster profile using stolen photographs, accessed George's financial dashboard to confirm the existence of his father's dementia care account, and then asked for exactly $6,000 from it. But what connects Collins to a second, earlier fraud case that may have cost another man $61,000?

Person: George Andrews
Perpetrator: Leon Collins, age 38
Location: Preller; Harmon Freight Solutions; Harlow Reservoir
Amount stolen: $43,200
Platform: MeetForward dating application
Event: Phone discovered on ice, January 9

- George Andrews, 32, accounts coordinator at Harmon Freight Solutions, wired $43,200 to a profile named Diane Foster over roughly four months starting late summer.
- Diane Foster's photographs belonged to Bethany Kohler, a real civil engineer in Portland, Oregon, with no connection to the fraud.
- Leon Collins, 38, a facilities contractor with legitimate after-hours access to Harmon Freight, used George's corporate credentials to access his personal financial dashboard on three evenings in December.
- Eight of Collins's eleven wire transfer requests arrived within three days of George's biweekly paycheck clearing; the sixth request, for $6,000, targeted George's secondary savings account earmarked for his father Harold's dementia care.
- Stylometric analysis found the word "arrangement" used nine times in Diane Foster's messages and six times in Collins's personal text messages, with identical non-standard meaning, leading Collins to enter a guilty plea on day four of trial.

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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.]]>1381falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-voice-she-trusted-was-never-real--73098964
A silver MacBook Air sits abandoned on a snowy porch railing on December 22, 2023, and inside the pale blue house on Pelham Street, Ruth Hunt cannot account for the past two hours. Fourteen months of daily voice messages from Marcus Tan-a warm, precisely accented voice that matched her academic expertise in Singaporean English-collapse into a single question: if the voice never belonged to a real person, who had she been talking to all along?

In this episode, we follow Ruth's relationship with Marcus from their first LinguaLink message in December 2022 through a nine-minute voice message in November 2023 in which he cries about a failed infrastructure investment, leading Ruth to transfer forty-eight thousand dollars to a Cayman Islands account. We examine how Pamela Boyd discovered the voice was synthesized-an identical ventilation fan humming across fourteen months of messages, weather descriptions from Harwick Ohio instead of Singapore-and how Wayne Kowalski, living four miles away on Deering Avenue, had orchestrated the same scheme against forty-one women across seven states.

Person: Ruth Hunt
Perpetrator: Wayne Kowalski, age 44
Location: Harwick, Ohio
Amount stolen: $48,000
Event: December 22, 2023 laptop discovery
Platform: LinguaLink

- Ruth Hunt, ESL teacher at Harwick Community College for eleven years, received her first message from "Marcus Tan" in December 2022 through LinguaLink.
- By March 2023, Ruth and Marcus moved to private messaging app calls; by October 2023 he mentioned a bridge loan for infrastructure work requiring two hundred thousand dollars of his own money.
- In November 2023, Marcus sent a nine-minute voice message in which he cried about the project falling apart; Ruth transferred forty-eight thousand dollars to a Cayman Islands account on a Tuesday afternoon between classes.
- Pamela Boyd discovered the voice was AI-synthesized by finding an identical ventilation fan hum at identical pitch and interval across fourteen months of messages from February through October 2023.
- Wayne Kowalski arrived in Harwick in October 2022 and rented an apartment on Deering Avenue, four miles from Ruth's house; his laptop contained a voice synthesis setup built from forty-three YouTube videos posted by Kevin Ng, a Singaporean English tutor who had no knowledge his voice was being cloned.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098964Sat, 19 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe voice she trusted was never real A silver MacBook Air sits abandoned on a snowy porch railing on December 22, 2023, and inside the pale blue house on Pelham Street, Ruth Hunt cannot account for the past two hours. Fourteen months of daily voice...
A silver MacBook Air sits abandoned on a snowy porch railing on December 22, 2023, and inside the pale blue house on Pelham Street, Ruth Hunt cannot account for the past two hours. Fourteen months of daily voice messages from Marcus Tan-a warm, precisely accented voice that matched her academic expertise in Singaporean English-collapse into a single question: if the voice never belonged to a real person, who had she been talking to all along?

In this episode, we follow Ruth's relationship with Marcus from their first LinguaLink message in December 2022 through a nine-minute voice message in November 2023 in which he cries about a failed infrastructure investment, leading Ruth to transfer forty-eight thousand dollars to a Cayman Islands account. We examine how Pamela Boyd discovered the voice was synthesized-an identical ventilation fan humming across fourteen months of messages, weather descriptions from Harwick Ohio instead of Singapore-and how Wayne Kowalski, living four miles away on Deering Avenue, had orchestrated the same scheme against forty-one women across seven states.

Person: Ruth Hunt
Perpetrator: Wayne Kowalski, age 44
Location: Harwick, Ohio
Amount stolen: $48,000
Event: December 22, 2023 laptop discovery
Platform: LinguaLink

- Ruth Hunt, ESL teacher at Harwick Community College for eleven years, received her first message from "Marcus Tan" in December 2022 through LinguaLink.
- By March 2023, Ruth and Marcus moved to private messaging app calls; by October 2023 he mentioned a bridge loan for infrastructure work requiring two hundred thousand dollars of his own money.
- In November 2023, Marcus sent a nine-minute voice message in which he cried about the project falling apart; Ruth transferred forty-eight thousand dollars to a Cayman Islands account on a Tuesday afternoon between classes.
- Pamela Boyd discovered the voice was AI-synthesized by finding an identical ventilation fan hum at identical pitch and interval across fourteen months of messages from February through October 2023.
- Wayne Kowalski arrived in Harwick in October 2022 and rented an apartment on Deering Avenue, four miles from Ruth's house; his laptop contained a voice synthesis setup built from forty-three YouTube videos posted by Kevin Ng, a Singaporean English tutor who had no knowledge his voice was being cloned.

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.]]>1475falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ring-on-birchfield-road-how-a-soldier-was-never-there--73098963
An engagement ring threaded through a military dog tag lay on the gravel shoulder of Birchfield Road near the Heron County fairgrounds, left deliberately in the dark. Teresa Myers, forty-four, a veterinary technician, was forty miles away feeding her dog his medication, already believing she was engaged to a man she had never met in person. But neither the ring nor the dog tag belonged to anyone real-and the surveillance that brought them there had been documented for months.

In this episode, we follow the fourteen-month correspondence between Teresa and a man using a stolen military identity, the small physical gifts left on her car and doorstep that she believed were from a neighbor, and the laptop in a storage unit that revealed forty-seven active threads across eleven military widow forums. We examine how the ring was manufactured as a prop, how the dog tag belonged to a real soldier in Ohio who had no idea his identity was being used, and why a road crew worker arriving at six ten a.m. became the person who stopped a scheme that had run undetected for nine years.

Person: Teresa Myers
Location: Heron County, North Carolina
Amount stolen: $63,000
Perpetrator: Ronald Wright, age 51
Event: Arrest on November 22, sentencing to eleven years in February
Platform: Valor Home Network military widow forum

- Teresa Myers was a licensed veterinary technician in Heron County who joined the Valor Home Network forum in September and was contacted within three weeks by a man claiming to be a retired Army staff sergeant.
- Over fourteen months, Wright sent Teresa emails between five and six a.m., asking about her dog Herschel by name after she mentioned it once in a public forum thread.
- Teresa sent four thousand dollars for a plane ticket, twelve thousand for custody legal fees for a daughter named Kayla, and twenty-two thousand during a fabricated medical emergency across three different accounts in Florida and Georgia.
- Wright left physical gifts on Teresa's car and clinic doorstep-a paperback, a coffee cup, and a note reading "Herschel sounds like a good boy"-while mapping her Birchfield Road route through real-world surveillance.
- The laptop recovered from Wright's storage unit contained forty-seven active correspondence threads across eleven military spouse and widow forums, with folders organized by target name, harvested photographs, crisis escalation timelines, and a document titled "PTSD script" containing exact language he used with Teresa.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098963Fri, 18 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe ring on Birchfield Road: how a soldier was never there An engagement ring threaded through a military dog tag lay on the gravel shoulder of Birchfield Road near the Heron County fairgrounds, left deliberately in the dark. Teresa Myers,...
An engagement ring threaded through a military dog tag lay on the gravel shoulder of Birchfield Road near the Heron County fairgrounds, left deliberately in the dark. Teresa Myers, forty-four, a veterinary technician, was forty miles away feeding her dog his medication, already believing she was engaged to a man she had never met in person. But neither the ring nor the dog tag belonged to anyone real-and the surveillance that brought them there had been documented for months.

In this episode, we follow the fourteen-month correspondence between Teresa and a man using a stolen military identity, the small physical gifts left on her car and doorstep that she believed were from a neighbor, and the laptop in a storage unit that revealed forty-seven active threads across eleven military widow forums. We examine how the ring was manufactured as a prop, how the dog tag belonged to a real soldier in Ohio who had no idea his identity was being used, and why a road crew worker arriving at six ten a.m. became the person who stopped a scheme that had run undetected for nine years.

Person: Teresa Myers
Location: Heron County, North Carolina
Amount stolen: $63,000
Perpetrator: Ronald Wright, age 51
Event: Arrest on November 22, sentencing to eleven years in February
Platform: Valor Home Network military widow forum

- Teresa Myers was a licensed veterinary technician in Heron County who joined the Valor Home Network forum in September and was contacted within three weeks by a man claiming to be a retired Army staff sergeant.
- Over fourteen months, Wright sent Teresa emails between five and six a.m., asking about her dog Herschel by name after she mentioned it once in a public forum thread.
- Teresa sent four thousand dollars for a plane ticket, twelve thousand for custody legal fees for a daughter named Kayla, and twenty-two thousand during a fabricated medical emergency across three different accounts in Florida and Georgia.
- Wright left physical gifts on Teresa's car and clinic doorstep-a paperback, a coffee cup, and a note reading "Herschel sounds like a good boy"-while mapping her Birchfield Road route through real-world surveillance.
- The laptop recovered from Wright's storage unit contained forty-seven active correspondence threads across eleven military spouse and widow forums, with folders organized by target name, harvested photographs, crisis escalation timelines, and a document titled "PTSD script" containing exact language he used with Teresa.

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.]]>1464falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-he-never-took-how-they-stole-jeffrey-s-inheritance--73098962
A four-by-six print shows Jeffrey Simmons at a Ghanaian customs checkpoint on March 14th-a day when a hardware store receipt proves he was eleven miles away in Ohio. The photograph was never sent to him, stored instead in a rented unit under a stolen identity. How did a man who specialized in detecting forgeries become the victim of the most elaborate one?

In this episode, we follow Jeffrey's ninety-one thousand dollar loss across fourteen transfers over fourteen months, the malware that let someone else use his hands, and the composite photograph built from his staff profile as insurance against future doubt. We trace the investigation from a power company lineman's discovery to cell tower data in Georgia, and examine the case that came before Jeffrey's-one that the system missed entirely because they were separated by jurisdiction, time, and a licked envelope.

Person: Jeffrey Simmons
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, age 39
Victim Profile: Cultural property specialist, assistant curator
Amount stolen: $91,000
Location: Clement, Ohio
Date range: January to July, 14 months

- Jeffrey Simmons was 28, assistant curator at Kessler Regional Museum, specializing in pre-Columbian and West African collections.
- Marcus Webb, 39, from Clarkston, DeKalb County Georgia, had prior federal fraud charges resolved 6 years earlier through plea agreement.
- The fake Russell Owens profile used the face and identity of David Creel, 43, a freelance graphic designer from Columbus with no connection to the fraud.
- Webb used stolen printer access at Kessler and malware installed via email attachment in October to execute an 18,000 dollar transfer at 2:14 AM while Jeffrey slept.
- A composite photograph placing Jeffrey at a Ghanaian customs checkpoint on March 14 was found in a storage unit registered to Creel's stolen identity; forensic analysis showed lighting inconsistencies proving it was fabricated from Jeffrey's museum staff photo.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098962Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph he never took: how they stole Jeffrey's inheritance A four-by-six print shows Jeffrey Simmons at a Ghanaian customs checkpoint on March 14th-a day when a hardware store receipt proves he was eleven miles away in Ohio. The photograph...
A four-by-six print shows Jeffrey Simmons at a Ghanaian customs checkpoint on March 14th-a day when a hardware store receipt proves he was eleven miles away in Ohio. The photograph was never sent to him, stored instead in a rented unit under a stolen identity. How did a man who specialized in detecting forgeries become the victim of the most elaborate one?

In this episode, we follow Jeffrey's ninety-one thousand dollar loss across fourteen transfers over fourteen months, the malware that let someone else use his hands, and the composite photograph built from his staff profile as insurance against future doubt. We trace the investigation from a power company lineman's discovery to cell tower data in Georgia, and examine the case that came before Jeffrey's-one that the system missed entirely because they were separated by jurisdiction, time, and a licked envelope.

Person: Jeffrey Simmons
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, age 39
Victim Profile: Cultural property specialist, assistant curator
Amount stolen: $91,000
Location: Clement, Ohio
Date range: January to July, 14 months

- Jeffrey Simmons was 28, assistant curator at Kessler Regional Museum, specializing in pre-Columbian and West African collections.
- Marcus Webb, 39, from Clarkston, DeKalb County Georgia, had prior federal fraud charges resolved 6 years earlier through plea agreement.
- The fake Russell Owens profile used the face and identity of David Creel, 43, a freelance graphic designer from Columbus with no connection to the fraud.
- Webb used stolen printer access at Kessler and malware installed via email attachment in October to execute an 18,000 dollar transfer at 2:14 AM while Jeffrey slept.
- A composite photograph placing Jeffrey at a Ghanaian customs checkpoint on March 14 was found in a storage unit registered to Creel's stolen identity; forensic analysis showed lighting inconsistencies proving it was fabricated from Jeffrey's museum staff photo.

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.]]>1478falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-bracelet-left-on-the-guardrail-how-patrick-gould-built-the-props-before-the-victims--73098959
On September eleventh, two thousand twenty-two, a runner named Ruth Wagner found a shoebox on a guardrail along County Road Nine near the Platte River culvert in Nebraska. Inside: a child's medical bracelet engraved with the name Lily Reed and a stack of wire transfer receipts. The box had been placed carefully, after the overnight dew burned off, on a road where someone was certain to find it - but what did it mean, and who was it really left for?

In this episode, we follow how a man named Patrick Gould constructed an elaborate romance fraud using a stolen photograph and a meticulously documented script, running the same story in parallel with two separate women across nine months. We trace the spiral notebook containing his tiered sequences and wait-times, the prepaid phones and rotating accounts, and the medical bracelet he ordered before either victim had ever heard his name - revealing a perpetrator who engineered the props before he engineered the victims.

Person: Diane Lawson, fourth-grade teacher, Harwick, Nebraska
Person: Joyce Pratt, retired dental hygienist, Kearney, Nebraska
Perpetrator: Patrick Gould, age forty-eight
Location: North Platte, Nebraska
Amount stolen: Sixty-three thousand dollars from Diane; forty-eight thousand dollars from Joyce
Event: Arrest on September twenty-ninth, two thousand twenty-two

- Diane Lawson joined Heartland Match in February two thousand twenty-two and received her first message from "Michael Reed" in late March.
- Patrick Gould ordered a medical bracelet engraved with "Lily Reed, O-negative, Dr. Harmon" in January two thousand twenty-two, two weeks before contacting his first victim.
- Erin Wells ran a reverse image search on the profile photograph in under ten minutes and discovered it belonged to Doug Farr, an equipment sales representative from Billings, Montana who had never heard of the scheme.
- Diane Lawson transferred sixty-three thousand dollars across eleven separate wire transactions between April and September two thousand twenty-two before the fraud was discovered.
- Gould's spiral notebook contained tiered sequences, wait-times between requests, which personal details to reference in calls, and reminders to mention the sick daughter at least once per week.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098959Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe bracelet left on the guardrail: how Patrick Gould built the props before the victims On September eleventh, two thousand twenty-two, a runner named Ruth Wagner found a shoebox on a guardrail along County Road Nine near the Platte River culvert...
On September eleventh, two thousand twenty-two, a runner named Ruth Wagner found a shoebox on a guardrail along County Road Nine near the Platte River culvert in Nebraska. Inside: a child's medical bracelet engraved with the name Lily Reed and a stack of wire transfer receipts. The box had been placed carefully, after the overnight dew burned off, on a road where someone was certain to find it - but what did it mean, and who was it really left for?

In this episode, we follow how a man named Patrick Gould constructed an elaborate romance fraud using a stolen photograph and a meticulously documented script, running the same story in parallel with two separate women across nine months. We trace the spiral notebook containing his tiered sequences and wait-times, the prepaid phones and rotating accounts, and the medical bracelet he ordered before either victim had ever heard his name - revealing a perpetrator who engineered the props before he engineered the victims.

Person: Diane Lawson, fourth-grade teacher, Harwick, Nebraska
Person: Joyce Pratt, retired dental hygienist, Kearney, Nebraska
Perpetrator: Patrick Gould, age forty-eight
Location: North Platte, Nebraska
Amount stolen: Sixty-three thousand dollars from Diane; forty-eight thousand dollars from Joyce
Event: Arrest on September twenty-ninth, two thousand twenty-two

- Diane Lawson joined Heartland Match in February two thousand twenty-two and received her first message from "Michael Reed" in late March.
- Patrick Gould ordered a medical bracelet engraved with "Lily Reed, O-negative, Dr. Harmon" in January two thousand twenty-two, two weeks before contacting his first victim.
- Erin Wells ran a reverse image search on the profile photograph in under ten minutes and discovered it belonged to Doug Farr, an equipment sales representative from Billings, Montana who had never heard of the scheme.
- Diane Lawson transferred sixty-three thousand dollars across eleven separate wire transactions between April and September two thousand twenty-two before the fraud was discovered.
- Gould's spiral notebook contained tiered sequences, wait-times between requests, which personal details to reference in calls, and reminders to mention the sick daughter at least once per week.

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.]]>1399falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-food-blogger-and-the-dead-critic-s-words--73098958
Crystal Moore opened her email one October morning to find a comment from Marco Vitelli, a Rome-based food critic whose prose felt like it was written for her alone. For four months, they video-called twice weekly, and he understood her work with impossible precision. Then her best friend mentioned a single fact that broke everything: Marco Vitelli had died in 2019.

In this episode, we trace how Gary Whitaker, a man living eleven minutes from Crystal's apartment, spent months absorbing a dead man's published columns and reassembling them as love letters. We examine the timer application that faked a six-hour time difference, the January building inspection under an assumed name, and the forty-one annotated pages Whitaker later hid behind her gas meter-a ledger that raises an unanswered question about whether his confession was remorse or evidence management.

Person: Crystal Moore
Perpetrator: Gary Whitaker, age 44
Victim's friend: Ryan Peterson
Location: Carver Falls, Ohio
Amount stolen: $22,000
Event: Conviction on wire fraud, identity fraud, theft by deception

- Crystal Moore, 23, ran a food blog called Honest Plate with 46,000 subscribers when Marco Vitelli first commented on her Roman pizza post in October 2022.
- The real Marco Vitelli, a Sicilian food critic, had died of a cardiac event in spring 2019 at age 52; his columns ran in a Rome-based culinary journal from 2012 to 2019.
- Gary Whitaker, 44, lived in a rented duplex on Carver Falls' west side, eleven minutes from Crystal's apartment, and had internalized all of Vitelli's published work and cadence.
- A visitor log entry from January 2023 listed a man named "Dale" conducting a gas line inspection; the physical description matched Whitaker, and he identified the gas meter housing behind the lattice at Crystal's building.
- Whitaker used a timer application on his laptop to schedule messages to Crystal at times calibrated to maintain the illusion of a six-hour Rome-Carver Falls time difference.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098958Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe food blogger and the dead critic's words Crystal Moore opened her email one October morning to find a comment from Marco Vitelli, a Rome-based food critic whose prose felt like it was written for her alone. For four months, they video-called...
Crystal Moore opened her email one October morning to find a comment from Marco Vitelli, a Rome-based food critic whose prose felt like it was written for her alone. For four months, they video-called twice weekly, and he understood her work with impossible precision. Then her best friend mentioned a single fact that broke everything: Marco Vitelli had died in 2019.

In this episode, we trace how Gary Whitaker, a man living eleven minutes from Crystal's apartment, spent months absorbing a dead man's published columns and reassembling them as love letters. We examine the timer application that faked a six-hour time difference, the January building inspection under an assumed name, and the forty-one annotated pages Whitaker later hid behind her gas meter-a ledger that raises an unanswered question about whether his confession was remorse or evidence management.

Person: Crystal Moore
Perpetrator: Gary Whitaker, age 44
Victim's friend: Ryan Peterson
Location: Carver Falls, Ohio
Amount stolen: $22,000
Event: Conviction on wire fraud, identity fraud, theft by deception

- Crystal Moore, 23, ran a food blog called Honest Plate with 46,000 subscribers when Marco Vitelli first commented on her Roman pizza post in October 2022.
- The real Marco Vitelli, a Sicilian food critic, had died of a cardiac event in spring 2019 at age 52; his columns ran in a Rome-based culinary journal from 2012 to 2019.
- Gary Whitaker, 44, lived in a rented duplex on Carver Falls' west side, eleven minutes from Crystal's apartment, and had internalized all of Vitelli's published work and cadence.
- A visitor log entry from January 2023 listed a man named "Dale" conducting a gas line inspection; the physical description matched Whitaker, and he identified the gas meter housing behind the lattice at Crystal's building.
- Whitaker used a timer application on his laptop to schedule messages to Crystal at times calibrated to maintain the illusion of a six-hour Rome-Carver Falls time difference.

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.]]>1283falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-voice-was-real-how-a-single-caller-fooled-nine-people-across-four-states--73098957
In this episode, we follow Michael Griffin's eighteen-month relationship with a fabricated Coast Guard officer, from the first connection request in February 2021 through the $4,200 wire transfer to Portugal in March 2022. We examine the forensic audio evidence that proved the voice was calibrated rather than performed, the reverse image search that revealed stolen photographs, and the cellmate's confession about the cognitive load of remembering which victim you were talking to. At the center is an unanswered question: when Michael continued exchanging messages for eleven days after learning the truth, what was he really doing?

Person: Michael Griffin
Perpetrator: Dale Barnes
Event: Romance fraud using fake Coast Guard identity
Location: Kellerton, North Carolina; four states, 2016-2022
Amount stolen: $4,200 (Michael's transfer); at least $9,000-$62,000 across nine victims
Victims: Nine confirmed; potentially more unidentified

- Michael Griffin, 38, a licensed electrician in Kellerton, received a connection request from "Commander Thomas Reese, USCG" in February 2021.
- The photographs used in the fake profile belonged to real Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Paul Nettles, stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, who never consented to the use.
- Michael sent a $4,200 wire transfer to a shell account in Portugal in March 2022 after eighteen months of phone and one video call.
- Jennifer Vogel, Michael's friend and a fraud examiner, ran a reverse image search in June 2022 and discovered the photographs were stolen; she called Michael on June 28.
- Michael left his phone on a church pew on July 9, 2022, eleven days after learning the truth, then continued exchanging voice messages with the account for those eleven days without revealing he knew.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098957Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe voice was real: how a single caller fooled nine people across four states In this episode, we follow Michael Griffin's eighteen-month relationship with a fabricated Coast Guard officer, from the first connection request in February 2021 through...
In this episode, we follow Michael Griffin's eighteen-month relationship with a fabricated Coast Guard officer, from the first connection request in February 2021 through the $4,200 wire transfer to Portugal in March 2022. We examine the forensic audio evidence that proved the voice was calibrated rather than performed, the reverse image search that revealed stolen photographs, and the cellmate's confession about the cognitive load of remembering which victim you were talking to. At the center is an unanswered question: when Michael continued exchanging messages for eleven days after learning the truth, what was he really doing?

Person: Michael Griffin
Perpetrator: Dale Barnes
Event: Romance fraud using fake Coast Guard identity
Location: Kellerton, North Carolina; four states, 2016-2022
Amount stolen: $4,200 (Michael's transfer); at least $9,000-$62,000 across nine victims
Victims: Nine confirmed; potentially more unidentified

- Michael Griffin, 38, a licensed electrician in Kellerton, received a connection request from "Commander Thomas Reese, USCG" in February 2021.
- The photographs used in the fake profile belonged to real Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Paul Nettles, stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, who never consented to the use.
- Michael sent a $4,200 wire transfer to a shell account in Portugal in March 2022 after eighteen months of phone and one video call.
- Jennifer Vogel, Michael's friend and a fraud examiner, ran a reverse image search in June 2022 and discovered the photographs were stolen; she called Michael on June 28.
- Michael left his phone on a church pew on July 9, 2022, eleven days after learning the truth, then continued exchanging voice messages with the account for those eleven days without revealing he knew.

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.]]>1422falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-fourteen-month-wait-how-a-technician-studied-ruth-before-the-fraud-began--73098956
In this episode, we trace the route from a ninety-minute service call in October to a prepaid card purchased nine days later, to Roy Sullivan's patient construction of a fictional man named Daniel using a stolen photograph from northern Michigan. We follow Russell Harrison's reverse image search, the cryptocurrency wallet logs that revealed nine prior transfers to seven women across four states over thirty-one months, and the confession that came only after the evidence made denial impossible. What transformed this case from circumstantial to unassailable, and what did Sullivan do in the days before his arrest at Garver Lake?

Person: Ruth Vickers
Perpetrator: Roy Sullivan
Location: Portsmith, Indiana
Amount: $42,000 (attempted)
Event: Romance fraud operation spanning 31 months
Platform: Renewed Ground Circle online support forum

- Roy Sullivan worked as a part-time HVAC technician for Dexter Mechanical and spent 90 minutes at Ruth's home in October of the year before she joined the forum.
- Sullivan joined Renewed Ground Circle 14 months before Ruth posted her first message in March 2019.
- Nine days after his service call, Sullivan purchased a prepaid card with cash and used it to pay the forum fee, later revealed by pharmacy receipt timestamp.
- The photograph Sullivan used to build his "Roy Sullivan" and "Daniel" personas belonged to Stephen Ardmore, a structural engineer from northern Michigan, obtained from a deleted Facebook page.
- Cryptocurrency wallet logs recovered at trial showed nine prior transfers to seven women across four states over 31 months totaling $310,000, with one victim having died before trial and another having lost her home.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098956Sun, 13 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe fourteen-month wait: how a technician studied Ruth before the fraud began In this episode, we trace the route from a ninety-minute service call in October to a prepaid card purchased nine days later, to Roy Sullivan's patient construction of a...
In this episode, we trace the route from a ninety-minute service call in October to a prepaid card purchased nine days later, to Roy Sullivan's patient construction of a fictional man named Daniel using a stolen photograph from northern Michigan. We follow Russell Harrison's reverse image search, the cryptocurrency wallet logs that revealed nine prior transfers to seven women across four states over thirty-one months, and the confession that came only after the evidence made denial impossible. What transformed this case from circumstantial to unassailable, and what did Sullivan do in the days before his arrest at Garver Lake?

Person: Ruth Vickers
Perpetrator: Roy Sullivan
Location: Portsmith, Indiana
Amount: $42,000 (attempted)
Event: Romance fraud operation spanning 31 months
Platform: Renewed Ground Circle online support forum

- Roy Sullivan worked as a part-time HVAC technician for Dexter Mechanical and spent 90 minutes at Ruth's home in October of the year before she joined the forum.
- Sullivan joined Renewed Ground Circle 14 months before Ruth posted her first message in March 2019.
- Nine days after his service call, Sullivan purchased a prepaid card with cash and used it to pay the forum fee, later revealed by pharmacy receipt timestamp.
- The photograph Sullivan used to build his "Roy Sullivan" and "Daniel" personas belonged to Stephen Ardmore, a structural engineer from northern Michigan, obtained from a deleted Facebook page.
- Cryptocurrency wallet logs recovered at trial showed nine prior transfers to seven women across four states over 31 months totaling $310,000, with one victim having died before trial and another having lost her home.

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.]]>1251falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-book-in-the-river-how-a-rare-edition-unmasked-a-con-artist--73098955
A fisherman pulling trotlines finds a waterlogged Chekhov first edition inscribed "For when you need to remember what's real - always yours, Steven." But the man who signed it was never in Portland, never bought Russian literature, and the woman who received it had no idea it was gone. How did a three-dollar book become the physical evidence that exposed years of carefully constructed fraud?

In this episode, we trace Cheryl Myers' four-month correspondence with a rare book dealer who didn't exist, the two small anomalies she noticed and didn't report, and the moment she transferred $8,500 to a routing number that led nowhere. We follow the forensic detail that broke the case open-a submersed book that should have been discarded-and uncover the connection to an earlier victim who lost $40,000 using the identical script.

Person: Cheryl Myers
Perpetrator: Marcus Delray Webb, age 41
Location: Catawba River, Gaston County, North Carolina
Date found: May 14, 2019
Amount stolen from Myers: $8,500
Event: Customs hold romance fraud scheme

- Cheryl Myers was a 24-year-old rare book cataloguer at Whitmore College in Belmont, North Carolina, specializing in provenance.
- Marcus Delray Webb operated from an extended-stay motel in Rock Hill, South Carolina, using the fake identity Steven Vaughn and photographs stolen from Paul Hennessy, a retired schoolteacher in Burlington, Vermont.
- Webb claimed a $90,000-$110,000 Russian literary collection was held by U.S. Customs and required a $9,000 bond; Cheryl transferred $8,500 within 72 hours on May 3, 2019.
- A fisherman found the inscribed 1917 Chekhov first edition submerged in still water near the Gaston County boat access on May 14, 2019.
- Webb pleaded guilty in September 2019 to wire fraud and received four years in federal custody with no restitution ordered; his DNA matched a cold case from 2016 involving victim Diane Corbett who lost $40,000.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098955Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe book in the river: how a rare edition unmasked a con artist A fisherman pulling trotlines finds a waterlogged Chekhov first edition inscribed "For when you need to remember what's real - always yours, Steven." But the man who signed it was...
A fisherman pulling trotlines finds a waterlogged Chekhov first edition inscribed "For when you need to remember what's real - always yours, Steven." But the man who signed it was never in Portland, never bought Russian literature, and the woman who received it had no idea it was gone. How did a three-dollar book become the physical evidence that exposed years of carefully constructed fraud?

In this episode, we trace Cheryl Myers' four-month correspondence with a rare book dealer who didn't exist, the two small anomalies she noticed and didn't report, and the moment she transferred $8,500 to a routing number that led nowhere. We follow the forensic detail that broke the case open-a submersed book that should have been discarded-and uncover the connection to an earlier victim who lost $40,000 using the identical script.

Person: Cheryl Myers
Perpetrator: Marcus Delray Webb, age 41
Location: Catawba River, Gaston County, North Carolina
Date found: May 14, 2019
Amount stolen from Myers: $8,500
Event: Customs hold romance fraud scheme

- Cheryl Myers was a 24-year-old rare book cataloguer at Whitmore College in Belmont, North Carolina, specializing in provenance.
- Marcus Delray Webb operated from an extended-stay motel in Rock Hill, South Carolina, using the fake identity Steven Vaughn and photographs stolen from Paul Hennessy, a retired schoolteacher in Burlington, Vermont.
- Webb claimed a $90,000-$110,000 Russian literary collection was held by U.S. Customs and required a $9,000 bond; Cheryl transferred $8,500 within 72 hours on May 3, 2019.
- A fisherman found the inscribed 1917 Chekhov first edition submerged in still water near the Gaston County boat access on May 14, 2019.
- Webb pleaded guilty in September 2019 to wire fraud and received four years in federal custody with no restitution ordered; his DNA matched a cold case from 2016 involving victim Diane Corbett who lost $40,000.

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.]]>1463falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-in-the-truck-console-how-a-man-kept-believing--73098954
In this episode, we trace the eighteen-month romance scam that targeted Ross Patterson through a fake civil engineer named Philip Hansen. We examine the notebook Marcus Webb kept-annotated with emotional pressure points and escalation strategies-and the specific moment when Ross admitted to investigators that he simply did not want to find out the truth. We follow the photograph from a county road in Indiana back to Accra, where the real children it depicts had no idea their image had been weaponized.

Person: Ross Patterson
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, age 39
Location: Logansport, Indiana; Roseville, Minnesota; Accra, Ghana
Amount stolen: $61,400
Event: Romance fraud scheme operating 2017-2019
Platform: Christian-oriented dating site

- Ross Patterson created a dating profile in September 2017 after three years alone following his 2014 divorce from Linda.
- Marcus Webb's notebook contained twelve victim names with annotated emotional pressure points; next to Ross's name: "attachment to children. Use photo. Escalate slowly."
- The photograph of three children arrived in a padded envelope from a Chicago mail forwarding service in late July 2018, with blue pen inscription: "Kofi, Emmanuel and Adaeze-Building 2, April 2018. Our kids."
- Webb used the stolen face of real civil engineer Derek Foss from a 2015 professional networking photo without Foss's knowledge.
- Brian Burns, a land surveyor, found the laminated photograph on a gravel shoulder in Cass County, Indiana on a Tuesday in the third week of April 2019 in perfect condition with no mud or warping.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098954Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph in the truck console: how a man kept believing In this episode, we trace the eighteen-month romance scam that targeted Ross Patterson through a fake civil engineer named Philip Hansen. We examine the notebook Marcus Webb...
In this episode, we trace the eighteen-month romance scam that targeted Ross Patterson through a fake civil engineer named Philip Hansen. We examine the notebook Marcus Webb kept-annotated with emotional pressure points and escalation strategies-and the specific moment when Ross admitted to investigators that he simply did not want to find out the truth. We follow the photograph from a county road in Indiana back to Accra, where the real children it depicts had no idea their image had been weaponized.

Person: Ross Patterson
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, age 39
Location: Logansport, Indiana; Roseville, Minnesota; Accra, Ghana
Amount stolen: $61,400
Event: Romance fraud scheme operating 2017-2019
Platform: Christian-oriented dating site

- Ross Patterson created a dating profile in September 2017 after three years alone following his 2014 divorce from Linda.
- Marcus Webb's notebook contained twelve victim names with annotated emotional pressure points; next to Ross's name: "attachment to children. Use photo. Escalate slowly."
- The photograph of three children arrived in a padded envelope from a Chicago mail forwarding service in late July 2018, with blue pen inscription: "Kofi, Emmanuel and Adaeze-Building 2, April 2018. Our kids."
- Webb used the stolen face of real civil engineer Derek Foss from a 2015 professional networking photo without Foss's knowledge.
- Brian Burns, a land surveyor, found the laminated photograph on a gravel shoulder in Cass County, Indiana on a Tuesday in the third week of April 2019 in perfect condition with no mud or warping.

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.]]>1548falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-shoe-in-the-mud-how-they-built-a-man-from-her-heartbreak--73098953
A single polished Oxford sits in a frozen backyard with a phone number folded inside it, placed deliberately where Alice Hunt never went. She had just lost fourteen thousand dollars to a man named Duane Lewis who showed up to five months of dates, remembered her horse's name, and said he loved her - but the photo on his LinkedIn belonged to a stranger in Arizona. Who was really in that backyard, and how many people had been playing the same man?

In this episode, we trace the architecture of a romance scam built not by one impostor but by a coordinated team that understood Alice's deepest vulnerabilities so well they could exploit them. We follow the voice recordings that revealed two different speakers, the parking lot footage showing two different faces, and the discovery that Marcus Webb had done this before to another woman three years earlier - a connection the prosecutor had but Webb denied at sentencing anyway.

Person: Alice Hunt
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, age 38
Event: Romance scam using fake "Duane Lewis" identity
Location: Obendon Township, Carver County
Amount stolen: $14,800
Date: November 2017 - February 2018

- Alice administered insulin injections to her quarter horse Pepper every single day without exception, maintaining a count of 162 consecutive days when the fraud was discovered.
- The fake "Duane Lewis" photograph was taken from the LinkedIn profile of Patrick Serrano, a civil engineer in Tucson, Arizona who had no knowledge his image was being used.
- Roy Schultz, a septic tank service worker, found a single polished dark brown Oxford shoe size 11 in Alice's backyard on a wooden bench in March 2018, with a phone number written in blue ink folded inside.
- Voice analysis of Alice's recorded phone calls revealed at minimum two distinct speakers presenting as Duane Lewis, with one carrying flat Midwest vowels and the other not.
- Marcus Webb had previously operated the same rotating-cast romance scam against a woman named Barbara Fitch in 2015, stealing $22,000, but the statute of limitations expired before charges could be filed.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098953Thu, 10 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe shoe in the mud: how they built a man from her heartbreak A single polished Oxford sits in a frozen backyard with a phone number folded inside it, placed deliberately where Alice Hunt never went. She had just lost fourteen thousand dollars to a...
A single polished Oxford sits in a frozen backyard with a phone number folded inside it, placed deliberately where Alice Hunt never went. She had just lost fourteen thousand dollars to a man named Duane Lewis who showed up to five months of dates, remembered her horse's name, and said he loved her - but the photo on his LinkedIn belonged to a stranger in Arizona. Who was really in that backyard, and how many people had been playing the same man?

In this episode, we trace the architecture of a romance scam built not by one impostor but by a coordinated team that understood Alice's deepest vulnerabilities so well they could exploit them. We follow the voice recordings that revealed two different speakers, the parking lot footage showing two different faces, and the discovery that Marcus Webb had done this before to another woman three years earlier - a connection the prosecutor had but Webb denied at sentencing anyway.

Person: Alice Hunt
Perpetrator: Marcus Webb, age 38
Event: Romance scam using fake "Duane Lewis" identity
Location: Obendon Township, Carver County
Amount stolen: $14,800
Date: November 2017 - February 2018

- Alice administered insulin injections to her quarter horse Pepper every single day without exception, maintaining a count of 162 consecutive days when the fraud was discovered.
- The fake "Duane Lewis" photograph was taken from the LinkedIn profile of Patrick Serrano, a civil engineer in Tucson, Arizona who had no knowledge his image was being used.
- Roy Schultz, a septic tank service worker, found a single polished dark brown Oxford shoe size 11 in Alice's backyard on a wooden bench in March 2018, with a phone number written in blue ink folded inside.
- Voice analysis of Alice's recorded phone calls revealed at minimum two distinct speakers presenting as Duane Lewis, with one carrying flat Midwest vowels and the other not.
- Marcus Webb had previously operated the same rotating-cast romance scam against a woman named Barbara Fitch in 2015, stealing $22,000, but the statute of limitations expired before charges could be filed.

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.]]>1477falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-in-the-map-sleeve-how-a-love-token-became-evidence--73098951
A four-by-six drugstore print slides from a trail map sleeve on a Tuesday morning in February, showing two men at a rooftop bar-one of them Terry Wilson, who had never been to a rooftop bar in his life. The inscription on the back reads: "For when you need proof he was real." But the photograph was placed there four months earlier by someone Terry had never met, and it sat undiscovered while he wired thirty-one thousand dollars to a voice on Wednesday night calls. How did a man fall in love with a person who did not exist, and what made the photograph-intended as proof of Raymond McCarthy's reality-into the first piece of evidence that he never was?

In this episode, we follow Terry Wilson's loneliness into a wellness app forum and track how Kevin Marsh built a fictional nutritional consultant named Raymond McCarthy using a stolen Brazilian fitness influencer's photograph and voice modulation software. We examine the seven wire transfers, the reverse-image search that came back clean, the voicemail traced to Lagos, and the cell tower data that placed Raymond McCarthy within seven minutes of Terry's house-then we uncover the head fake that resolves the entire case: the photograph was not Marsh's mistake, but his ex-girlfriend Lisa Tran's intervention, placed to help a stranger she had never met.

Person: Terry Wilson
Perpetrator: Kevin Marsh, age 44
Case: Romance fraud using fabricated persona Raymond McCarthy
Location: Pella County, western Tennessee; Kettridge Township
Amount stolen: $31,200
Event: Photograph discovered February, arrests made March

- Terry Wilson, 52, worked as a logistics coordinator on Aspen Ridge Drive in Pella County, western Tennessee, recovering from pre-diabetes and a 21-year marriage to Sandra Kimble that ended six years prior.
- Kevin Marsh, 44, lived in a furnished rental on Dorado Lane in Kettridge Township, seven minutes from the trailhead Terry walked every morning.
- The persona "Raymond McCarthy"-a nutritional consultant from Atlanta, originally from Cork, Ireland-used a stolen profile photograph from Brazilian fitness influencer Eduardo and voice modulation software to create a synthetic Irish lilt.
- The first contact came in late March via direct message on NutriPath; phone calls began by the fifth week, every Wednesday at 12:30 in the morning, continuing for 14 months.
- Terry made seven wire transfers totaling $31,200 from his retirement savings and a home equity line opened in November without telling his sons, with pretexts including a supplier audit dispute, plumbing emergency, a hospitalized daughter in Dublin, and a practice acquisition bridge loan.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098951Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph in the map sleeve: how a love token became evidence A four-by-six drugstore print slides from a trail map sleeve on a Tuesday morning in February, showing two men at a rooftop bar-one of them Terry Wilson, who had never been to a...
A four-by-six drugstore print slides from a trail map sleeve on a Tuesday morning in February, showing two men at a rooftop bar-one of them Terry Wilson, who had never been to a rooftop bar in his life. The inscription on the back reads: "For when you need proof he was real." But the photograph was placed there four months earlier by someone Terry had never met, and it sat undiscovered while he wired thirty-one thousand dollars to a voice on Wednesday night calls. How did a man fall in love with a person who did not exist, and what made the photograph-intended as proof of Raymond McCarthy's reality-into the first piece of evidence that he never was?

In this episode, we follow Terry Wilson's loneliness into a wellness app forum and track how Kevin Marsh built a fictional nutritional consultant named Raymond McCarthy using a stolen Brazilian fitness influencer's photograph and voice modulation software. We examine the seven wire transfers, the reverse-image search that came back clean, the voicemail traced to Lagos, and the cell tower data that placed Raymond McCarthy within seven minutes of Terry's house-then we uncover the head fake that resolves the entire case: the photograph was not Marsh's mistake, but his ex-girlfriend Lisa Tran's intervention, placed to help a stranger she had never met.

Person: Terry Wilson
Perpetrator: Kevin Marsh, age 44
Case: Romance fraud using fabricated persona Raymond McCarthy
Location: Pella County, western Tennessee; Kettridge Township
Amount stolen: $31,200
Event: Photograph discovered February, arrests made March

- Terry Wilson, 52, worked as a logistics coordinator on Aspen Ridge Drive in Pella County, western Tennessee, recovering from pre-diabetes and a 21-year marriage to Sandra Kimble that ended six years prior.
- Kevin Marsh, 44, lived in a furnished rental on Dorado Lane in Kettridge Township, seven minutes from the trailhead Terry walked every morning.
- The persona "Raymond McCarthy"-a nutritional consultant from Atlanta, originally from Cork, Ireland-used a stolen profile photograph from Brazilian fitness influencer Eduardo and voice modulation software to create a synthetic Irish lilt.
- The first contact came in late March via direct message on NutriPath; phone calls began by the fifth week, every Wednesday at 12:30 in the morning, continuing for 14 months.
- Terry made seven wire transfers totaling $31,200 from his retirement savings and a home equity line opened in November without telling his sons, with pretexts including a supplier audit dispute, plumbing emergency, a hospitalized daughter in Dublin, and a practice acquisition bridge loan.

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.]]>1362falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-spreadsheet-behind-the-love-letters-how-he-timed-every-request-to-her-bank-account--73098948
A widow in the Texas Panhandle opened her front door at dawn holding a dead phone and eleven opened bank envelopes. She had sent $412,000 to a man who had never existed-a Canadian engineer whose photograph belonged to someone else entirely, whose video calls came from six hundred miles away, whose every request for money arrived within seventy-two hours of her certificates of deposit maturing. How did one person's grief become another person's spreadsheet?

In this episode, we trace the five months of patient warmth before the first request, the discovery of the stolen photograph by a retired bookkeeper who noticed something wrong, and the laptop recovered in Tulsa that contained the real architecture of the scheme-not romance, but a precisely calculated financial timeline. We examine the eleven certificates of deposit, the eleven deployment extensions, and the question of how someone could know her net worth before she ever knew his real name.

Person: Pamela Zeller
Perpetrator: George McCarthy (real first name), age 51
Location: Tulliver Flats, Texas Panhandle; Tulsa, Oklahoma rental property
Amount stolen: $412,000 (recovered: $67,000)
Event: Romance fraud spanning fourteen months, arrested March 29, 2019
Platform: Social media messaging, video calls

- Pamela inherited eleven certificates of deposit totaling approximately $412,000 after her husband Tom Zeller died of a cardiac event in March 2017.
- George's first financial request arrived in July 2018, five months after initial contact, asking for $11,000 for a customs delay in Geneva.
- A reverse image search run by Pamela's friend Tammy Chambers revealed the photograph belonged to Steven Kowalski, a structural engineer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, used on forty-seven web pages.
- The laptop recovered at McCarthy's Tulsa rental property contained a spreadsheet with eleven rows matching each of Pamela's CDs, with maturity dates and a column labeled "estimated available."
- Every deployment extension and new obstacle arrived within seventy-two hours of a CD maturing-eleven extensions, eleven CDs, eleven exact matches with zero exceptions.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098948Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe spreadsheet behind the love letters: how he timed every request to her bank account A widow in the Texas Panhandle opened her front door at dawn holding a dead phone and eleven opened bank envelopes. She had sent $412,000 to a man who had never...
A widow in the Texas Panhandle opened her front door at dawn holding a dead phone and eleven opened bank envelopes. She had sent $412,000 to a man who had never existed-a Canadian engineer whose photograph belonged to someone else entirely, whose video calls came from six hundred miles away, whose every request for money arrived within seventy-two hours of her certificates of deposit maturing. How did one person's grief become another person's spreadsheet?

In this episode, we trace the five months of patient warmth before the first request, the discovery of the stolen photograph by a retired bookkeeper who noticed something wrong, and the laptop recovered in Tulsa that contained the real architecture of the scheme-not romance, but a precisely calculated financial timeline. We examine the eleven certificates of deposit, the eleven deployment extensions, and the question of how someone could know her net worth before she ever knew his real name.

Person: Pamela Zeller
Perpetrator: George McCarthy (real first name), age 51
Location: Tulliver Flats, Texas Panhandle; Tulsa, Oklahoma rental property
Amount stolen: $412,000 (recovered: $67,000)
Event: Romance fraud spanning fourteen months, arrested March 29, 2019
Platform: Social media messaging, video calls

- Pamela inherited eleven certificates of deposit totaling approximately $412,000 after her husband Tom Zeller died of a cardiac event in March 2017.
- George's first financial request arrived in July 2018, five months after initial contact, asking for $11,000 for a customs delay in Geneva.
- A reverse image search run by Pamela's friend Tammy Chambers revealed the photograph belonged to Steven Kowalski, a structural engineer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, used on forty-seven web pages.
- The laptop recovered at McCarthy's Tulsa rental property contained a spreadsheet with eleven rows matching each of Pamela's CDs, with maturity dates and a column labeled "estimated available."
- Every deployment extension and new obstacle arrived within seventy-two hours of a CD maturing-eleven extensions, eleven CDs, eleven exact matches with zero exceptions.

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.]]>1455falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-carved-rook-how-a-snowplow-exposed-a-stalker-playing-chess--73098947
A hand-carved white soapstone chess piece fell from the roof of Erin Edwards's car onto a residential street in Grover Mills, Wisconsin on the morning of December ninth, 2019. A snowplow operator found it by a fire hydrant. Erin had no idea it was there-and no idea that a man had driven eight hours to place it there. How did a carved game piece become the key evidence in a federal fraud case involving a fake Norwegian engineer, nine thousand dollars in wire transfers, and weeks of carefully documented surveillance?

In this episode, we trace the ten-week romance scam from the first chess message to the second wire transfer sent two doors from where the fraudster knew Erin would be every Wednesday. We examine the impossible time zones that proved "Ryan Erickson" was never in Norway, the three memorized opening variations that revealed performed enthusiasm, and the felt pad glued to the rook's base-a detail that suggested intent far darker than the confessions would reveal.

Person: Erin Edwards
Perpetrator: Marcus Leigh
Location: Grover Mills, Wisconsin
Amount stolen: $9,200
Event: Discovery of carved chess piece, December 9, 2019
Case: Wire fraud and interstate stalking

- Erin Edwards worked as a medical billing coordinator at an orthopedic group and had held the job for four years.
- A profile named Ryan Erickson appeared in October 2019, claiming to be a thirty-four-year-old civil engineer managing a project in Stavanger, Norway.
- Erin wired $6,000 in mid-November and $3,200 on December 4 from a branch on Clement Avenue, two doors from the Thai restaurant where she picked up her grandmother Loretta's dinner every Wednesday.
- Marcus Leigh drove eight hours from Beechwood, Indiana to Grover Mills twice to watch Erin's routine and carve a white soapstone rook over several weeks with a felt pad glued to the base.
- Wade Stewart's snowplow blade struck the rook on Pritchard Lane at 6:40 a.m. on December 9, 2019, rolling it against a fire hydrant; Leigh was arrested on December 19 and sentenced to six years in federal prison.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098947Mon, 07 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe carved rook: how a snowplow exposed a stalker playing chess A hand-carved white soapstone chess piece fell from the roof of Erin Edwards's car onto a residential street in Grover Mills, Wisconsin on the morning of December ninth, 2019. A...
A hand-carved white soapstone chess piece fell from the roof of Erin Edwards's car onto a residential street in Grover Mills, Wisconsin on the morning of December ninth, 2019. A snowplow operator found it by a fire hydrant. Erin had no idea it was there-and no idea that a man had driven eight hours to place it there. How did a carved game piece become the key evidence in a federal fraud case involving a fake Norwegian engineer, nine thousand dollars in wire transfers, and weeks of carefully documented surveillance?

In this episode, we trace the ten-week romance scam from the first chess message to the second wire transfer sent two doors from where the fraudster knew Erin would be every Wednesday. We examine the impossible time zones that proved "Ryan Erickson" was never in Norway, the three memorized opening variations that revealed performed enthusiasm, and the felt pad glued to the rook's base-a detail that suggested intent far darker than the confessions would reveal.

Person: Erin Edwards
Perpetrator: Marcus Leigh
Location: Grover Mills, Wisconsin
Amount stolen: $9,200
Event: Discovery of carved chess piece, December 9, 2019
Case: Wire fraud and interstate stalking

- Erin Edwards worked as a medical billing coordinator at an orthopedic group and had held the job for four years.
- A profile named Ryan Erickson appeared in October 2019, claiming to be a thirty-four-year-old civil engineer managing a project in Stavanger, Norway.
- Erin wired $6,000 in mid-November and $3,200 on December 4 from a branch on Clement Avenue, two doors from the Thai restaurant where she picked up her grandmother Loretta's dinner every Wednesday.
- Marcus Leigh drove eight hours from Beechwood, Indiana to Grover Mills twice to watch Erin's routine and carve a white soapstone rook over several weeks with a felt pad glued to the base.
- Wade Stewart's snowplow blade struck the rook on Pritchard Lane at 6:40 a.m. on December 9, 2019, rolling it against a fire hydrant; Leigh was arrested on December 19 and sentenced to six years in federal prison.

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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.]]>1200falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-card-with-nineteen-signatures-how-one-man-built-a-false-world-inside-grief--73098944
In this episode, we follow Connie Bowers from her solitary morning walks on Birchmont Drive through nine thousand dollars in transfers to a man she knew only as Dennis-a moderator of Survivors Strong, a three-hundred-member Facebook group founded in memory of his late wife Linda. We examine the stolen photograph from an Asheville renovation blog, the $2,000 repayment that reset her instinct to track debt, and the forensic evidence that proved every signature on the card came from the same hand.

Person: Connie Bowers, Patricia Owens
Perpetrator: Dennis Raymond Wells
Location: Sable Creek, Indiana; Crawfordsville, Indiana
Amount stolen: $9,000 (Connie); $6,400 (Patricia)
Event: Abandoned truck found on County Road 7, November 14
Arrest: November 19, Crawfordsville motel

- Connie Bowers, 54, found Dennis Wells in the private Facebook group Survivors Strong-Midwest Women, which had 300 members and was moderated by a man claiming to have lost his wife Linda to breast cancer four years earlier.
- The profile photograph used by Wells was taken from a home renovation blog in Asheville, North Carolina, belonging to a contractor named Tom Belski who had never heard of Dennis Wells or Indiana.
- Wells requested $1,800 on a pretext of a payroll gap in late February; he repaid $2,000 three weeks later, the extra $200 resetting Connie's ability to track debt.
- A handmade get-well card addressed to Connie with pink ribbons and nineteen signatures was found on the dashboard of a white Ford F-250 truck parked on County Road 7 for eleven days; forensic analysis confirmed all nineteen signatures were written by Dennis Raymond Wells in practiced variations.
- Deputies arrested Wells on November 19 at a motel in Crawfordsville, 70 miles from Sable Creek, and seized a prepaid laptop, four phones, and a storage unit key containing a bin of additional handmade cards in various stages of completion.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098944Sun, 06 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe card with nineteen signatures: how one man built a false world inside grief In this episode, we follow Connie Bowers from her solitary morning walks on Birchmont Drive through nine thousand dollars in transfers to a man she knew only as...
In this episode, we follow Connie Bowers from her solitary morning walks on Birchmont Drive through nine thousand dollars in transfers to a man she knew only as Dennis-a moderator of Survivors Strong, a three-hundred-member Facebook group founded in memory of his late wife Linda. We examine the stolen photograph from an Asheville renovation blog, the $2,000 repayment that reset her instinct to track debt, and the forensic evidence that proved every signature on the card came from the same hand.

Person: Connie Bowers, Patricia Owens
Perpetrator: Dennis Raymond Wells
Location: Sable Creek, Indiana; Crawfordsville, Indiana
Amount stolen: $9,000 (Connie); $6,400 (Patricia)
Event: Abandoned truck found on County Road 7, November 14
Arrest: November 19, Crawfordsville motel

- Connie Bowers, 54, found Dennis Wells in the private Facebook group Survivors Strong-Midwest Women, which had 300 members and was moderated by a man claiming to have lost his wife Linda to breast cancer four years earlier.
- The profile photograph used by Wells was taken from a home renovation blog in Asheville, North Carolina, belonging to a contractor named Tom Belski who had never heard of Dennis Wells or Indiana.
- Wells requested $1,800 on a pretext of a payroll gap in late February; he repaid $2,000 three weeks later, the extra $200 resetting Connie's ability to track debt.
- A handmade get-well card addressed to Connie with pink ribbons and nineteen signatures was found on the dashboard of a white Ford F-250 truck parked on County Road 7 for eleven days; forensic analysis confirmed all nineteen signatures were written by Dennis Raymond Wells in practiced variations.
- Deputies arrested Wells on November 19 at a motel in Crawfordsville, 70 miles from Sable Creek, and seized a prepaid laptop, four phones, and a storage unit key containing a bin of additional handmade cards in various stages of completion.

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.]]>1353falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-letters-left-on-the-loading-dock-how-patience-became-the-perfect-crime--73098943
Thirty-one handwritten envelopes tied with blue kitchen twine sat carefully on a concrete ledge at Partlow Freight on the morning of October ninth. They contained two years and two months of correspondence between a twenty-two-year-old named Janet Lawson and a man who claimed to be a South Sudanese refugee, but had never actually met her. So why would someone spend nearly two years building trust with someone they never asked for money?

In this episode, we follow how a fake pen-pal profile placed through a legitimate literacy center program became the foundation for an elaborate freight fraud scheme. We examine the fake nonprofit letterhead, the stolen photograph of a hospital administrator in Columbus, Ohio, and the crucial detail investigators discovered: a penciled notation on the back of one envelope that revealed Janet was never the target-she was the credential. Her reliable character, verified address, and signature were the tools needed to move a fraudulent electronics shipment through a freight facility in someone else's name.

Person: Janet Lawson
Perpetrator: Douglas Bell
Location: Tulliver, Iowa
Event: October ninth discovery of thirty-one letters
Amount defrauded: Electronics shipment purchased on Henry Dorr's account
Case: Mail fraud, wire fraud, identity fraud operation

- Janet Lawson, twenty-two, had relocated to Tulliver fourteen months before the first letter arrived in September of year zero.
- She volunteered at the Tulliver Community Literacy Center's pen-pal program every Wednesday for eleven months without missing once.
- Douglas Bell sent thirty-one letters over twenty-six months, never asking Janet for money or making any financial request.
- A penciled notation on the top envelope's back contained Janet's name, a seven-digit transaction code, and the word "received," written by someone standing rather than seated.
- The fake Lakeridge Transition Alliance letterhead provided in the shipment request resolved to a vacant lot in Milwaukee with a prepaid mobile phone number.
- Marcus Webb, a hospital administrator in Columbus, Ohio, discovered his photograph had been stolen from public social media and used to build Bell's false identity.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098943Sat, 05 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe letters left on the loading dock: how patience became the perfect crime Thirty-one handwritten envelopes tied with blue kitchen twine sat carefully on a concrete ledge at Partlow Freight on the morning of October ninth. They contained two years...
Thirty-one handwritten envelopes tied with blue kitchen twine sat carefully on a concrete ledge at Partlow Freight on the morning of October ninth. They contained two years and two months of correspondence between a twenty-two-year-old named Janet Lawson and a man who claimed to be a South Sudanese refugee, but had never actually met her. So why would someone spend nearly two years building trust with someone they never asked for money?

In this episode, we follow how a fake pen-pal profile placed through a legitimate literacy center program became the foundation for an elaborate freight fraud scheme. We examine the fake nonprofit letterhead, the stolen photograph of a hospital administrator in Columbus, Ohio, and the crucial detail investigators discovered: a penciled notation on the back of one envelope that revealed Janet was never the target-she was the credential. Her reliable character, verified address, and signature were the tools needed to move a fraudulent electronics shipment through a freight facility in someone else's name.

Person: Janet Lawson
Perpetrator: Douglas Bell
Location: Tulliver, Iowa
Event: October ninth discovery of thirty-one letters
Amount defrauded: Electronics shipment purchased on Henry Dorr's account
Case: Mail fraud, wire fraud, identity fraud operation

- Janet Lawson, twenty-two, had relocated to Tulliver fourteen months before the first letter arrived in September of year zero.
- She volunteered at the Tulliver Community Literacy Center's pen-pal program every Wednesday for eleven months without missing once.
- Douglas Bell sent thirty-one letters over twenty-six months, never asking Janet for money or making any financial request.
- A penciled notation on the top envelope's back contained Janet's name, a seven-digit transaction code, and the word "received," written by someone standing rather than seated.
- The fake Lakeridge Transition Alliance letterhead provided in the shipment request resolved to a vacant lot in Milwaukee with a prepaid mobile phone number.
- Marcus Webb, a hospital administrator in Columbus, Ohio, discovered his photograph had been stolen from public social media and used to build Bell's false identity.

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.]]>1280falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-in-the-gravel-how-he-built-it-four-years-before--73098940
In this episode, we follow the destruction of the Alan Moore persona in twenty minutes of reverse image searches, the discovery that the photographs belonged to Stephen Adler, a real architect in Tacoma whose niece's initial had been caught mid-sign in a spontaneous moment, and the realization that Arthur Morrow-a contractor who had pulled cable at Jean's house in 2015-had been building this operation from a specific physical location all along. We unpack the whiteboard in a Georgia business park, the relationship calendar color-coded with emotional milestones and scheduled crises, and the hard drive directory that reduced twelve people's longing to outcome notations and projected extraction figures.

Person: Jean Brooks
Perpetrator: Arthur Morrow, age 44
Event: Photograph placed at 714 Sable Creek Drive, September 17, 2019
Amount stolen: Over $4,200 from Jean Brooks alone
Sentence: 11 years federal prison

- Jean Brooks taught sixth-grade language arts for 21 years and retired voluntarily in June 2018 at age 38.
- In late October 2018, Jean posted a comment in an online preservation community and received a reply from "Alan Moore," a supposedly deaf architect in Portland, Oregon.
- Over eleven months, Alan Moore sent Jean 14 photographs of himself at a drafting table and requested four wire transfers totaling $4,200 for a plane ticket, medical bills, and business expenses.
- On September 17, 2019, a printed photograph was found in the gravel beside the meter box at 714 Sable Creek Drive with writing on the back: "For Jean. Every morning I think of you first."
- Reverse image searches revealed all 14 photographs belonged to Stephen Adler, a real residential architect in Tacoma, Washington, whose photos had been reported stolen to Tacoma Police eight months prior with no result.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098940Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph in the gravel: how he built it four years before In this episode, we follow the destruction of the Alan Moore persona in twenty minutes of reverse image searches, the discovery that the photographs belonged to Stephen Adler, a real...
In this episode, we follow the destruction of the Alan Moore persona in twenty minutes of reverse image searches, the discovery that the photographs belonged to Stephen Adler, a real architect in Tacoma whose niece's initial had been caught mid-sign in a spontaneous moment, and the realization that Arthur Morrow-a contractor who had pulled cable at Jean's house in 2015-had been building this operation from a specific physical location all along. We unpack the whiteboard in a Georgia business park, the relationship calendar color-coded with emotional milestones and scheduled crises, and the hard drive directory that reduced twelve people's longing to outcome notations and projected extraction figures.

Person: Jean Brooks
Perpetrator: Arthur Morrow, age 44
Event: Photograph placed at 714 Sable Creek Drive, September 17, 2019
Amount stolen: Over $4,200 from Jean Brooks alone
Sentence: 11 years federal prison

- Jean Brooks taught sixth-grade language arts for 21 years and retired voluntarily in June 2018 at age 38.
- In late October 2018, Jean posted a comment in an online preservation community and received a reply from "Alan Moore," a supposedly deaf architect in Portland, Oregon.
- Over eleven months, Alan Moore sent Jean 14 photographs of himself at a drafting table and requested four wire transfers totaling $4,200 for a plane ticket, medical bills, and business expenses.
- On September 17, 2019, a printed photograph was found in the gravel beside the meter box at 714 Sable Creek Drive with writing on the back: "For Jean. Every morning I think of you first."
- Reverse image searches revealed all 14 photographs belonged to Stephen Adler, a real residential architect in Tacoma, Washington, whose photos had been reported stolen to Tacoma Police eight months prior with no result.

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.]]>1489falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-in-the-hymnal-how-three-strangers-became-one-man--73098939
A retired postal worker finds a drugstore print tucked inside a hymnal at Grace Fellowship Church on a Tuesday morning in August 2019: two men grinning in front of a restaurant, one of them Roger Callahan in a shirt he never owned, at a place he never went. Roger had been calling this man four times a week for eighteen months, believing him to be a widowed civil engineer named Jeffrey Fitzgerald. But how could a friendship built on six months of genuine connection turn out to be assembled from three separate people who never met each other?

In this episode, we trace the architecture of a romance scam that borrowed a real man's face, another real man's grief over a dead wife, and a third man's voice to construct someone who never existed. We follow the moment Frank Schmidt laid down a printed split-screen showing Ted Nowak's photograph and Jeffrey Fitzgerald's profile side by side, the roadside encounter on Route 40 that never went according to plan, and the laptop that revealed three active identities organized by victim name-each one a carefully documented deception.

Person: Roger Callahan
Perpetrator: Warren Pruett, age 44
Event: Photography discovered in hymnal, August 14, 2019
Amount: $4,000
Location: Alderton, Indiana; Dayton, Ohio
Date: Spring 2018 to August 2019

- Roger Callahan, age 62, a property manager with twelve rental units in Alderton, Indiana, connected with Jeffrey Fitzgerald on ConnectCircle in spring 2018 through a Purdue football comment thread.
- Jeffrey Fitzgerald was constructed from three sources: the face of Ted Nowak, a retired firefighter in Spokane, Washington; the biography of Alan Voss, a real civil engineer and widower; and the voice of Warren Pruett, 44, renting a room in Dayton, Ohio.
- Roger wired $4,000 to Jeffrey Fitzgerald in early August 2019 after being told of a temporary overseas bank transfer problem; his daughter Melissa noticed the transfer and alerted Frank Schmidt.
- On August 13, 2019, Pruett drove to Grace Fellowship Church and placed a digitally composited photograph inside a hymnal on the third pew, left side-showing Roger and Pruett arm in arm at a restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina where Roger had never been.
- Warren Pruett was arrested on August 26, 2019 at the Dayton property after police executed a search warrant; his laptop contained three active ConnectCircle identities organized by victim name, including evidence of at least one other victim, Lorraine Capps from Terre Haute, dating back to 2014.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098939Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph in the hymnal: how three strangers became one man A retired postal worker finds a drugstore print tucked inside a hymnal at Grace Fellowship Church on a Tuesday morning in August 2019: two men grinning in front of a restaurant, one...
A retired postal worker finds a drugstore print tucked inside a hymnal at Grace Fellowship Church on a Tuesday morning in August 2019: two men grinning in front of a restaurant, one of them Roger Callahan in a shirt he never owned, at a place he never went. Roger had been calling this man four times a week for eighteen months, believing him to be a widowed civil engineer named Jeffrey Fitzgerald. But how could a friendship built on six months of genuine connection turn out to be assembled from three separate people who never met each other?

In this episode, we trace the architecture of a romance scam that borrowed a real man's face, another real man's grief over a dead wife, and a third man's voice to construct someone who never existed. We follow the moment Frank Schmidt laid down a printed split-screen showing Ted Nowak's photograph and Jeffrey Fitzgerald's profile side by side, the roadside encounter on Route 40 that never went according to plan, and the laptop that revealed three active identities organized by victim name-each one a carefully documented deception.

Person: Roger Callahan
Perpetrator: Warren Pruett, age 44
Event: Photography discovered in hymnal, August 14, 2019
Amount: $4,000
Location: Alderton, Indiana; Dayton, Ohio
Date: Spring 2018 to August 2019

- Roger Callahan, age 62, a property manager with twelve rental units in Alderton, Indiana, connected with Jeffrey Fitzgerald on ConnectCircle in spring 2018 through a Purdue football comment thread.
- Jeffrey Fitzgerald was constructed from three sources: the face of Ted Nowak, a retired firefighter in Spokane, Washington; the biography of Alan Voss, a real civil engineer and widower; and the voice of Warren Pruett, 44, renting a room in Dayton, Ohio.
- Roger wired $4,000 to Jeffrey Fitzgerald in early August 2019 after being told of a temporary overseas bank transfer problem; his daughter Melissa noticed the transfer and alerted Frank Schmidt.
- On August 13, 2019, Pruett drove to Grace Fellowship Church and placed a digitally composited photograph inside a hymnal on the third pew, left side-showing Roger and Pruett arm in arm at a restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina where Roger had never been.
- Warren Pruett was arrested on August 26, 2019 at the Dayton property after police executed a search warrant; his laptop contained three active ConnectCircle identities organized by victim name, including evidence of at least one other victim, Lorraine Capps from Terre Haute, dating back to 2014.

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.]]>1442falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-forty-two-thousand-dollar-goodbye-how-grief-became-a-weapon--73098937
In this episode, we trace the four-month cultivation from February's first message through the three returned payments that taught Duane to trust, the reconnaissance visit to his warehouse, and the careful questions about his neighbor's key and his cat's injection schedule. We examine the storage unit in Kentucky containing eleven color-coded folders, the stolen face of a Portland landscaper, and the confession that answered how but never why-whether the person behind eric_m_ohio knew grief from experience or had studied it until the distance between knowledge and performance collapsed entirely.

Person: Duane Fleming
Platform: Mourning Forward (grief support app)
Perpetrator: Murphy (arrested in Covington, Kentucky)
Amount stolen: $42,000
Date of transfer: July 2, two-seventeen a.m.
Location: Harwick, Ohio / Limassol, Cyprus

- Duane's mother Margaret died of ovarian cancer in October; she left him a small plot of land and Hector, a seven-year-old diabetic tabby cat requiring two insulin injections daily.
- In February, a user named eric_m_ohio messaged Duane on Mourning Forward claiming to have lost his father to the same cancer, initiating four months of daily contact.
- Murphy returned three separate payments totaling six thousand dollars across June-three hundred dollars, seventeen hundred dollars, and four thousand dollars-each time claiming urgent circumstances and apologizing for asking.
- A fraudulent subcontractor wearing Regal Temp credentials spent four hours on Duane's warehouse floor at Delco Building Products in early June, observing shift changes and learning his daily routine.
- Murphy's DNA matched a motel receipt from Morgantown, West Virginia, connected to the death of a man named Ted Cawley three years prior; that death was ruled accidental and later reopened as a cold case with no charges filed.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098937Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe forty-two thousand dollar goodbye: how grief became a weapon In this episode, we trace the four-month cultivation from February's first message through the three returned payments that taught Duane to trust, the reconnaissance visit to his...
In this episode, we trace the four-month cultivation from February's first message through the three returned payments that taught Duane to trust, the reconnaissance visit to his warehouse, and the careful questions about his neighbor's key and his cat's injection schedule. We examine the storage unit in Kentucky containing eleven color-coded folders, the stolen face of a Portland landscaper, and the confession that answered how but never why-whether the person behind eric_m_ohio knew grief from experience or had studied it until the distance between knowledge and performance collapsed entirely.

Person: Duane Fleming
Platform: Mourning Forward (grief support app)
Perpetrator: Murphy (arrested in Covington, Kentucky)
Amount stolen: $42,000
Date of transfer: July 2, two-seventeen a.m.
Location: Harwick, Ohio / Limassol, Cyprus

- Duane's mother Margaret died of ovarian cancer in October; she left him a small plot of land and Hector, a seven-year-old diabetic tabby cat requiring two insulin injections daily.
- In February, a user named eric_m_ohio messaged Duane on Mourning Forward claiming to have lost his father to the same cancer, initiating four months of daily contact.
- Murphy returned three separate payments totaling six thousand dollars across June-three hundred dollars, seventeen hundred dollars, and four thousand dollars-each time claiming urgent circumstances and apologizing for asking.
- A fraudulent subcontractor wearing Regal Temp credentials spent four hours on Duane's warehouse floor at Delco Building Products in early June, observing shift changes and learning his daily routine.
- Murphy's DNA matched a motel receipt from Morgantown, West Virginia, connected to the death of a man named Ted Cawley three years prior; that death was ruled accidental and later reopened as a cold case with no charges filed.

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.]]>1553falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ring-in-the-creek-how-a-phantom-lover-became-evidence--73098936
In this episode, we follow the forensic timeline from the engraved platinum solitaire to the reverse image search that exposed Vicki Callahan as a fiction built from a stolen photograph of Connie Abernethy, a civil engineer in Akron, Ohio. We trace the wire transfers to Cyprus, the cell tower records placing a prepaid device near Nicole's home in September 2018, and the deliberate placement of a ring in moving water-an act the evidence allows but the court record refuses to prove.

Person: Nicole Vogel
Person: Sandra Pryce
Event: Ring discovered in Cutter Creek, June 2019
Case: Romance fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, interstate fraud
Amount stolen: $87,000
Location: Harlow Falls, Georgia

- Nicole Vogel joined her own solo-travel social media group in May 2017 and was approached by "Vicki Callahan" in August 2017.
- Between June 2018 and October 2018, Nicole wired $87,000 to four overseas accounts in response to fabricated crises.
- The ring was engraved "N - across every mile - V" with the date June 14, 2018, and delivered by courier to Nicole's parking lot.
- Forensic analysis placed the platinum ring in Cutter Creek for 8-12 months, consistent with late fall 2018, when Nicole discovered it missing from her jewelry box.
- Sandra Pryce was arrested in Tampa in July 2019 and convicted in February 2020 on two counts of wire fraud, one count of identity theft, and one count of interstate fraud; she was sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098936Tue, 01 Sep 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe ring in the creek: how a phantom lover became evidence In this episode, we follow the forensic timeline from the engraved platinum solitaire to the reverse image search that exposed Vicki Callahan as a fiction built from a stolen photograph of...
In this episode, we follow the forensic timeline from the engraved platinum solitaire to the reverse image search that exposed Vicki Callahan as a fiction built from a stolen photograph of Connie Abernethy, a civil engineer in Akron, Ohio. We trace the wire transfers to Cyprus, the cell tower records placing a prepaid device near Nicole's home in September 2018, and the deliberate placement of a ring in moving water-an act the evidence allows but the court record refuses to prove.

Person: Nicole Vogel
Person: Sandra Pryce
Event: Ring discovered in Cutter Creek, June 2019
Case: Romance fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, interstate fraud
Amount stolen: $87,000
Location: Harlow Falls, Georgia

- Nicole Vogel joined her own solo-travel social media group in May 2017 and was approached by "Vicki Callahan" in August 2017.
- Between June 2018 and October 2018, Nicole wired $87,000 to four overseas accounts in response to fabricated crises.
- The ring was engraved "N - across every mile - V" with the date June 14, 2018, and delivered by courier to Nicole's parking lot.
- Forensic analysis placed the platinum ring in Cutter Creek for 8-12 months, consistent with late fall 2018, when Nicole discovered it missing from her jewelry box.
- Sandra Pryce was arrested in Tampa in July 2019 and convicted in February 2020 on two counts of wire fraud, one count of identity theft, and one count of interstate fraud; she was sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

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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.]]>1507falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-garden-he-almost-stole-how-a-con-man-used-love-to-take-fourteen-acres--73098934
In this episode, we trace how a man named Dennis Farley mapped a lonely surveyor's daily route, introduced him to a gardener named Debra Donnelly who had no idea she was part of a con, and engineered the building of a garden as cover for a forged will and deed transfer. We examine the attorney who drafted documents with a stranger in the room, the home health aide whose intake note on a piece of letterhead sparked the investigation, and Farley's own jailhouse confession-that the hardest part was Harold actually liked him.

Person: Harold Vance
Location: Fourteen acres outside Millhaven, Ohio
Perpetrator: Dennis Farley (using alias Jason Crawford)
Event: Will amendment and deed transfer, January-March 2019
Arrest date: May 9, 2019
Amount: Fourteen-acre property and $10,000 bequest

- Harold Vance was a seventy-nine-year-old widower living on fourteen acres his wife's family had owned since the 1970s.
- Dennis Farley had a prior conviction for theft by deception in Indiana, served 2014-2015, and was out less than three years when he targeted Harold.
- Debra Donnelly, a thirty-one-year-old home health worker and gardener, was flagged down by Farley on the Fenner Road bike path in June 2018 with a flat tire that investigators believe was engineered.
- Farley brought Debra to meet Harold in August 2018 for Sunday dinner; Harold told Debra she reminded him of his late wife.
- The cedar raised beds were built over three November 2018 weekends with Debra doing most of the construction while Harold watched from a lawn chair; the deed transferred by February or March 2019, before tomato seeds even germinated.
- A home health aide named Brenda Fowkes noticed a piece of letterhead from attorney Ted Morrow on Harold's kitchen table in April 2019 and recorded it in her intake notes, which triggered the investigation that led to Farley's arrest.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098934Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe garden he almost stole: how a con man used love to take fourteen acres In this episode, we trace how a man named Dennis Farley mapped a lonely surveyor's daily route, introduced him to a gardener named Debra Donnelly who had no idea she was...
In this episode, we trace how a man named Dennis Farley mapped a lonely surveyor's daily route, introduced him to a gardener named Debra Donnelly who had no idea she was part of a con, and engineered the building of a garden as cover for a forged will and deed transfer. We examine the attorney who drafted documents with a stranger in the room, the home health aide whose intake note on a piece of letterhead sparked the investigation, and Farley's own jailhouse confession-that the hardest part was Harold actually liked him.

Person: Harold Vance
Location: Fourteen acres outside Millhaven, Ohio
Perpetrator: Dennis Farley (using alias Jason Crawford)
Event: Will amendment and deed transfer, January-March 2019
Arrest date: May 9, 2019
Amount: Fourteen-acre property and $10,000 bequest

- Harold Vance was a seventy-nine-year-old widower living on fourteen acres his wife's family had owned since the 1970s.
- Dennis Farley had a prior conviction for theft by deception in Indiana, served 2014-2015, and was out less than three years when he targeted Harold.
- Debra Donnelly, a thirty-one-year-old home health worker and gardener, was flagged down by Farley on the Fenner Road bike path in June 2018 with a flat tire that investigators believe was engineered.
- Farley brought Debra to meet Harold in August 2018 for Sunday dinner; Harold told Debra she reminded him of his late wife.
- The cedar raised beds were built over three November 2018 weekends with Debra doing most of the construction while Harold watched from a lawn chair; the deed transferred by February or March 2019, before tomato seeds even germinated.
- A home health aide named Brenda Fowkes noticed a piece of letterhead from attorney Ted Morrow on Harold's kitchen table in April 2019 and recorded it in her intake notes, which triggered the investigation that led to Farley's arrest.

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.]]>1363falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-in-the-wellhead-how-a-tuesday-routine-became-a-filing-system--73098932
A well-service contractor found photographs and a wire transfer confirmation tucked inside a wellhead cap on a stranger's property in northern Illinois, inscribed with what looked like a love note. But the note was not written for the woman living there-it was a filing label in a forty-page document, and someone had been surveilling her Tuesday morning absences for months.

In this episode, we trace how a carefully engineered romance script, rotated across multiple targets and maintained by a team of operators, became a physical operation requiring on-site surveillance. We examine the single phrase written in block letters on the back of a photograph-"For when you need to remember what you're waiting for. All my love, Bruce"-and how that phrase appeared in an encrypted document labeled "Relationship Architecture," revealing the entire machinery of the fraud.

Person: Debra Erickson
Perpetrator: Andrew Vine
Location: Clearwater Ridge Road, northern Illinois
Amount stolen: Forty-two thousand dollars
Date: September 2018 to April 2019
Event: Wire transfer confirmation and photographs discovered in wellhead cap

- Debra met "Bruce Mitchell" through a dating app in September 2018 and exchanged over four thousand messages before requesting money in late February 2019.
- The first payment of eleven thousand dollars was requested for a regulatory filing emergency on the North Sea platform, wired within forty-eight hours to an account in Lagos, Nigeria.
- A second payment of thirty-one thousand dollars followed three weeks later for a hospital bill in Bergen, Norway, funded by liquidating a certificate of deposit Debra had held for eight years.
- Dennis Coble, operating under the alias "Frank," confirmed Debra's identity at a Harwick Township Hall property-owners' meeting in early March 2019, asking about water access on her road.
- The photographs found in the wellhead belonged to Scott Alderman, a real petroleum engineer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, whose images had been stolen and used in a prior fraud case in Georgia two years earlier.
- Andrew Vine was arrested in September 2019 and found guilty on two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy; he received a nine-year sentence.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098932Sun, 30 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph in the wellhead: how a Tuesday routine became a filing system A well-service contractor found photographs and a wire transfer confirmation tucked inside a wellhead cap on a stranger's property in northern Illinois, inscribed with...
A well-service contractor found photographs and a wire transfer confirmation tucked inside a wellhead cap on a stranger's property in northern Illinois, inscribed with what looked like a love note. But the note was not written for the woman living there-it was a filing label in a forty-page document, and someone had been surveilling her Tuesday morning absences for months.

In this episode, we trace how a carefully engineered romance script, rotated across multiple targets and maintained by a team of operators, became a physical operation requiring on-site surveillance. We examine the single phrase written in block letters on the back of a photograph-"For when you need to remember what you're waiting for. All my love, Bruce"-and how that phrase appeared in an encrypted document labeled "Relationship Architecture," revealing the entire machinery of the fraud.

Person: Debra Erickson
Perpetrator: Andrew Vine
Location: Clearwater Ridge Road, northern Illinois
Amount stolen: Forty-two thousand dollars
Date: September 2018 to April 2019
Event: Wire transfer confirmation and photographs discovered in wellhead cap

- Debra met "Bruce Mitchell" through a dating app in September 2018 and exchanged over four thousand messages before requesting money in late February 2019.
- The first payment of eleven thousand dollars was requested for a regulatory filing emergency on the North Sea platform, wired within forty-eight hours to an account in Lagos, Nigeria.
- A second payment of thirty-one thousand dollars followed three weeks later for a hospital bill in Bergen, Norway, funded by liquidating a certificate of deposit Debra had held for eight years.
- Dennis Coble, operating under the alias "Frank," confirmed Debra's identity at a Harwick Township Hall property-owners' meeting in early March 2019, asking about water access on her road.
- The photographs found in the wellhead belonged to Scott Alderman, a real petroleum engineer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, whose images had been stolen and used in a prior fraud case in Georgia two years earlier.
- Andrew Vine was arrested in September 2019 and found guilty on two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy; he received a nine-year sentence.

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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.]]>1451falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ring-in-the-hedge-how-he-stole-81-000-with-six-words--73098927
A birdwatcher finds a half-carat solitaire standing upright in dirt behind a church, weighted down by a handwritten note that reads: "You are chosen above all others." But the ring was not lost-it was placed there deliberately, part of a scheme that had already extracted $40,000 from Angela Reed alone, a woman who had told no one.

In this episode, we trace how Curtis Snyder purchased four identical rings in December 2018 and wrote the same six words four times on stolen church letterhead to four women across two states. We examine the manufactured proof-a $6,000 loan repaid in four days from another victim's money-and follow the anomalies that eventually broke the case: a fake address in Columbus, a stolen professional photograph of civil engineer Patrick Ellery from Raleigh, and a phrase that stayed unchanged across eight years of variations, connecting a 2011 victim in Terre Haute to the 2019 arrest in Pallister.

Person: Curtis Snyder
Person: Angela Reed
Location: Pallister, Indiana and Terre Haute, Indiana
Event: Ring found March 11, 2019 behind First Redeemer Community Church
Amount: $81,000 confirmed stolen
Perpetrator: Curtis Snyder, sentenced to 11 years

- Curtis Snyder met Angela Reed at a church potluck in November 2018 and requested $6,000 in January 2019, which he repaid four days later to establish trust.
- Snyder purchased four identical half-carat solitaire rings from a Fort Wayne jewelry retailer in December 2018 using a single credit card in his name.
- Angela Reed transferred $6,000, then $8,000, then $12,000, and finally $14,000 to Snyder between January and early March 2019, totaling $40,000.
- Investigator Dean Williams reverse-image-searched Snyder's church membership photo and identified it as Patrick Ellery, a real civil engineer in Raleigh, North Carolina who had no knowledge of the fraud.
- Linda Forsythe from Terre Haute recognized the identical six-word phrase "You are chosen above all others" from a note she received in 2011 when she read a 2019 news article about Snyder's arrest and drove to Muncie to give a statement.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098927Sat, 29 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe ring in the hedge: how he stole $81,000 with six words A birdwatcher finds a half-carat solitaire standing upright in dirt behind a church, weighted down by a handwritten note that reads: "You are chosen above all others." But the ring was not...
A birdwatcher finds a half-carat solitaire standing upright in dirt behind a church, weighted down by a handwritten note that reads: "You are chosen above all others." But the ring was not lost-it was placed there deliberately, part of a scheme that had already extracted $40,000 from Angela Reed alone, a woman who had told no one.

In this episode, we trace how Curtis Snyder purchased four identical rings in December 2018 and wrote the same six words four times on stolen church letterhead to four women across two states. We examine the manufactured proof-a $6,000 loan repaid in four days from another victim's money-and follow the anomalies that eventually broke the case: a fake address in Columbus, a stolen professional photograph of civil engineer Patrick Ellery from Raleigh, and a phrase that stayed unchanged across eight years of variations, connecting a 2011 victim in Terre Haute to the 2019 arrest in Pallister.

Person: Curtis Snyder
Person: Angela Reed
Location: Pallister, Indiana and Terre Haute, Indiana
Event: Ring found March 11, 2019 behind First Redeemer Community Church
Amount: $81,000 confirmed stolen
Perpetrator: Curtis Snyder, sentenced to 11 years

- Curtis Snyder met Angela Reed at a church potluck in November 2018 and requested $6,000 in January 2019, which he repaid four days later to establish trust.
- Snyder purchased four identical half-carat solitaire rings from a Fort Wayne jewelry retailer in December 2018 using a single credit card in his name.
- Angela Reed transferred $6,000, then $8,000, then $12,000, and finally $14,000 to Snyder between January and early March 2019, totaling $40,000.
- Investigator Dean Williams reverse-image-searched Snyder's church membership photo and identified it as Patrick Ellery, a real civil engineer in Raleigh, North Carolina who had no knowledge of the fraud.
- Linda Forsythe from Terre Haute recognized the identical six-word phrase "You are chosen above all others" from a note she received in 2011 when she read a 2019 news article about Snyder's arrest and drove to Muncie to give a statement.

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.]]>1501falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-frame-in-the-drain-how-a-dead-soldier-s-photograph-trapped-a-scammer--73098926
In this episode, we trace the construction of "James Hartley" from Terry McCarthy's visit to Susan Williams' duplex on October third, 2018, through the framed portrait that arrived in January and the $12,000 wire transfer on February seventh. We examine the spiral notebook found in McCarthy's boarding house listing twelve victims and over $91,000 in documented losses, and the DNA match that connected him to a 2014 assault case-revealing this was never just about romance fraud.

Person: Susan Williams, Terry McCarthy
Location: Dellport, Ohio; Columbus, Maplewood district
Date: October 2018 - February 2019
Amount: $12,000 from Susan Williams; $91,000+ across twelve victims
Victim: Military widow; twelve documented victims in McCarthy's notebook
Event: Romance scam using stolen military photographs

- Terry McCarthy, 44, posed as "James Hartley," a Master Sergeant deployed near Djibouti, using a fraudulent Brentwood Maintenance Group badge to enter Susan Williams' duplex on October 3, 2018.
- McCarthy spent approximately 90 minutes inside Susan's home, observing Aaron's service portrait, the folded flag, military memorabilia, and her laptop bookmarked to a military widows' grief forum.
- The eleven photographs McCarthy sent as "James Hartley" were stolen from a public Facebook memorial page for Corporal Dennis Pryor, killed in Kandahar Province in 2015; Pryor's mother, Bette, had created the page to raise funds for a veterans' scholarship.
- Susan Williams wired $12,000 on February 7, 2019, by selling jewelry Aaron had given her and withdrawing savings; she placed the framed photograph in a storm drain that night.
- A spiral notebook found in McCarthy's boarding house on February 22, 2019, listed twelve names with phone numbers and dollar figures, totaling over $91,000 in documented losses; McCarthy confessed and received seven years with parole eligibility at four years and eight months.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098926Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe frame in the drain: how a dead soldier's photograph trapped a scammer In this episode, we trace the construction of "James Hartley" from Terry McCarthy's visit to Susan Williams' duplex on October third, 2018, through the framed portrait that...
In this episode, we trace the construction of "James Hartley" from Terry McCarthy's visit to Susan Williams' duplex on October third, 2018, through the framed portrait that arrived in January and the $12,000 wire transfer on February seventh. We examine the spiral notebook found in McCarthy's boarding house listing twelve victims and over $91,000 in documented losses, and the DNA match that connected him to a 2014 assault case-revealing this was never just about romance fraud.

Person: Susan Williams, Terry McCarthy
Location: Dellport, Ohio; Columbus, Maplewood district
Date: October 2018 - February 2019
Amount: $12,000 from Susan Williams; $91,000+ across twelve victims
Victim: Military widow; twelve documented victims in McCarthy's notebook
Event: Romance scam using stolen military photographs

- Terry McCarthy, 44, posed as "James Hartley," a Master Sergeant deployed near Djibouti, using a fraudulent Brentwood Maintenance Group badge to enter Susan Williams' duplex on October 3, 2018.
- McCarthy spent approximately 90 minutes inside Susan's home, observing Aaron's service portrait, the folded flag, military memorabilia, and her laptop bookmarked to a military widows' grief forum.
- The eleven photographs McCarthy sent as "James Hartley" were stolen from a public Facebook memorial page for Corporal Dennis Pryor, killed in Kandahar Province in 2015; Pryor's mother, Bette, had created the page to raise funds for a veterans' scholarship.
- Susan Williams wired $12,000 on February 7, 2019, by selling jewelry Aaron had given her and withdrawing savings; she placed the framed photograph in a storm drain that night.
- A spiral notebook found in McCarthy's boarding house on February 22, 2019, listed twelve names with phone numbers and dollar figures, totaling over $91,000 in documented losses; McCarthy confessed and received seven years with parole eligibility at four years and eight months.

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.]]>1339falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-laminated-receipt-that-broke-a-fraud-network--73098924
On a rural snowbank at 4:52 a.m., county road grader operator Sharon Duncan found a Western Union receipt laminated in a clear badge-holder sleeve, showing $9,400 wired to Lagos. The receipt bore the name and address of Ross Hicks, a 54-year-old parts estimator from Millhaven. That single act of preservation-someone had made a throwaway transaction permanent-would unravel a coordinated fraud operation that had extracted $31,000 from Ross over nine months.

In this episode, we follow how Ross's meticulous documentation of his conversations with "Keith Peterson," an offshore petroleum engineer who never existed, combined with Linda Osborne's reverse image search to expose the fraud. We examine the biweekly paycheck timing system built into the script, the real civil engineer whose stolen photographs became a weapon, and how a laminated receipt clipped to a car sun visor became the only physical evidence linking Ross's losses to Troy Beckett-the domestic coordinator arrested two hundred miles away.

Person: Ross Hicks
Perpetrator: Troy Beckett, age 33
Location: Millhaven; Lagos; Raleigh, North Carolina
Amount stolen: $31,000
Event: Receipt found January 9; Beckett arrested January 14
Platform: Romance scam using fabricated "Keith Peterson" profile

- Ross Hicks, 54, had lived at 14 Deming Court for eleven years and worked as a parts estimator at Tanner & Sons.
- The first wire transfer was $1,800 sent May 30, a Friday payday, with nine transfers totaling $31,000 between May and January 8.
- Linda Osborne ran reverse image searches on all Keith Peterson photographs and traced them to Paul Norris, a civil engineer in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Troy Beckett kept transaction logs in a badge-holder sleeve on his car sun visor and lost the laminated $9,400 receipt on Route 4 the night of January 8.
- Three operators ran the Keith Peterson persona in shifts across time zones so messages arrived with perfect consistency timed to Ross's biweekly pay schedule.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098924Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe laminated receipt that broke a fraud network On a rural snowbank at 4:52 a.m., county road grader operator Sharon Duncan found a Western Union receipt laminated in a clear badge-holder sleeve, showing $9,400 wired to Lagos. The receipt bore the...
On a rural snowbank at 4:52 a.m., county road grader operator Sharon Duncan found a Western Union receipt laminated in a clear badge-holder sleeve, showing $9,400 wired to Lagos. The receipt bore the name and address of Ross Hicks, a 54-year-old parts estimator from Millhaven. That single act of preservation-someone had made a throwaway transaction permanent-would unravel a coordinated fraud operation that had extracted $31,000 from Ross over nine months.

In this episode, we follow how Ross's meticulous documentation of his conversations with "Keith Peterson," an offshore petroleum engineer who never existed, combined with Linda Osborne's reverse image search to expose the fraud. We examine the biweekly paycheck timing system built into the script, the real civil engineer whose stolen photographs became a weapon, and how a laminated receipt clipped to a car sun visor became the only physical evidence linking Ross's losses to Troy Beckett-the domestic coordinator arrested two hundred miles away.

Person: Ross Hicks
Perpetrator: Troy Beckett, age 33
Location: Millhaven; Lagos; Raleigh, North Carolina
Amount stolen: $31,000
Event: Receipt found January 9; Beckett arrested January 14
Platform: Romance scam using fabricated "Keith Peterson" profile

- Ross Hicks, 54, had lived at 14 Deming Court for eleven years and worked as a parts estimator at Tanner & Sons.
- The first wire transfer was $1,800 sent May 30, a Friday payday, with nine transfers totaling $31,000 between May and January 8.
- Linda Osborne ran reverse image searches on all Keith Peterson photographs and traced them to Paul Norris, a civil engineer in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Troy Beckett kept transaction logs in a badge-holder sleeve on his car sun visor and lost the laminated $9,400 receipt on Route 4 the night of January 8.
- Three operators ran the Keith Peterson persona in shifts across time zones so messages arrived with perfect consistency timed to Ross's biweekly pay schedule.

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.]]>1401falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-voice-that-was-never-human-how-an-engineer-built-grant-whitley--73098921
In this episode, we follow the nineteen-month surveillance that preceded the romance, the 400 hours of voice refinement that created "Grant Whitley," and the moment Ronald Harris discovered an Akron, Ohio IP address behind what was supposed to be Singapore banking. We examine the forty-one lesson recordings that revealed system updates in the voice's breath patterns, the relay module that tracked Kathleen's schedule minute by minute, and why a woman who had studied catfishing in college could not have prepared for a machine built specifically to deceive her.

Person: Kathleen Burns
Age: 23
Location: Maben, Ohio (Creekstone Drive)
Perpetrator: Dennis Pryor, 38
Amount attempted: $11,000
Date of arrest: December 14, 2022

- Kathleen taught English online through TalkBridge at fourteen dollars per hour, with five lessons weekly and detailed student notes.
- Dennis Pryor, a licensed electrical contractor from Canton, Ohio, installed a relay module on March 2021 during legitimate fuse panel work at Kathleen's home.
- The hidden relay module ran continuously for nineteen months before April Pruitt discovered it on December 9, 2022, warm to the touch in twenty-degree air.
- Pryor built the synthetic voice using commercially available accessibility software components refined over approximately 400 hours, creating breath sounds, false starts, and adjustable emotional inflection.
- Ronald Harris, Kathleen's cousin, traced a suspicious transfer account to an IP address in Akron, Ohio on December 3, 2022, stopping an $11,000 wire transfer before completion.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098921Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe voice that was never human: how an engineer built Grant Whitley In this episode, we follow the nineteen-month surveillance that preceded the romance, the 400 hours of voice refinement that created "Grant Whitley," and the moment Ronald Harris...
In this episode, we follow the nineteen-month surveillance that preceded the romance, the 400 hours of voice refinement that created "Grant Whitley," and the moment Ronald Harris discovered an Akron, Ohio IP address behind what was supposed to be Singapore banking. We examine the forty-one lesson recordings that revealed system updates in the voice's breath patterns, the relay module that tracked Kathleen's schedule minute by minute, and why a woman who had studied catfishing in college could not have prepared for a machine built specifically to deceive her.

Person: Kathleen Burns
Age: 23
Location: Maben, Ohio (Creekstone Drive)
Perpetrator: Dennis Pryor, 38
Amount attempted: $11,000
Date of arrest: December 14, 2022

- Kathleen taught English online through TalkBridge at fourteen dollars per hour, with five lessons weekly and detailed student notes.
- Dennis Pryor, a licensed electrical contractor from Canton, Ohio, installed a relay module on March 2021 during legitimate fuse panel work at Kathleen's home.
- The hidden relay module ran continuously for nineteen months before April Pruitt discovered it on December 9, 2022, warm to the touch in twenty-degree air.
- Pryor built the synthetic voice using commercially available accessibility software components refined over approximately 400 hours, creating breath sounds, false starts, and adjustable emotional inflection.
- Ronald Harris, Kathleen's cousin, traced a suspicious transfer account to an IP address in Akron, Ohio on December 3, 2022, stopping an $11,000 wire transfer before completion.

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.]]>1389falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-photograph-on-the-trail-how-a-laminated-gift-exposed-a-grief-predator--73098919
In this episode, we follow the trail from Patricia Christensen's discovery on the Crestline Reservoir path to the annotated scripts hidden in Craig Petford's Hilliard apartment, including the margin note that revealed the vehicle breakdown happened exactly on schedule. We examine how a stolen photograph of Sergeant Dennis Pryor, the carefully laminated inscription, and an IP address in Accra, Ghana exposed a system designed to exploit the specific architecture of grief-and the question of what happens when loneliness becomes the instrument of deception.

Person: Mark Wells, Craig Petford
Location: Ferris Hollow, Ohio; Crestline Reservoir trail; Hilliard, Ohio
Amount stolen: $114,000
Event: November 2021 discovery and arrest
Perpetrator: Craig Petford, age 44
Victim profile: Agnes Fowler (also defrauded)

- Patricia Christensen found a laminate-sleeved photograph face-up on the gravel at Crestline Reservoir at 6:15 a.m., inscribed "For Mark-so you know I'm real. Always, Robert."
- Mark Wells sent Robert Lawson $240 in the second week of November, followed by nine transactions totaling $114,000 between November 9 and November 22, 2021.
- Craig Petford's Hilliard apartment contained three laptops, two prepaid phones, a cardboard box of laminated photographs sorted by envelope size, and printed scripts for four military-widower personas with margin notes calibrating trust escalation.
- The vehicle breakdown request-$1,100 to an address at a vacant lot in Columbus-occurred in week four, matching a margin note that read "Escalate to vehicle story no sooner than week four confirms trust baseline."
- Petford was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison on charges of wire fraud, identity fraud, and two counts of theft by deception; Agnes Fowler lost $62,000 to the same operation under the persona "Captain David Reed."

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098919Tue, 25 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe photograph on the trail: how a laminated gift exposed a grief predator In this episode, we follow the trail from Patricia Christensen's discovery on the Crestline Reservoir path to the annotated scripts hidden in Craig Petford's Hilliard...
In this episode, we follow the trail from Patricia Christensen's discovery on the Crestline Reservoir path to the annotated scripts hidden in Craig Petford's Hilliard apartment, including the margin note that revealed the vehicle breakdown happened exactly on schedule. We examine how a stolen photograph of Sergeant Dennis Pryor, the carefully laminated inscription, and an IP address in Accra, Ghana exposed a system designed to exploit the specific architecture of grief-and the question of what happens when loneliness becomes the instrument of deception.

Person: Mark Wells, Craig Petford
Location: Ferris Hollow, Ohio; Crestline Reservoir trail; Hilliard, Ohio
Amount stolen: $114,000
Event: November 2021 discovery and arrest
Perpetrator: Craig Petford, age 44
Victim profile: Agnes Fowler (also defrauded)

- Patricia Christensen found a laminate-sleeved photograph face-up on the gravel at Crestline Reservoir at 6:15 a.m., inscribed "For Mark-so you know I'm real. Always, Robert."
- Mark Wells sent Robert Lawson $240 in the second week of November, followed by nine transactions totaling $114,000 between November 9 and November 22, 2021.
- Craig Petford's Hilliard apartment contained three laptops, two prepaid phones, a cardboard box of laminated photographs sorted by envelope size, and printed scripts for four military-widower personas with margin notes calibrating trust escalation.
- The vehicle breakdown request-$1,100 to an address at a vacant lot in Columbus-occurred in week four, matching a margin note that read "Escalate to vehicle story no sooner than week four confirms trust baseline."
- Petford was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison on charges of wire fraud, identity fraud, and two counts of theft by deception; Agnes Fowler lost $62,000 to the same operation under the persona "Captain David Reed."

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.]]>1567falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-utility-panel-where-love-letters-shouldn-t-be--73098917
A meter reader finds fourteen ivory envelopes bundled in a utility panel on Westhaven Drive-a place where love letters do not belong. Sandra Ward, a careful museum curator trained to spot forgery and trace provenance, has lost nearly all of her inheritance to a man she never met in person, communicating only through emails, phone calls, and handwritten cards. How did someone who spent her career asking questions about authenticity become unable to ask them of herself?

In this episode, we follow Sandra's fourteen-month correspondence with Dale Becker, an artifact consultant who seemed to understand her work in ways no one else did, through twelve wire transfers totaling $187,000, and the moment she discovered his photograph belonged to a real Belgian expert named Philip Strand. We examine the syntax shifts in later emails that revealed at least two people were involved, how Martin Crews accessed the museum's acquisitions inbox through a shared vendor freight portal, and the unnamed associate whose voice changed the texture of the fraud so completely it could never be traced back to a single person.

Person: Sandra Ward
Perpetrator: Martin Crews, age 56
Amount stolen: $187,000
Event: Utility panel discovery, October 2024
Date range: August 2021 to July 2022
Location: Kellerton Regional Museum of Art and History, Ohio

- Sandra Ward was a senior acquisitions curator at the Kellerton Regional Museum of Art and History and had spent her career evaluating provenance and authenticity.
- The first email arrived in August 2021 from someone claiming to be Dale Becker, an artifact repatriation consultant specializing in Andean textiles, sent through the museum's acquisitions inbox.
- Fourteen identical ivory envelopes with hand-addressed cards arrived monthly beginning in January 2022, the first clue that someone was investing in a designed intimacy.
- Between February 2022 and July 2022, Sandra wired $187,000 across accounts in Zurich, Nicosia Cyprus, and Miami to cover supposed legal fees and export disputes.
- In July 2022, Patricia Voss forwarded Sandra a webinar link featuring Philip Strand, an artifact consultant from Belgium-the same face Dale Becker had been using in every image sent over fourteen months.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098917Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe utility panel where love letters shouldn't be A meter reader finds fourteen ivory envelopes bundled in a utility panel on Westhaven Drive-a place where love letters do not belong. Sandra Ward, a careful museum curator trained to spot forgery...
A meter reader finds fourteen ivory envelopes bundled in a utility panel on Westhaven Drive-a place where love letters do not belong. Sandra Ward, a careful museum curator trained to spot forgery and trace provenance, has lost nearly all of her inheritance to a man she never met in person, communicating only through emails, phone calls, and handwritten cards. How did someone who spent her career asking questions about authenticity become unable to ask them of herself?

In this episode, we follow Sandra's fourteen-month correspondence with Dale Becker, an artifact consultant who seemed to understand her work in ways no one else did, through twelve wire transfers totaling $187,000, and the moment she discovered his photograph belonged to a real Belgian expert named Philip Strand. We examine the syntax shifts in later emails that revealed at least two people were involved, how Martin Crews accessed the museum's acquisitions inbox through a shared vendor freight portal, and the unnamed associate whose voice changed the texture of the fraud so completely it could never be traced back to a single person.

Person: Sandra Ward
Perpetrator: Martin Crews, age 56
Amount stolen: $187,000
Event: Utility panel discovery, October 2024
Date range: August 2021 to July 2022
Location: Kellerton Regional Museum of Art and History, Ohio

- Sandra Ward was a senior acquisitions curator at the Kellerton Regional Museum of Art and History and had spent her career evaluating provenance and authenticity.
- The first email arrived in August 2021 from someone claiming to be Dale Becker, an artifact repatriation consultant specializing in Andean textiles, sent through the museum's acquisitions inbox.
- Fourteen identical ivory envelopes with hand-addressed cards arrived monthly beginning in January 2022, the first clue that someone was investing in a designed intimacy.
- Between February 2022 and July 2022, Sandra wired $187,000 across accounts in Zurich, Nicosia Cyprus, and Miami to cover supposed legal fees and export disputes.
- In July 2022, Patricia Voss forwarded Sandra a webinar link featuring Philip Strand, an artifact consultant from Belgium-the same face Dale Becker had been using in every image sent over fourteen months.

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.]]>1379falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-four-laptops-how-one-man-maintained-parallel-lives-to-steal-31-400--73098915
In this episode, we follow the reverse image search that exposed the photograph as stolen property, the IP address logs pointing to a suburb south of Atlanta, and the moment federal agents opened an apartment to find four active laptops each running a separate relationship at a different emotional stage. We examine the first repayment that made all subsequent requests feel safe, the folder labeled "T. Mabrey, 2019" containing records of a prior victim who lost twenty-two thousand dollars and never reported it, and the DNA evidence that connected a parking lot confrontation in Kentucky to a cold case file.

Person: Jason Griffin
Perpetrator: Calvin Dreer, age 44
Location: Millhaven, Nebraska; Morrow, Georgia
Amount stolen: $31,400
Date: February-August 2022
Platform: HeartlandMatch

- Jason Griffin was a twenty-six-year-old payroll clerk at a grain cooperative in Millhaven, Nebraska, with a population of roughly four thousand people.
- Wade Norris's profile claimed he was a forty-one-year-old trucker with a nine-year-old daughter named Cassidy who had Diamond-Blackfan anemia.
- The first financial request came in March 2022 for eight hundred and forty dollars for Cassidy's medication, and Wade repaid the full amount within a week.
- On August 31, 2022, Gordon Petersen walked a compiled investigation file into the Millhaven Police Department after running a reverse image search on the photograph.
- Federal agents found four active laptops in Calvin Dreer's apartment in Morrow, Georgia on September 9, 2022, each maintaining a separate relationship profile on different dating platforms.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098915Sun, 23 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe four laptops: how one man maintained parallel lives to steal $31,400 In this episode, we follow the reverse image search that exposed the photograph as stolen property, the IP address logs pointing to a suburb south of Atlanta, and the moment...
In this episode, we follow the reverse image search that exposed the photograph as stolen property, the IP address logs pointing to a suburb south of Atlanta, and the moment federal agents opened an apartment to find four active laptops each running a separate relationship at a different emotional stage. We examine the first repayment that made all subsequent requests feel safe, the folder labeled "T. Mabrey, 2019" containing records of a prior victim who lost twenty-two thousand dollars and never reported it, and the DNA evidence that connected a parking lot confrontation in Kentucky to a cold case file.

Person: Jason Griffin
Perpetrator: Calvin Dreer, age 44
Location: Millhaven, Nebraska; Morrow, Georgia
Amount stolen: $31,400
Date: February-August 2022
Platform: HeartlandMatch

- Jason Griffin was a twenty-six-year-old payroll clerk at a grain cooperative in Millhaven, Nebraska, with a population of roughly four thousand people.
- Wade Norris's profile claimed he was a forty-one-year-old trucker with a nine-year-old daughter named Cassidy who had Diamond-Blackfan anemia.
- The first financial request came in March 2022 for eight hundred and forty dollars for Cassidy's medication, and Wade repaid the full amount within a week.
- On August 31, 2022, Gordon Petersen walked a compiled investigation file into the Millhaven Police Department after running a reverse image search on the photograph.
- Federal agents found four active laptops in Calvin Dreer's apartment in Morrow, Georgia on September 9, 2022, each maintaining a separate relationship profile on different dating platforms.

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.]]>1369falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-voice-in-the-drainage-ditch-how-a-dead-writer-became-a-perfect-fraud--73098912
In this episode, we follow Jean Watson from a blog comment in October through daily correspondence, a repayment designed to build trust, and requests for money framed as emergencies in Rome. We examine how Raymond Collis spent three years constructing the Norman Hughes identity using Roberto Caruso's plagiarized essays, how the same fraud simultaneously targeted a second victim, and the single chain of contingencies-a dog on a barely-known trail, a librarian's archive work, a monogram on leather-that connected two separate cases before Collis could vanish. But the investigation could document the fraud without explaining one detail: why Collis carried a printed photograph of a woman he never met, labeled with words only she would recognize.

Person: Jean Watson
Location: Bellhaven, Oregon
Event: Romance fraud using stolen writing, October to August
Victim: Jean Watson, Diane Pryor
Perpetrator: Raymond Collis, age 54
Amount stolen: Over $15,000 combined

- Jean Watson was a 47-year-old high school English teacher and food blogger with 90,000 readers when Norman Hughes commented on her Bologna restaurant post in October.
- The fraudster repaid Jean's first $1,100 request within three weeks, a calculated investment to purchase her skepticism before requesting $4,000 for a Rome hospital bill.
- Roberto D. Caruso, an Italian-American food journalist in Rome, died of a stroke three years before the first Norman Hughes bylines appeared roughly four months later-using Caruso's exact sentences, in the same order, under a different name.
- Heather Zeller, Jean's librarian friend, discovered the plagiarism by comparing physical archive copies side by side and brought two highlighted printed pages to Jean on a Saturday in late July.
- Raymond Collis was arrested on August 23rd at his Portland apartment where an annotated printout of Jean's blog sat on his kitchen table, with GPS data placing his burner phone on Coppergate Road on August 9th-three days before the promised arrival date and after Jean stopped responding.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098912Sat, 22 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe voice in the drainage ditch: how a dead writer became a perfect fraud In this episode, we follow Jean Watson from a blog comment in October through daily correspondence, a repayment designed to build trust, and requests for money framed as...
In this episode, we follow Jean Watson from a blog comment in October through daily correspondence, a repayment designed to build trust, and requests for money framed as emergencies in Rome. We examine how Raymond Collis spent three years constructing the Norman Hughes identity using Roberto Caruso's plagiarized essays, how the same fraud simultaneously targeted a second victim, and the single chain of contingencies-a dog on a barely-known trail, a librarian's archive work, a monogram on leather-that connected two separate cases before Collis could vanish. But the investigation could document the fraud without explaining one detail: why Collis carried a printed photograph of a woman he never met, labeled with words only she would recognize.

Person: Jean Watson
Location: Bellhaven, Oregon
Event: Romance fraud using stolen writing, October to August
Victim: Jean Watson, Diane Pryor
Perpetrator: Raymond Collis, age 54
Amount stolen: Over $15,000 combined

- Jean Watson was a 47-year-old high school English teacher and food blogger with 90,000 readers when Norman Hughes commented on her Bologna restaurant post in October.
- The fraudster repaid Jean's first $1,100 request within three weeks, a calculated investment to purchase her skepticism before requesting $4,000 for a Rome hospital bill.
- Roberto D. Caruso, an Italian-American food journalist in Rome, died of a stroke three years before the first Norman Hughes bylines appeared roughly four months later-using Caruso's exact sentences, in the same order, under a different name.
- Heather Zeller, Jean's librarian friend, discovered the plagiarism by comparing physical archive copies side by side and brought two highlighted printed pages to Jean on a Saturday in late July.
- Raymond Collis was arrested on August 23rd at his Portland apartment where an annotated printout of Jean's blog sat on his kitchen table, with GPS data placing his burner phone on Coppergate Road on August 9th-three days before the promised arrival date and after Jean stopped responding.

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.]]>1307falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-voice-in-the-dark-how-a-sealed-phone-nearly-got-away-with-everything--73098911
A gallon zip-lock bag heat-sealed with a clothing iron floats to the surface of Calder Inlet in the pre-dawn dark, tangled in a catfish trotline. Inside: a Samsung Galaxy phone at sixty-one percent battery and a handwritten passcode. Earl Brooks had sent sixteen thousand four hundred and thirty dollars to a woman named Kelly Riley over eight months-every payment prompted by a voice he heard in his ears every morning. But Kelly Riley never existed. So why was Doug Senter willing to drown a phone to hide what the device contained?

In this episode, we follow eight months of engineered connection built on voice messages recorded in batches then distributed to simulate presence, a single four-minute video call framed to show only darkness and the left side of a face, and the operational note Senter wrote in his own spiral notebook: one call is enough if the voice is right. We trace how a dental hygienist's photograph from a 2016 Coast Guard open house became the foundation of a false identity, how an unattended phone at a summer cookout may have triggered the panic that led to the inlet, and what a detective found when she opened the storage unit.

Person: Earl Brooks
Perpetrator: Doug Senter
Location: Portsmith, North Carolina
Amount stolen: 16,430 dollars
Event: Romance fraud via ConnectSea using fake "Kelly Riley" profile
Platform: ConnectSea

- Earl Brooks was a marine surveyor at Tidewater Assessment Services who lived on Calloway Street, close enough to hear the harbor on still nights.
- The Kelly Riley profile was created from an IP address in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and all 200+ voice messages traced to a single Samsung Galaxy device on a prepaid data plan.
- Earl saved more than 200 voice messages between November 2018 and December 2018, with one video call on December 22, 2018, lasting four minutes and thirty seconds.
- Beverly Edwards, Earl's cousin, ran a reverse image search on five photographs and found the fifth matched Sandra Opp, a dental hygienist from Wilmington photographed at a Coast Guard open house in 2016.
- Lauren Mills discovered the sealed Samsung Galaxy phone in her trotline at Calder Inlet at six in the morning, and the device metadata matched the ConnectSea account records with no gaps.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098911Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe voice in the dark: how a sealed phone nearly got away with everything A gallon zip-lock bag heat-sealed with a clothing iron floats to the surface of Calder Inlet in the pre-dawn dark, tangled in a catfish trotline. Inside: a Samsung Galaxy...
A gallon zip-lock bag heat-sealed with a clothing iron floats to the surface of Calder Inlet in the pre-dawn dark, tangled in a catfish trotline. Inside: a Samsung Galaxy phone at sixty-one percent battery and a handwritten passcode. Earl Brooks had sent sixteen thousand four hundred and thirty dollars to a woman named Kelly Riley over eight months-every payment prompted by a voice he heard in his ears every morning. But Kelly Riley never existed. So why was Doug Senter willing to drown a phone to hide what the device contained?

In this episode, we follow eight months of engineered connection built on voice messages recorded in batches then distributed to simulate presence, a single four-minute video call framed to show only darkness and the left side of a face, and the operational note Senter wrote in his own spiral notebook: one call is enough if the voice is right. We trace how a dental hygienist's photograph from a 2016 Coast Guard open house became the foundation of a false identity, how an unattended phone at a summer cookout may have triggered the panic that led to the inlet, and what a detective found when she opened the storage unit.

Person: Earl Brooks
Perpetrator: Doug Senter
Location: Portsmith, North Carolina
Amount stolen: 16,430 dollars
Event: Romance fraud via ConnectSea using fake "Kelly Riley" profile
Platform: ConnectSea

- Earl Brooks was a marine surveyor at Tidewater Assessment Services who lived on Calloway Street, close enough to hear the harbor on still nights.
- The Kelly Riley profile was created from an IP address in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and all 200+ voice messages traced to a single Samsung Galaxy device on a prepaid data plan.
- Earl saved more than 200 voice messages between November 2018 and December 2018, with one video call on December 22, 2018, lasting four minutes and thirty seconds.
- Beverly Edwards, Earl's cousin, ran a reverse image search on five photographs and found the fifth matched Sandra Opp, a dental hygienist from Wilmington photographed at a Coast Guard open house in 2016.
- Lauren Mills discovered the sealed Samsung Galaxy phone in her trotline at Calder Inlet at six in the morning, and the device metadata matched the ConnectSea account records with no gaps.

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.]]>1282falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-thursday-evening-trap-how-a-fake-grief-counselor-weaponized-her-volunteer-schedule--73098909
A wet bank confirmation slip sits in a mailbox for two days before a land surveyor finds it-forty-one thousand dollars transferred to a company that doesn't exist. Rebecca Simpson had trusted Dr. Marcus Webb, the grief counselor running her support group, with her pain and her schedule. But he was Melvin Osborne, and he had studied her life the way a surveyor studies land.

In this episode, we trace how Osborne timed every financial escalation to arrive on Thursday evenings-the exact hours Rebecca left her phone in her car at the food pantry where she volunteered. We examine the fabricated dashboard Brian Stein dismantled in a hex editor, the stolen therapist's photograph from Boise, and the prepaid SIM cards purchased across three states. How did a grief support group become the instrument of precision fraud, and why did Osborne later brag about the engineering?

Person: Rebecca Simpson
Perpetrator: Melvin Osborne, age 47
Event: Romance/investment fraud within grief support group, April-May 2022
Location: Harlan County, Kentucky; support group virtual
Amount stolen: $63,000
Organization: Renewal Circle (grief support group for late-life divorce)

- Rebecca Simpson joined the Renewal Circle in February 2022, a video support group for women navigating late-life divorce, referred by her therapist Sandra Obi.
- Melvin Osborne posed as Dr. Marcus Webb, a licensed grief counselor based in Portland, Oregon, using a stolen photograph from therapist Warren Follett's 2018 blog.
- Rebecca volunteered every Thursday evening at the Millhaven Community Food Pantry on Orchard Street from 6 to 9 p.m., leaving her phone in her car-a schedule Osborne learned and weaponized.
- Osborne timed all financial escalations to arrive before 6 p.m. on Thursdays, creating artificial urgency for decisions she would discover after 9 p.m. when no one could be consulted.
- The fake Aurum Pathway Holdings dashboard was composed of stock photography files with metadata timestamps; the domain was registered eleven weeks before Rebecca's first transfer of $11,000 in late April 2022.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098909Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Thursday evening trap: how a fake grief counselor weaponized her volunteer schedule A wet bank confirmation slip sits in a mailbox for two days before a land surveyor finds it-forty-one thousand dollars transferred to a company that doesn't...
A wet bank confirmation slip sits in a mailbox for two days before a land surveyor finds it-forty-one thousand dollars transferred to a company that doesn't exist. Rebecca Simpson had trusted Dr. Marcus Webb, the grief counselor running her support group, with her pain and her schedule. But he was Melvin Osborne, and he had studied her life the way a surveyor studies land.

In this episode, we trace how Osborne timed every financial escalation to arrive on Thursday evenings-the exact hours Rebecca left her phone in her car at the food pantry where she volunteered. We examine the fabricated dashboard Brian Stein dismantled in a hex editor, the stolen therapist's photograph from Boise, and the prepaid SIM cards purchased across three states. How did a grief support group become the instrument of precision fraud, and why did Osborne later brag about the engineering?

Person: Rebecca Simpson
Perpetrator: Melvin Osborne, age 47
Event: Romance/investment fraud within grief support group, April-May 2022
Location: Harlan County, Kentucky; support group virtual
Amount stolen: $63,000
Organization: Renewal Circle (grief support group for late-life divorce)

- Rebecca Simpson joined the Renewal Circle in February 2022, a video support group for women navigating late-life divorce, referred by her therapist Sandra Obi.
- Melvin Osborne posed as Dr. Marcus Webb, a licensed grief counselor based in Portland, Oregon, using a stolen photograph from therapist Warren Follett's 2018 blog.
- Rebecca volunteered every Thursday evening at the Millhaven Community Food Pantry on Orchard Street from 6 to 9 p.m., leaving her phone in her car-a schedule Osborne learned and weaponized.
- Osborne timed all financial escalations to arrive before 6 p.m. on Thursdays, creating artificial urgency for decisions she would discover after 9 p.m. when no one could be consulted.
- The fake Aurum Pathway Holdings dashboard was composed of stock photography files with metadata timestamps; the domain was registered eleven weeks before Rebecca's first transfer of $11,000 in late April 2022.

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.]]>1473falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-letter-in-the-rain-how-a-chekhov-lover-became-a-mark--73098906
In this episode, we trace how Edward Marshall built a profile around Scott's own words, used a stolen photograph from a Vermont book dealer, and photographed real books from his storage unit-metadata that placed him within forty miles of Dunmore. We follow Warren Zeller's investigation from the perfect citations to the carved detail on an estate shelf, and the moment Marshall confessed to everything except one crucial choice: why he returned to leave a handwritten note on the property of a man who had already reported him to police.

Person: Scott Ward
Perpetrator: Edward Marshall, age 41
Location: Dunmore (population 80,000); Garrett, 26 miles northeast
Amount stolen: $13,200
Platform: Online book community
Event: Discovery of letter on May 11

- Scott Ward, 44, commercial estimator, had lived in Dunmore for 11 years and called his daughter Penny every Tuesday evening.
- Anne Forsythe first liked Scott's comment about a Chekhov anthology in late September, initiating seven months of daily messages.
- Scott transferred $9,000 on February 19, then $2,200 on March 3, then $2,000 more in April, all purportedly for customs disputes on a rare Russian literature collection.
- Edward Marshall's photographs of books showed metadata placing them within 40 miles of Dunmore, taken in a single session at his storage unit, with an estate shelf visible in the background.
- A librarian named Beth Cranston had been contacted five years earlier by a "Daniel Forsythe" profile using Marshall's email address; she hung up when he mispronounced "provenance."

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098906Wed, 19 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe letter in the rain: how a Chekhov lover became a mark In this episode, we trace how Edward Marshall built a profile around Scott's own words, used a stolen photograph from a Vermont book dealer, and photographed real books from his storage...
In this episode, we trace how Edward Marshall built a profile around Scott's own words, used a stolen photograph from a Vermont book dealer, and photographed real books from his storage unit-metadata that placed him within forty miles of Dunmore. We follow Warren Zeller's investigation from the perfect citations to the carved detail on an estate shelf, and the moment Marshall confessed to everything except one crucial choice: why he returned to leave a handwritten note on the property of a man who had already reported him to police.

Person: Scott Ward
Perpetrator: Edward Marshall, age 41
Location: Dunmore (population 80,000); Garrett, 26 miles northeast
Amount stolen: $13,200
Platform: Online book community
Event: Discovery of letter on May 11

- Scott Ward, 44, commercial estimator, had lived in Dunmore for 11 years and called his daughter Penny every Tuesday evening.
- Anne Forsythe first liked Scott's comment about a Chekhov anthology in late September, initiating seven months of daily messages.
- Scott transferred $9,000 on February 19, then $2,200 on March 3, then $2,000 more in April, all purportedly for customs disputes on a rare Russian literature collection.
- Edward Marshall's photographs of books showed metadata placing them within 40 miles of Dunmore, taken in a single session at his storage unit, with an estate shelf visible in the background.
- A librarian named Beth Cranston had been contacted five years earlier by a "Daniel Forsythe" profile using Marshall's email address; she hung up when he mispronounced "provenance."

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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.]]>1431falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-tooth-that-grew-back-twice-how-a-borrowed-face-built-a-twenty-two-thousand-dollar-lie--73098904
In this episode, we follow Kimberly Jensen's eighteen months of wires to Ghana, the retired postal inspector who unraveled the scheme in ninety minutes at a kitchen table, and the crucial discovery that every photograph came from a legitimate foundation's newsletters, resequenced and color-shifted to create a false chronology. We examine the tooth that grew back in a single newsletter cycle but was delivered months apart, the service entrance propped open by a cinderblock for eight months, and the DNA match four years later that revealed this was not the first time Steven Hunt had used this exact pattern.

Person: Kimberly Jensen, Steven Hunt
Location: Millhaven, upper Midwest; Ghana (Ekua Foundation)
Amount: $22,400 over eighteen months
Event: Residential burglary and wire fraud conviction
Perpetrator: Steven Hunt, real name, real middle name Marcus

- Kimberly Jensen, twenty-eight, worked remotely as a medical billing coordinator from a second-floor apartment in Millhaven with a relief map of the world on her wall.
- Steven Hunt's profile appeared in her faith-based platform's suggested connections in late winter, claiming to oversee construction for Anchor House Global in Ghana.
- Over eighteen months, Kimberly wired $22,400 in increments never exceeding $1,200, drew down savings, opened a second credit line, and sold her car.
- Vernon Christensen, a retired twenty-two-year postal inspector, matched all photographs to the Ekua Foundation's four-year newsletter archive in ninety minutes at his kitchen table.
- Hunt accessed Kimberly's apartment through a service entrance propped open by a cinderblock for eight months; gray-jacketed figures appeared on adjacent building footage four times over six weeks.
- A DNA match four months after sentencing connected Hunt to Sandra Ogle's unsolved assault six years prior in a neighboring state, adding twelve years to his sentence.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098904Tue, 18 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe tooth that grew back twice: how a borrowed face built a twenty-two-thousand-dollar lie In this episode, we follow Kimberly Jensen's eighteen months of wires to Ghana, the retired postal inspector who unraveled the scheme in ninety minutes at a...
In this episode, we follow Kimberly Jensen's eighteen months of wires to Ghana, the retired postal inspector who unraveled the scheme in ninety minutes at a kitchen table, and the crucial discovery that every photograph came from a legitimate foundation's newsletters, resequenced and color-shifted to create a false chronology. We examine the tooth that grew back in a single newsletter cycle but was delivered months apart, the service entrance propped open by a cinderblock for eight months, and the DNA match four years later that revealed this was not the first time Steven Hunt had used this exact pattern.

Person: Kimberly Jensen, Steven Hunt
Location: Millhaven, upper Midwest; Ghana (Ekua Foundation)
Amount: $22,400 over eighteen months
Event: Residential burglary and wire fraud conviction
Perpetrator: Steven Hunt, real name, real middle name Marcus

- Kimberly Jensen, twenty-eight, worked remotely as a medical billing coordinator from a second-floor apartment in Millhaven with a relief map of the world on her wall.
- Steven Hunt's profile appeared in her faith-based platform's suggested connections in late winter, claiming to oversee construction for Anchor House Global in Ghana.
- Over eighteen months, Kimberly wired $22,400 in increments never exceeding $1,200, drew down savings, opened a second credit line, and sold her car.
- Vernon Christensen, a retired twenty-two-year postal inspector, matched all photographs to the Ekua Foundation's four-year newsletter archive in ninety minutes at his kitchen table.
- Hunt accessed Kimberly's apartment through a service entrance propped open by a cinderblock for eight months; gray-jacketed figures appeared on adjacent building footage four times over six weeks.
- A DNA match four months after sentencing connected Hunt to Sandra Ogle's unsolved assault six years prior in a neighboring state, adding twelve years to his sentence.

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.]]>1452falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-envelope-in-the-green-box-how-they-watched-her-for-eighteen-months--73098902
A cream-colored envelope with no stamp sat in Pamela Carlson's mailbox before dawn on March 7, 2019-placed there by someone who already knew exactly where her green box was. A careful compliance analyst who said no to online dating and hesitated before sending money had been targeted by a team of men who rotated identities, maintained a fake LinkedIn profile, and used access gained from an HVAC service call eighteen months earlier to build an operation designed specifically for people like her.

In this episode, we trace the operation from the HVAC permit filed in August 2017 through the scripted laptop texts sent from a shared prepaid phone to the moment a fourteen-year-old paper carrier's instinct to turn her bike around unraveled the entire scheme. We follow the arrest of Dennis Kohler and Andrew Farris, the identification of a third man who was never found, and why Susan Elroy's loss of $6,800 remained a secret she carried alone until a private investigator called in early March 2019.

Person: Pamela Carlson
Person: Susan Elroy
Person: Dennis Kohler
Perpetrator: Andrew Farris, age 38
Amount stolen: $2,200 from Pamela; $6,800 from Susan
Date: March 7, 2019

- Dennis Kohler was the lead HVAC technician on a full system replacement at 4 Aldermoor Circle in Renford, Ohio in August 2017.
- A fake "Michael Henderson" identity was constructed using the LinkedIn profile of a real 49-year-old commercial real estate professional in Pittsburgh.
- The prepaid phone number used to contact both victims was active for 19 months and registered under a name other than Michael Henderson.
- At a coffee shop meeting in January 2019, the man Pamela met was approximately two inches shorter than the man from the December dinner, with brown eyes instead of hazel.
- Dennis Kohler described the operation to his cellmate Bobby Pruett while in Licking County jail in mid-March 2019, leading to his arrest and Andrew Farris's arrest on April 2, 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098902Mon, 17 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe envelope in the green box: how they watched her for eighteen months A cream-colored envelope with no stamp sat in Pamela Carlson's mailbox before dawn on March 7, 2019-placed there by someone who already knew exactly where her green box was. A...
A cream-colored envelope with no stamp sat in Pamela Carlson's mailbox before dawn on March 7, 2019-placed there by someone who already knew exactly where her green box was. A careful compliance analyst who said no to online dating and hesitated before sending money had been targeted by a team of men who rotated identities, maintained a fake LinkedIn profile, and used access gained from an HVAC service call eighteen months earlier to build an operation designed specifically for people like her.

In this episode, we trace the operation from the HVAC permit filed in August 2017 through the scripted laptop texts sent from a shared prepaid phone to the moment a fourteen-year-old paper carrier's instinct to turn her bike around unraveled the entire scheme. We follow the arrest of Dennis Kohler and Andrew Farris, the identification of a third man who was never found, and why Susan Elroy's loss of $6,800 remained a secret she carried alone until a private investigator called in early March 2019.

Person: Pamela Carlson
Person: Susan Elroy
Person: Dennis Kohler
Perpetrator: Andrew Farris, age 38
Amount stolen: $2,200 from Pamela; $6,800 from Susan
Date: March 7, 2019

- Dennis Kohler was the lead HVAC technician on a full system replacement at 4 Aldermoor Circle in Renford, Ohio in August 2017.
- A fake "Michael Henderson" identity was constructed using the LinkedIn profile of a real 49-year-old commercial real estate professional in Pittsburgh.
- The prepaid phone number used to contact both victims was active for 19 months and registered under a name other than Michael Henderson.
- At a coffee shop meeting in January 2019, the man Pamela met was approximately two inches shorter than the man from the December dinner, with brown eyes instead of hazel.
- Dennis Kohler described the operation to his cellmate Bobby Pruett while in Licking County jail in mid-March 2019, leading to his arrest and Andrew Farris's arrest on April 2, 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.]]>1207falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-warm-phone-on-birchfield-road--73098901
A snowplow operator finds a phone still warm in eleven-degree cold on a Wisconsin road, with no footprints leading anywhere-a discovery that would unravel a six-month romance scam built on stolen photos and scripted intimacy. Kenneth Walker thought he was receiving nutrition coaching from a man named Carl Graham. He was wrong about nearly everything except one thing: the deception cost him real money and almost cost him far more. What drove Carl Graham to drive forty-seven miles in the middle of the night to a stranger's apartment, and what was he planning to do?

In this episode, we trace how a careful young man with a printed agenda and a saved college fund became the target of an operator with a spiral notebook organized by emotional stage. We examine the reverse image search that exposed a Brazilian fitness influencer, the fake truck breakdown that drained his savings account, and the GPS log that placed Graham outside Kenneth's building on a winter night-a visit that had no logical explanation and raised a question the court could never fully answer.

Person: Kenneth Walker
Perpetrator: Carl Graham
Location: Millhaven, Wisconsin
Date: February 9
Amount stolen: Three thousand four hundred dollars
Platform: NutriSync app

- Kenneth Walker was a twenty-two-year-old data-entry clerk in Millhaven, Wisconsin earning four thousand three hundred dollars in savings by midsummer.
- Carl Graham's profile photo was stolen from Renaldo Matos, a Brazilian fitness influencer with two hundred thousand followers based in São Paulo.
- Graham sent Kenneth one thousand nine hundred dollars through a prepaid routing number for a fake truck transmission breakdown in January that had actually been repaired in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, not Georgia.
- On February eighth at eleven seventeen at night, Graham drove forty-seven miles from Pewaukee to park near Kenneth's apartment on Crestmoor Avenue, where investigators later found GPS data logged on a recovered burner phone.
- Graham was found to have a prior fraud charge from two thousand eighteen pleaded to misdemeanor in Dane County, and a second victim in Ozaukee County lost five thousand one hundred dollars through identical methods with three verbatim phrases matching Graham's spiral notebook.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098901Sun, 16 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe warm phone on Birchfield Road A snowplow operator finds a phone still warm in eleven-degree cold on a Wisconsin road, with no footprints leading anywhere-a discovery that would unravel a six-month romance scam built on stolen photos and...
A snowplow operator finds a phone still warm in eleven-degree cold on a Wisconsin road, with no footprints leading anywhere-a discovery that would unravel a six-month romance scam built on stolen photos and scripted intimacy. Kenneth Walker thought he was receiving nutrition coaching from a man named Carl Graham. He was wrong about nearly everything except one thing: the deception cost him real money and almost cost him far more. What drove Carl Graham to drive forty-seven miles in the middle of the night to a stranger's apartment, and what was he planning to do?

In this episode, we trace how a careful young man with a printed agenda and a saved college fund became the target of an operator with a spiral notebook organized by emotional stage. We examine the reverse image search that exposed a Brazilian fitness influencer, the fake truck breakdown that drained his savings account, and the GPS log that placed Graham outside Kenneth's building on a winter night-a visit that had no logical explanation and raised a question the court could never fully answer.

Person: Kenneth Walker
Perpetrator: Carl Graham
Location: Millhaven, Wisconsin
Date: February 9
Amount stolen: Three thousand four hundred dollars
Platform: NutriSync app

- Kenneth Walker was a twenty-two-year-old data-entry clerk in Millhaven, Wisconsin earning four thousand three hundred dollars in savings by midsummer.
- Carl Graham's profile photo was stolen from Renaldo Matos, a Brazilian fitness influencer with two hundred thousand followers based in São Paulo.
- Graham sent Kenneth one thousand nine hundred dollars through a prepaid routing number for a fake truck transmission breakdown in January that had actually been repaired in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, not Georgia.
- On February eighth at eleven seventeen at night, Graham drove forty-seven miles from Pewaukee to park near Kenneth's apartment on Crestmoor Avenue, where investigators later found GPS data logged on a recovered burner phone.
- Graham was found to have a prior fraud charge from two thousand eighteen pleaded to misdemeanor in Dane County, and a second victim in Ozaukee County lost five thousand one hundred dollars through identical methods with three verbatim phrases matching Graham's spiral notebook.

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.]]>1429falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-letters-behind-the-meter-box-how-grief-became-a-target--73098898
On January ninth, a utility worker found eleven handwritten letters wedged behind a meter box at a vacant property in New Mexico-all addressed to a man in South Sudan, all bearing domestic postmarks, none of them ever sent. Curtis Schultz, a widower managing his late wife's estate, believed he had been writing to Captain Marcus Vane, a UN observer deploying overseas. But the man he trusted had purchased his financial data eight weeks before they ever met in a parking lot. What made Curtis vulnerable, and how did a photograph from a Tucson photography forum become the weapon that exposed everything?

In this episode, we trace the operation from the consumer profile purchase through the carefully timed escalations that matched CD maturity dates, the reverse image search that took ninety seconds, and the unanswered question of why Hicks returned the letters at all. We examine how ordinary people-a utility worker, a bowling teammate, a paralegal-unraveled a scheme built on stolen identity and scheduled extraction. And we confront what was actually taken when someone studies your loneliness before they ever introduce themselves.

Person: Curtis Schultz
Perpetrator: Wade Hicks, age 34
Victim's late spouse: Debra Schultz
Location: Harwick, New Mexico
Amount stolen: 99,000 dollars
Evidence: Eleven handwritten letters, consumer profile, fraudulent UN observer persona

- Curtis Schultz was a widower managing four certificates of deposit totaling approximately 280,000 dollars inherited from his wife Debra's estate.
- Hicks purchased a detailed consumer profile on Curtis Schultz eight weeks before meeting him in the Harwick Savings and Loan parking lot in late July.
- Hicks created a fake UN observer persona called Captain Marcus Vane with a deployment to South Sudan, and Curtis mailed eleven letters to a Geneva address that was actually a PO box in Harwick controlled by Hicks.
- The photograph Hicks sent of "Captain Marcus Vane" was actually Ed Kovar, a retired insurance adjuster from Tucson who maintained a hobbyist photography forum and had no connection to the scheme.
- Gail Mitchell, a Tri-Valley Electric lineman, found the eleven letters behind a meter box at a vacant property on January ninth, all bearing only domestic postmarks with no international transit stamps.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098898Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe letters behind the meter box: how grief became a target On January ninth, a utility worker found eleven handwritten letters wedged behind a meter box at a vacant property in New Mexico-all addressed to a man in South Sudan, all bearing domestic...
On January ninth, a utility worker found eleven handwritten letters wedged behind a meter box at a vacant property in New Mexico-all addressed to a man in South Sudan, all bearing domestic postmarks, none of them ever sent. Curtis Schultz, a widower managing his late wife's estate, believed he had been writing to Captain Marcus Vane, a UN observer deploying overseas. But the man he trusted had purchased his financial data eight weeks before they ever met in a parking lot. What made Curtis vulnerable, and how did a photograph from a Tucson photography forum become the weapon that exposed everything?

In this episode, we trace the operation from the consumer profile purchase through the carefully timed escalations that matched CD maturity dates, the reverse image search that took ninety seconds, and the unanswered question of why Hicks returned the letters at all. We examine how ordinary people-a utility worker, a bowling teammate, a paralegal-unraveled a scheme built on stolen identity and scheduled extraction. And we confront what was actually taken when someone studies your loneliness before they ever introduce themselves.

Person: Curtis Schultz
Perpetrator: Wade Hicks, age 34
Victim's late spouse: Debra Schultz
Location: Harwick, New Mexico
Amount stolen: 99,000 dollars
Evidence: Eleven handwritten letters, consumer profile, fraudulent UN observer persona

- Curtis Schultz was a widower managing four certificates of deposit totaling approximately 280,000 dollars inherited from his wife Debra's estate.
- Hicks purchased a detailed consumer profile on Curtis Schultz eight weeks before meeting him in the Harwick Savings and Loan parking lot in late July.
- Hicks created a fake UN observer persona called Captain Marcus Vane with a deployment to South Sudan, and Curtis mailed eleven letters to a Geneva address that was actually a PO box in Harwick controlled by Hicks.
- The photograph Hicks sent of "Captain Marcus Vane" was actually Ed Kovar, a retired insurance adjuster from Tucson who maintained a hobbyist photography forum and had no connection to the scheme.
- Gail Mitchell, a Tri-Valley Electric lineman, found the eleven letters behind a meter box at a vacant property on January ninth, all bearing only domestic postmarks with no international transit stamps.

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.]]>1319falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-chess-set-on-the-bench-how-grief-became-a-research-tool--73098897
A rosewood board frozen to a park bench in December, mid-game at move fourteen, with one black rook fallen on gravel below. A widow in Ohio had bought it as a gift for a man she loved, left it there at dawn, and never knew he had studied her late husband's obituary for two weeks before ever sending her a message. How did one carefully constructed online persona turn public records and a dead man's chess lessons into a weapon?

In this episode, we trace the two-week research phase that preceded the first message, the three wire transfers totaling twenty-two thousand four hundred dollars, and the portable hard drive that would reveal forty-one victims across nine states. We examine the Sicilian Defense opening, the video calls with technical problems that were always deliberate, and what a spreadsheet of emotional targeting profiles actually represents.

Person: Monica Walker
Perpetrator: Kenneth Sorrells, age 48
Location: Millhaven, Ohio
Amount stolen: Twenty-two thousand four hundred dollars
Event: Arrest on December 11, 2019
Platform: ChessMate

- Monica Walker was a sixty-two-year-old part-time accountant living on Aldermere Circle in Millhaven, Ohio, for over twenty years when she created a ChessMate account.
- Ted Walker, Monica's husband of thirty-one years, died of pancreatic cancer in spring 2015; he had taught her to play chess in the early 1990s.
- Kenneth Sorrells, using the alias Brian Petersen, spent approximately two weeks reading Monica's late husband's obituary, employer listings, and ChessMate profile before sending his first message in late April 2019.
- The first wire transfer of four thousand dollars left Monica's account in September 2019, routed to Hong Kong, followed by transfers in October and November totaling twenty-two thousand four hundred dollars.
- A portable hard drive found in a storage unit at the freight yards contained a spreadsheet with forty-one victims across nine states, each with emotional targeting profiles; Monica Walker was line thirty-one and Sorrells was sentenced to eleven years in April 2020.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098897Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe chess set on the bench: how grief became a research tool A rosewood board frozen to a park bench in December, mid-game at move fourteen, with one black rook fallen on gravel below. A widow in Ohio had bought it as a gift for a man she loved,...
A rosewood board frozen to a park bench in December, mid-game at move fourteen, with one black rook fallen on gravel below. A widow in Ohio had bought it as a gift for a man she loved, left it there at dawn, and never knew he had studied her late husband's obituary for two weeks before ever sending her a message. How did one carefully constructed online persona turn public records and a dead man's chess lessons into a weapon?

In this episode, we trace the two-week research phase that preceded the first message, the three wire transfers totaling twenty-two thousand four hundred dollars, and the portable hard drive that would reveal forty-one victims across nine states. We examine the Sicilian Defense opening, the video calls with technical problems that were always deliberate, and what a spreadsheet of emotional targeting profiles actually represents.

Person: Monica Walker
Perpetrator: Kenneth Sorrells, age 48
Location: Millhaven, Ohio
Amount stolen: Twenty-two thousand four hundred dollars
Event: Arrest on December 11, 2019
Platform: ChessMate

- Monica Walker was a sixty-two-year-old part-time accountant living on Aldermere Circle in Millhaven, Ohio, for over twenty years when she created a ChessMate account.
- Ted Walker, Monica's husband of thirty-one years, died of pancreatic cancer in spring 2015; he had taught her to play chess in the early 1990s.
- Kenneth Sorrells, using the alias Brian Petersen, spent approximately two weeks reading Monica's late husband's obituary, employer listings, and ChessMate profile before sending his first message in late April 2019.
- The first wire transfer of four thousand dollars left Monica's account in September 2019, routed to Hong Kong, followed by transfers in October and November totaling twenty-two thousand four hundred dollars.
- A portable hard drive found in a storage unit at the freight yards contained a spreadsheet with forty-one victims across nine states, each with emotional targeting profiles; Monica Walker was line thirty-one and Sorrells was sentenced to eleven years in April 2020.

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.]]>1319falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-water-tower-benchmark-how-a-cancer-survivor-became-a-fraud-database-entry--73098895
A pale blue birthday cake sat untouched on Douglas Allen's kitchen table, candles shaped like "26" beside an envelope addressed to himself with a Nigerian return address. The apartment was empty, his morning walks stopped, and what investigators initially read as a mystery was actually a closing door-the moment a young cancer survivor realized the voice on the other end of the phone for twenty months had been a calculated fiction the entire time.

In this episode, we follow Douglas from his 2017 Hodgkin's lymphoma remission through his recruitment into a Facebook support group called Survivors in Step, where he met "Marcus Webb," a kind-faced retired consultant who remembered his scan dates and called several times a week. We trace $41,200 transferred across twenty months, a physical encounter at Renner Park where Sullivan confirmed Douglas's routine, and the blog post about West African romance scams that finally broke the illusion-revealing that the man Douglas believed was his closest friend was Melvin D. Sullivan of Baytown, Texas, operating a database of victims with forty-seven stolen photographs.

Person: Douglas Allen
Perpetrator: Melvin D. Sullivan
Location: Pallister, Ohio; Baytown, Texas
Amount stolen: $41,200
Period: February 2018 to October 2019
Date of arrest: March 2020

- Douglas Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 22 in 2015 and completed his final infusion in spring 2017.
- He joined the Facebook group Survivors in Step in spring 2017 and began private calls with "Marcus Webb" in autumn 2017.
- Sullivan used a stolen LinkedIn photograph of Wayne Cutler, a retired engineer in Spokane, Washington, for at least three years across multiple fraud cases.
- The first request for money came in February 2018 when "Marcus" claimed a pipe failed at his property and needed $1,600, which he repaid eleven days later to build trust.
- Sullivan traveled to Renner Park in Pallister in autumn 2018 and approached Douglas to confirm his voice, face, and daily routine before returning to Texas.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098895Thu, 13 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe water tower benchmark: how a cancer survivor became a fraud database entry A pale blue birthday cake sat untouched on Douglas Allen's kitchen table, candles shaped like "26" beside an envelope addressed to himself with a Nigerian return...
A pale blue birthday cake sat untouched on Douglas Allen's kitchen table, candles shaped like "26" beside an envelope addressed to himself with a Nigerian return address. The apartment was empty, his morning walks stopped, and what investigators initially read as a mystery was actually a closing door-the moment a young cancer survivor realized the voice on the other end of the phone for twenty months had been a calculated fiction the entire time.

In this episode, we follow Douglas from his 2017 Hodgkin's lymphoma remission through his recruitment into a Facebook support group called Survivors in Step, where he met "Marcus Webb," a kind-faced retired consultant who remembered his scan dates and called several times a week. We trace $41,200 transferred across twenty months, a physical encounter at Renner Park where Sullivan confirmed Douglas's routine, and the blog post about West African romance scams that finally broke the illusion-revealing that the man Douglas believed was his closest friend was Melvin D. Sullivan of Baytown, Texas, operating a database of victims with forty-seven stolen photographs.

Person: Douglas Allen
Perpetrator: Melvin D. Sullivan
Location: Pallister, Ohio; Baytown, Texas
Amount stolen: $41,200
Period: February 2018 to October 2019
Date of arrest: March 2020

- Douglas Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 22 in 2015 and completed his final infusion in spring 2017.
- He joined the Facebook group Survivors in Step in spring 2017 and began private calls with "Marcus Webb" in autumn 2017.
- Sullivan used a stolen LinkedIn photograph of Wayne Cutler, a retired engineer in Spokane, Washington, for at least three years across multiple fraud cases.
- The first request for money came in February 2018 when "Marcus" claimed a pipe failed at his property and needed $1,600, which he repaid eleven days later to build trust.
- Sullivan traveled to Renner Park in Pallister in autumn 2018 and approached Douglas to confirm his voice, face, and daily routine before returning to Texas.

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.]]>1405falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-handwriting-that-broke-a-twenty-six-month-con--73098894
A sealed box arrived at a refugee resettlement organization with a photograph meant to prove Edward Hicks existed in a Kenyan camp. Inside were thirty-one handwritten letters, carefully organized, each one building trust through granular detail: the shade of tent canvas, an instructor's name, which days the coffee ration ran out. But one detail unraveled everything-and it was something almost no one would notice.

In this episode, we trace how a county property assessor reading all thirty-one letters in a single afternoon discovered that the handwriting's slant had shifted at month fourteen, exactly when the payment requests changed character. We follow the reverse image search that exposed a digitally altered photograph, the discovery of a hard drive in a Lorain, Ohio storage unit, and the revelation that this was not one victim but at least nine people, each kept separate and silent for years.

Person: Erin Zeller
Perpetrator: Edward Hicks
Location: Dunning, Ohio; Lorain, Ohio
Amount stolen: 11,400 dollars from Erin Zeller; approximately 8,000 dollars from Beverly Crane
Event: Romance fraud spanning 26 months via pen-pal service
Date: August 2022 to October 2024

- Erin Zeller registered with Global Friendship Exchange in August 2022 and was matched with a profile for Edward Hicks, listed as a Kakuma camp resident.
- The first letter arrived six weeks later; thirty-one letters followed over twenty-six months before any financial request was made.
- The first payment request came in month eight for forty dollars to replace broken glasses; subsequent requests followed a two-week pattern of warmth after each payment.
- Carl Stevens, a county property assessor, noticed the handwriting's slant shifted at letter twenty-three, corresponding to month fourteen when payment amounts escalated more rapidly.
- The laminated photograph in the sealed box was digitally altered and depicted a man photographed at a Nairobi community center in 2017, not a refugee camp, and had been pulled from a deleted social media profile.

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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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098894Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe handwriting that broke a twenty-six-month con A sealed box arrived at a refugee resettlement organization with a photograph meant to prove Edward Hicks existed in a Kenyan camp. Inside were thirty-one handwritten letters, carefully organized,...
A sealed box arrived at a refugee resettlement organization with a photograph meant to prove Edward Hicks existed in a Kenyan camp. Inside were thirty-one handwritten letters, carefully organized, each one building trust through granular detail: the shade of tent canvas, an instructor's name, which days the coffee ration ran out. But one detail unraveled everything-and it was something almost no one would notice.

In this episode, we trace how a county property assessor reading all thirty-one letters in a single afternoon discovered that the handwriting's slant had shifted at month fourteen, exactly when the payment requests changed character. We follow the reverse image search that exposed a digitally altered photograph, the discovery of a hard drive in a Lorain, Ohio storage unit, and the revelation that this was not one victim but at least nine people, each kept separate and silent for years.

Person: Erin Zeller
Perpetrator: Edward Hicks
Location: Dunning, Ohio; Lorain, Ohio
Amount stolen: 11,400 dollars from Erin Zeller; approximately 8,000 dollars from Beverly Crane
Event: Romance fraud spanning 26 months via pen-pal service
Date: August 2022 to October 2024

- Erin Zeller registered with Global Friendship Exchange in August 2022 and was matched with a profile for Edward Hicks, listed as a Kakuma camp resident.
- The first letter arrived six weeks later; thirty-one letters followed over twenty-six months before any financial request was made.
- The first payment request came in month eight for forty dollars to replace broken glasses; subsequent requests followed a two-week pattern of warmth after each payment.
- Carl Stevens, a county property assessor, noticed the handwriting's slant shifted at letter twenty-three, corresponding to month fourteen when payment amounts escalated more rapidly.
- The laminated photograph in the sealed box was digitally altered and depicted a man photographed at a Nairobi community center in 2017, not a refugee camp, and had been pulled from a deleted social media profile.

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.]]>1233falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-laminated-note-how-surveillance-became-romance--73098892
A small card sealed in plastic, pressed against a drainage culvert on Kent Jones Trail in September 2019, contained a single pale blue chicory flower and four words: "For James - every distance closes. Yours always, K." Within forty-eight hours, the photograph had reached fraud investigator Scott Powell, who recognized the name and began to understand that the romance was never digital at all-it was surveillance.

In this episode, we follow the eleven-month investigation into the Kenneth Griffin profile and the moment Powell discovered that James Stewart's Thursday schedule at Reedy's Diner, his corner window table, and his parking habits on Kent Jones Trail had never been disclosed online. Cell tower data, loading dock footage, and a handwritten grid on an apartment wall revealed that Victor Shade had been watching James in person for weeks before the note appeared, documenting twelve simultaneous victims with the same methodical attention.

Person: James Stewart
Perpetrator: Victor Shade, age 47
Location: Columbus, Ohio; Kent Jones Trail
Amount stolen: Six thousand two hundred dollars (James Stewart)
Case: Romance fraud involving twelve victims and physical surveillance

- James Stewart posted a photograph from Reedy's Diner corner window in February 2019; Kenneth Griffin messaged him two months later.
- Shade's phone records placed him at Kent Jones Trail at 5:44 a.m. on the Tuesday the note was found; loading dock footage captured him at 5:47 a.m.
- James never disclosed his Thursday schedule, Mallard Street location, or parking habits on Kent Jones Trail to Kenneth Griffin on any platform.
- Victor Shade's apartment contained three laptops and a handwritten grid listing twelve active victims with their emotional vulnerabilities and specific personal details.
- Shade was sentenced to eleven years in federal custody on twelve counts of wire fraud, twelve counts of aggravated theft, and one count of criminal stalking specific to James Stewart.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098892Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe laminated note: how surveillance became romance A small card sealed in plastic, pressed against a drainage culvert on Kent Jones Trail in September 2019, contained a single pale blue chicory flower and four words: "For James - every distance...
A small card sealed in plastic, pressed against a drainage culvert on Kent Jones Trail in September 2019, contained a single pale blue chicory flower and four words: "For James - every distance closes. Yours always, K." Within forty-eight hours, the photograph had reached fraud investigator Scott Powell, who recognized the name and began to understand that the romance was never digital at all-it was surveillance.

In this episode, we follow the eleven-month investigation into the Kenneth Griffin profile and the moment Powell discovered that James Stewart's Thursday schedule at Reedy's Diner, his corner window table, and his parking habits on Kent Jones Trail had never been disclosed online. Cell tower data, loading dock footage, and a handwritten grid on an apartment wall revealed that Victor Shade had been watching James in person for weeks before the note appeared, documenting twelve simultaneous victims with the same methodical attention.

Person: James Stewart
Perpetrator: Victor Shade, age 47
Location: Columbus, Ohio; Kent Jones Trail
Amount stolen: Six thousand two hundred dollars (James Stewart)
Case: Romance fraud involving twelve victims and physical surveillance

- James Stewart posted a photograph from Reedy's Diner corner window in February 2019; Kenneth Griffin messaged him two months later.
- Shade's phone records placed him at Kent Jones Trail at 5:44 a.m. on the Tuesday the note was found; loading dock footage captured him at 5:47 a.m.
- James never disclosed his Thursday schedule, Mallard Street location, or parking habits on Kent Jones Trail to Kenneth Griffin on any platform.
- Victor Shade's apartment contained three laptops and a handwritten grid listing twelve active victims with their emotional vulnerabilities and specific personal details.
- Shade was sentenced to eleven years in federal custody on twelve counts of wire fraud, twelve counts of aggravated theft, and one count of criminal stalking specific to James Stewart.

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.]]>1259falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-face-in-the-album-how-they-built-a-man-from-three-strangers--73098890
A fisherman pulls a waterlogged photo album from Carver Lake on August ninth-forty-one photographs of the same face, annotated in pencil with initials and dates. The man in every image has no idea the album exists. So why was his face printed, sorted, and handed to a stranger as proof that someone else was real?

In this episode, we trace how Roy Slade constructed Marvin Marshall from three real people-Thomas Wrede's LinkedIn credentials, Scott Hagan's blog about divorce and fatherhood, Ed Novak's patterns of vulnerability-and deployed the composite persona to extract thirty-one thousand dollars from Lloyd Bennett across four July wire transfers. We follow the moment a utility inspector entered Lloyd's home with a clipboard, the four-second reverse image search that exposed the fraud, and the evidence chain that revealed Slade had been operating under multiple aliases since at least two thousand fifteen.

Person: Lloyd Bennett
Perpetrator: Roy Slade, age 46
Event: Fraud conviction, spring following arrest
Location: Harwick, Indiana
Amount stolen: $31,000
Platform: Professional networking app, messaging app

- Kenneth Hoffman pulled a waterlogged spiral-bound photo album from Carver Lake on August ninth, twenty-two, containing forty-one photographs of the same face with pencil annotations of initials and dates.
- Lloyd Bennett, a fifty-two-year-old project coordinator for the Harwick County Water Authority, received the first message from Marvin Marshall in February of twenty-two and made four wire transfers totaling thirty-one thousand dollars in July of twenty-two.
- Marvin Marshall was constructed from three real people: Thomas Wrede, a civil engineer in Columbus; Scott Hagan, a project manager from Louisville whose private blog detailed his childhood in Terre Haute and divorce; and Ed Novak, a seventy-year-old retired teacher in Fort Wayne with a semi-public Facebook profile.
- Roy Slade was arrested in Carver County under the alias Mitchell Moore and convicted on six counts of wire fraud and identity theft; he had used at least four aliases-Marcus Mills, Matt Morgan, Mitchell Moore, and Marvin Marshall-across at least two thousand fifteen through twenty-two.
- Paige Bennett, Lloyd's daughter, ran a reverse image search on the Marvin Marshall profile photograph in early August twenty-two and identified it as Thomas Wrede within four seconds, prompting her to contact Christine Casey, a fraud investigator with the Indiana State Police financial crimes unit.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098890Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe face in the album: how they built a man from three strangers A fisherman pulls a waterlogged photo album from Carver Lake on August ninth-forty-one photographs of the same face, annotated in pencil with initials and dates. The man in every...
A fisherman pulls a waterlogged photo album from Carver Lake on August ninth-forty-one photographs of the same face, annotated in pencil with initials and dates. The man in every image has no idea the album exists. So why was his face printed, sorted, and handed to a stranger as proof that someone else was real?

In this episode, we trace how Roy Slade constructed Marvin Marshall from three real people-Thomas Wrede's LinkedIn credentials, Scott Hagan's blog about divorce and fatherhood, Ed Novak's patterns of vulnerability-and deployed the composite persona to extract thirty-one thousand dollars from Lloyd Bennett across four July wire transfers. We follow the moment a utility inspector entered Lloyd's home with a clipboard, the four-second reverse image search that exposed the fraud, and the evidence chain that revealed Slade had been operating under multiple aliases since at least two thousand fifteen.

Person: Lloyd Bennett
Perpetrator: Roy Slade, age 46
Event: Fraud conviction, spring following arrest
Location: Harwick, Indiana
Amount stolen: $31,000
Platform: Professional networking app, messaging app

- Kenneth Hoffman pulled a waterlogged spiral-bound photo album from Carver Lake on August ninth, twenty-two, containing forty-one photographs of the same face with pencil annotations of initials and dates.
- Lloyd Bennett, a fifty-two-year-old project coordinator for the Harwick County Water Authority, received the first message from Marvin Marshall in February of twenty-two and made four wire transfers totaling thirty-one thousand dollars in July of twenty-two.
- Marvin Marshall was constructed from three real people: Thomas Wrede, a civil engineer in Columbus; Scott Hagan, a project manager from Louisville whose private blog detailed his childhood in Terre Haute and divorce; and Ed Novak, a seventy-year-old retired teacher in Fort Wayne with a semi-public Facebook profile.
- Roy Slade was arrested in Carver County under the alias Mitchell Moore and convicted on six counts of wire fraud and identity theft; he had used at least four aliases-Marcus Mills, Matt Morgan, Mitchell Moore, and Marvin Marshall-across at least two thousand fifteen through twenty-two.
- Paige Bennett, Lloyd's daughter, ran a reverse image search on the Marvin Marshall profile photograph in early August twenty-two and identified it as Thomas Wrede within four seconds, prompting her to contact Christine Casey, a fraud investigator with the Indiana State Police financial crimes unit.

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.]]>1234falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-envelope-in-the-dirt-how-beverly-brooks-built-a-six-year-fraud-inside-grief--73098889
In this episode, we trace the architecture of the scheme from the Compassion Circle sign-in binder-where Beverly attended unannounced before introducing herself to Monica-through the photo metadata showing borrowed images dated six years prior, to the transaction chain that moved money in nine clean steps to an apartment two states away. We examine how the same fraud had worked seven years earlier against a woman named Sandra Voss, and what the incomplete purpose of the buried debit cards reveals about whether the scheme was truly finished when Beverly Brooks was arrested.

Person: Monica Whitley
Perpetrator: Beverly Brooks, age 46
Victim: Also Sandra Voss (seven years prior)
Location: Harlan Township, Crestwood Drive
Amount stolen: $11,400
Event: Grief support group infiltration and wire fraud, June-July

- Monica Whitley was 44 years old, 22 months past the death of her husband Paul from pancreatic cancer, when she joined the Compassion Circle grief support group in March.
- Beverly Brooks attended the Compassion Circle unannounced as Susan or unsigned in March and early April before introducing herself to Monica and beginning in-person coffee meetings by mid-April.
- Nine wire transfers totaling $11,400 moved from Monica's account between June and the third week of July to accounts tracing to Beverly Brooks's rental unit two states away.
- The photographs Beverly sent Monica over months of texting were metadata-dated six years prior and belonged to Patricia Nolan, a veterinary technician near Raleigh, North Carolina, who had received a prior warning her images might be misused.
- Beverly Brooks had three prior fraud convictions-two online-relationship schemes and one church-community scheme-before the Harlan Township case, and had used the same photographs and sister-with-multiple-sclerosis story against Sandra Voss seven years earlier in a different city, stealing $6,000 before a coworker intervened.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098889Sun, 09 Aug 2026 13:00:04 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe envelope in the dirt: how Beverly Brooks built a six-year fraud inside grief In this episode, we trace the architecture of the scheme from the Compassion Circle sign-in binder-where Beverly attended unannounced before introducing herself to...
In this episode, we trace the architecture of the scheme from the Compassion Circle sign-in binder-where Beverly attended unannounced before introducing herself to Monica-through the photo metadata showing borrowed images dated six years prior, to the transaction chain that moved money in nine clean steps to an apartment two states away. We examine how the same fraud had worked seven years earlier against a woman named Sandra Voss, and what the incomplete purpose of the buried debit cards reveals about whether the scheme was truly finished when Beverly Brooks was arrested.

Person: Monica Whitley
Perpetrator: Beverly Brooks, age 46
Victim: Also Sandra Voss (seven years prior)
Location: Harlan Township, Crestwood Drive
Amount stolen: $11,400
Event: Grief support group infiltration and wire fraud, June-July

- Monica Whitley was 44 years old, 22 months past the death of her husband Paul from pancreatic cancer, when she joined the Compassion Circle grief support group in March.
- Beverly Brooks attended the Compassion Circle unannounced as Susan or unsigned in March and early April before introducing herself to Monica and beginning in-person coffee meetings by mid-April.
- Nine wire transfers totaling $11,400 moved from Monica's account between June and the third week of July to accounts tracing to Beverly Brooks's rental unit two states away.
- The photographs Beverly sent Monica over months of texting were metadata-dated six years prior and belonged to Patricia Nolan, a veterinary technician near Raleigh, North Carolina, who had received a prior warning her images might be misused.
- Beverly Brooks had three prior fraud convictions-two online-relationship schemes and one church-community scheme-before the Harlan Township case, and had used the same photographs and sister-with-multiple-sclerosis story against Sandra Voss seven years earlier in a different city, stealing $6,000 before a coworker intervened.

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.]]>1353falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ring-on-the-plate-how-a-fake-engineer-stole-thirty-one-thousand-dollars--73098888
A diamond solitaire placed deliberately on a ceramic plate in an empty utility room, left behind by a woman who walked out eight months earlier and never returned. Marcia Marshall had saved thirty-one thousand dollars carefully over years, but a man calling himself Philip Myers-who sent her flowers, a ring, and marriage proposals-had asked for it all, a little at a time, in increments that each seemed reasonable. Why did she leave the ring behind, and who was really on the other end of those phone calls?

In this episode, we trace how a man using a stolen face from Portland and a Columbus area code built a romance scam across three states, returning a single two-hundred-forty-dollar loan to prove he was real, then systematically extracting money from Marcia and four other women to purchase a forged house in Ghana. We follow Detective Nora Finch and bank analyst Julie Campbell as they map a network of wire transfers, a changed padlock on an empty property, and an area code noticed by a coworker in a break room-details that connected a 2016 property inspection to a 2018 fraud to a 2013 unsolved assault.

Person: Marcia Marshall
Perpetrator: Convicted wire fraudster, sentenced February 2020
Location: Fostwick Township, Virginia; Columbus, Ohio
Amount stolen: $31,000 from Marcia; $94,000 across five victims
Event: Property inspection discovery, June 2019
Conviction: Five counts wire fraud, one count identity theft

- Marcia Marshall, 28 years old in 2018, worked as a medical technician in Fostwick Township, Virginia.
- She met Philip Myers online in September 2017; he sent her a $240 loan in February 2018 and repaid it in eleven days.
- Between February and October 2018, Marcia transferred $31,000 to the perpetrator in increments, moving out of her rental house on Deller Road.
- A coworker named Sandra Novak noticed Marcia receiving a call from a Columbus area code during a summer 2018 shift.
- Bank analyst Julie Campbell identified five victim accounts losing money to the same VOIP-linked identity cluster, totaling $94,000 used to purchase a forged-deed house in Accra, Ghana in March 2019.
- Detective Nora Finch confirmed the perpetrator had used the same Columbus area code VOIP number to call Harmon Brothers for a 2016 septic inspection, and Marcia had later mentioned Harmon Brothers to him by name.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098888Sat, 08 Aug 2026 13:00:04 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe ring on the plate: how a fake engineer stole thirty-one thousand dollars A diamond solitaire placed deliberately on a ceramic plate in an empty utility room, left behind by a woman who walked out eight months earlier and never returned. Marcia...
A diamond solitaire placed deliberately on a ceramic plate in an empty utility room, left behind by a woman who walked out eight months earlier and never returned. Marcia Marshall had saved thirty-one thousand dollars carefully over years, but a man calling himself Philip Myers-who sent her flowers, a ring, and marriage proposals-had asked for it all, a little at a time, in increments that each seemed reasonable. Why did she leave the ring behind, and who was really on the other end of those phone calls?

In this episode, we trace how a man using a stolen face from Portland and a Columbus area code built a romance scam across three states, returning a single two-hundred-forty-dollar loan to prove he was real, then systematically extracting money from Marcia and four other women to purchase a forged house in Ghana. We follow Detective Nora Finch and bank analyst Julie Campbell as they map a network of wire transfers, a changed padlock on an empty property, and an area code noticed by a coworker in a break room-details that connected a 2016 property inspection to a 2018 fraud to a 2013 unsolved assault.

Person: Marcia Marshall
Perpetrator: Convicted wire fraudster, sentenced February 2020
Location: Fostwick Township, Virginia; Columbus, Ohio
Amount stolen: $31,000 from Marcia; $94,000 across five victims
Event: Property inspection discovery, June 2019
Conviction: Five counts wire fraud, one count identity theft

- Marcia Marshall, 28 years old in 2018, worked as a medical technician in Fostwick Township, Virginia.
- She met Philip Myers online in September 2017; he sent her a $240 loan in February 2018 and repaid it in eleven days.
- Between February and October 2018, Marcia transferred $31,000 to the perpetrator in increments, moving out of her rental house on Deller Road.
- A coworker named Sandra Novak noticed Marcia receiving a call from a Columbus area code during a summer 2018 shift.
- Bank analyst Julie Campbell identified five victim accounts losing money to the same VOIP-linked identity cluster, totaling $94,000 used to purchase a forged-deed house in Accra, Ghana in March 2019.
- Detective Nora Finch confirmed the perpetrator had used the same Columbus area code VOIP number to call Harmon Brothers for a 2016 septic inspection, and Marcia had later mentioned Harmon Brothers to him by name.

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.]]>1503falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-badge-that-didn-t-dissolve-how-a-waterfowl-photographer-unraveled-a-sixty-one-thousand-dollar-romance-scam--73098885
In this episode, we trace the nine-month romance between Earl and Lloyd from a gardening forum reply through escalating financial requests, the moment a traffic camera caught the supposedly broken-down truck operational, and the critical discovery that the face in the dock photograph belonged to Nathan Doyle, a physical therapist in Ohio who had never heard of Harmon Reservoir. We follow Douglas Phillips through the storage unit warrant that recovered conversation scripts, crisis email templates, trust account numbers, and cultivation notes on at least three additional targets-a portable hard drive that became Kevin Morse's operational confession before he ever spoke a word.

Person: Earl Richardson
Person: Kevin Morse
Person: Nathan Doyle
Event: Badge discovered at Harmon Reservoir, early May
Location: Harmon Cove, south bank of Harmon Reservoir
Amount stolen: 61,000 dollars

- Earl Richardson, fifty-six, retired from thirty years at a machine shop due to back injury, lived alone at Harmon Cove in a house belonging to his wife's family.
- Earl bowled anchor position for Driftwood Four league at Harmon Reservoir every Thursday for nine consecutive years, missing only twice before autumn in question.
- The conversation between Earl and Lloyd Jones began in late summer with a gardening forum question about soil pH for blueberries and escalated to evening phone calls within three weeks.
- Between November and April, Earl wired sixty-one thousand dollars in transfers ranging from nine hundred to eighteen thousand dollars, each with a stated reason tied to Lloyd's supposed emergencies.
- The portable hard drive found in a storage unit registered to Diane Morse contained Nathan Doyle's sourced photographs organized by use, conversation scripts calibrated for emotional registers, crisis email templates, seven trust account numbers, and cultivation notes on at least three additional targets.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098885Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:00:05 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe badge that didn't dissolve: how a waterfowl photographer unraveled a sixty-one-thousand-dollar romance scam In this episode, we trace the nine-month romance between Earl and Lloyd from a gardening forum reply through escalating financial...
In this episode, we trace the nine-month romance between Earl and Lloyd from a gardening forum reply through escalating financial requests, the moment a traffic camera caught the supposedly broken-down truck operational, and the critical discovery that the face in the dock photograph belonged to Nathan Doyle, a physical therapist in Ohio who had never heard of Harmon Reservoir. We follow Douglas Phillips through the storage unit warrant that recovered conversation scripts, crisis email templates, trust account numbers, and cultivation notes on at least three additional targets-a portable hard drive that became Kevin Morse's operational confession before he ever spoke a word.

Person: Earl Richardson
Person: Kevin Morse
Person: Nathan Doyle
Event: Badge discovered at Harmon Reservoir, early May
Location: Harmon Cove, south bank of Harmon Reservoir
Amount stolen: 61,000 dollars

- Earl Richardson, fifty-six, retired from thirty years at a machine shop due to back injury, lived alone at Harmon Cove in a house belonging to his wife's family.
- Earl bowled anchor position for Driftwood Four league at Harmon Reservoir every Thursday for nine consecutive years, missing only twice before autumn in question.
- The conversation between Earl and Lloyd Jones began in late summer with a gardening forum question about soil pH for blueberries and escalated to evening phone calls within three weeks.
- Between November and April, Earl wired sixty-one thousand dollars in transfers ranging from nine hundred to eighteen thousand dollars, each with a stated reason tied to Lloyd's supposed emergencies.
- The portable hard drive found in a storage unit registered to Diane Morse contained Nathan Doyle's sourced photographs organized by use, conversation scripts calibrated for emotional registers, crisis email templates, seven trust account numbers, and cultivation notes on at least three additional targets.

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.]]>1241falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rose-on-the-welcome-mat-how-a-file-clerk-built-glenn-russo--73098883
A fifteen-year-old on a paper route found a long-stemmed rose sealed in its florist sleeve, card in block letters addressed to Cheryl, left on a welcome mat she hadn't used in months. But Cheryl Stevens had already been brought home from a Columbus motel where she'd waited three days for a man who never existed-a man whose voice on the phone came from thousands of miles away. How did a file clerk named Patrick Odom transform four visits to an insurance office into an eighteen-month romance, and why did he leave a rose for someone he knew would never see it?

In this episode, we follow the anatomy of calculated predation: Odom's observation of Cheryl's solo morning window at the front counter, his theft of a stranger's marina photograph from a family account, and the spiral notebook filled with scripted crisis scenarios and blank spaces for victim names. We examine the prepaid SIM card routed through West African infrastructure, the eleven documented calls traced to an overseas relay, and the deliberate one-letter misspelling that created legal distance between fiction and fact-all leading to the question that haunts the case: was the rose a signal, a test, or proof he was watching the door she stopped using?

Person: Cheryl Stevens, Patrick Odom, Andrew Foss
Location: Dunbar, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Youngstown, Ohio
Event: Romance fraud operation, April 2019 arrest
Perpetrator: Patrick Odom, age 41
Amount stolen: Not specified in transcript
Platform: Connex dating app

- Patrick Odom made at least four documented visits to Hargrove and Associates insurance office in spring 2018, where Cheryl worked the front counter alone from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
- Glenn Russo's profile appeared on Connex in August 2018, one month after Odom left Dunbar Commercial Printing, using a marina photograph stolen from Andrew Foss's family account posted in June 2017.
- The prepaid SIM card used for Glenn Russo's calls was activated at a gas station in Garfield Heights under the billing name "Rusco," and all 31 of Cheryl's outgoing calls were routed through a VoIP relay in West Africa.
- A long-stemmed rose in a sealed florist sleeve with a card reading "FOR CHERYL, FROM YOUR ONLY REAL ONE" was found on Cheryl's welcome mat in late March 2019, eleven days after she returned home from waiting three days at a Columbus motel.
- Investigators found a spiral notebook in Odom's Youngstown apartment containing character notes, scripted crisis scenarios with blank spaces for victim names, and at least eleven names in columns tracking relationship stage and money transferred; Odom was convicted on three counts of wire fraud and one count of identity fraud on April 22, 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098883Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe rose on the welcome mat: how a file clerk built Glenn Russo A fifteen-year-old on a paper route found a long-stemmed rose sealed in its florist sleeve, card in block letters addressed to Cheryl, left on a welcome mat she hadn't used in months....
A fifteen-year-old on a paper route found a long-stemmed rose sealed in its florist sleeve, card in block letters addressed to Cheryl, left on a welcome mat she hadn't used in months. But Cheryl Stevens had already been brought home from a Columbus motel where she'd waited three days for a man who never existed-a man whose voice on the phone came from thousands of miles away. How did a file clerk named Patrick Odom transform four visits to an insurance office into an eighteen-month romance, and why did he leave a rose for someone he knew would never see it?

In this episode, we follow the anatomy of calculated predation: Odom's observation of Cheryl's solo morning window at the front counter, his theft of a stranger's marina photograph from a family account, and the spiral notebook filled with scripted crisis scenarios and blank spaces for victim names. We examine the prepaid SIM card routed through West African infrastructure, the eleven documented calls traced to an overseas relay, and the deliberate one-letter misspelling that created legal distance between fiction and fact-all leading to the question that haunts the case: was the rose a signal, a test, or proof he was watching the door she stopped using?

Person: Cheryl Stevens, Patrick Odom, Andrew Foss
Location: Dunbar, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Youngstown, Ohio
Event: Romance fraud operation, April 2019 arrest
Perpetrator: Patrick Odom, age 41
Amount stolen: Not specified in transcript
Platform: Connex dating app

- Patrick Odom made at least four documented visits to Hargrove and Associates insurance office in spring 2018, where Cheryl worked the front counter alone from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
- Glenn Russo's profile appeared on Connex in August 2018, one month after Odom left Dunbar Commercial Printing, using a marina photograph stolen from Andrew Foss's family account posted in June 2017.
- The prepaid SIM card used for Glenn Russo's calls was activated at a gas station in Garfield Heights under the billing name "Rusco," and all 31 of Cheryl's outgoing calls were routed through a VoIP relay in West Africa.
- A long-stemmed rose in a sealed florist sleeve with a card reading "FOR CHERYL, FROM YOUR ONLY REAL ONE" was found on Cheryl's welcome mat in late March 2019, eleven days after she returned home from waiting three days at a Columbus motel.
- Investigators found a spiral notebook in Odom's Youngstown apartment containing character notes, scripted crisis scenarios with blank spaces for victim names, and at least eleven names in columns tracking relationship stage and money transferred; Odom was convicted on three counts of wire fraud and one count of identity fraud on April 22, 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.]]>1303falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-zip-lock-bag-that-unraveled-six-years-of-lies--73098882
A county snowplow operator found a zip-lock bag containing a ring, ribbon, and four notes signed "Rachel" on a frozen road shoulder. This discovery would eventually expose six years of calculated deception across at least three communities, but how did a simple bag unravel such a complex web of lies?

In this episode, we delve into the intricate scheme built from ordinary interactions like shared recipes and morning walks, which felt like the beginning of something real for the women involved. The narrative begins with Lisa Harrison, a 38-year-old nurse in Harwick, whose steady routine was disrupted by the arrival of Rachel Sanders.

Person: Steven Wilson
Location: Glenmore Road, Harwick
Date: A Tuesday morning in March
Item Found: Zip-lock bag
Duration of Deception: Six years

- A snowplow operator found a zip-lock bag containing a ring, white satin ribbon, and four handwritten notes.
- The deception spanned six years and affected at least three communities.
- Rachel Sanders, 43, joined the women's fellowship group in January 2022 and targeted Lisa Harrison, 38.
- Rachel proposed marriage to Lisa in the third week of February and later asked for $400 in cash for a car repair.
- Patrice Nolan, the women's fellowship group leader, observed Rachel giving private attention to four different women.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098882Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Zip-Lock Bag That Unraveled Six Years of Lies A county snowplow operator found a zip-lock bag containing a ring, ribbon, and four notes signed "Rachel" on a frozen road shoulder. This discovery would eventually expose six years of calculated...
A county snowplow operator found a zip-lock bag containing a ring, ribbon, and four notes signed "Rachel" on a frozen road shoulder. This discovery would eventually expose six years of calculated deception across at least three communities, but how did a simple bag unravel such a complex web of lies?

In this episode, we delve into the intricate scheme built from ordinary interactions like shared recipes and morning walks, which felt like the beginning of something real for the women involved. The narrative begins with Lisa Harrison, a 38-year-old nurse in Harwick, whose steady routine was disrupted by the arrival of Rachel Sanders.

Person: Steven Wilson
Location: Glenmore Road, Harwick
Date: A Tuesday morning in March
Item Found: Zip-lock bag
Duration of Deception: Six years

- A snowplow operator found a zip-lock bag containing a ring, white satin ribbon, and four handwritten notes.
- The deception spanned six years and affected at least three communities.
- Rachel Sanders, 43, joined the women's fellowship group in January 2022 and targeted Lisa Harrison, 38.
- Rachel proposed marriage to Lisa in the third week of February and later asked for $400 in cash for a car repair.
- Patrice Nolan, the women's fellowship group leader, observed Rachel giving private attention to four different women.

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.]]>1428falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rose-in-the-frozen-birdbath-she-vanished--73098880
Imagine the chilling discovery of a single, fresh red rose, stem-down in a frozen birdbath, on a morning when temperatures hadn't risen above twenty-two degrees in six days. This impossible detail was the first clue in a baffling disappearance, hinting at a sinister plot hidden beneath the surface of an ordinary life. How could a woman vanish, leaving behind nearly everything, with such an inexplicable sign?

In this episode, we delve into the disappearance of Gloria Thorpe, a sixty-two-year-old widow from Hatchett County, North Carolina, who vanished after wiring seventy-seven thousand dollars to a man she believed she loved. We explore how a carefully constructed romantic scam infiltrated her life, culminating in a winter morning that made the invisible visible.

Person: Gloria Thorpe
Date: February 14, 2019
Location: Millford Creek Road, Hatchett County, North Carolina
Status: Missing
Case: Romantic scam

- Gloria Thorpe had been missing for eleven days when the rose was discovered.
- The temperature had not risen above twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit for six consecutive days.
- Gloria had lived in the same white frame house for thirty-one years.
- She had wired seventy-seven thousand dollars to an account she believed belonged to James Whitfield.
- James Whitfield sent Gloria approximately two thousand messages over fourteen weeks.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098880Tue, 04 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Rose in the Frozen Birdbath: She Vanished Imagine the chilling discovery of a single, fresh red rose, stem-down in a frozen birdbath, on a morning when temperatures hadn't risen above twenty-two degrees in six days. This impossible detail was...
Imagine the chilling discovery of a single, fresh red rose, stem-down in a frozen birdbath, on a morning when temperatures hadn't risen above twenty-two degrees in six days. This impossible detail was the first clue in a baffling disappearance, hinting at a sinister plot hidden beneath the surface of an ordinary life. How could a woman vanish, leaving behind nearly everything, with such an inexplicable sign?

In this episode, we delve into the disappearance of Gloria Thorpe, a sixty-two-year-old widow from Hatchett County, North Carolina, who vanished after wiring seventy-seven thousand dollars to a man she believed she loved. We explore how a carefully constructed romantic scam infiltrated her life, culminating in a winter morning that made the invisible visible.

Person: Gloria Thorpe
Date: February 14, 2019
Location: Millford Creek Road, Hatchett County, North Carolina
Status: Missing
Case: Romantic scam

- Gloria Thorpe had been missing for eleven days when the rose was discovered.
- The temperature had not risen above twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit for six consecutive days.
- Gloria had lived in the same white frame house for thirty-one years.
- She had wired seventy-seven thousand dollars to an account she believed belonged to James Whitfield.
- James Whitfield sent Gloria approximately two thousand messages over fourteen weeks.

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.]]>1512falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-engineer-s-face-stolen-identity-stolen-life--73098876
Imagine finding a laptop abandoned by a river, its screen glowing with a chat window and a name that doesn't belong to anyone alive. This chilling discovery unravels a sophisticated romance scam that left a 24-year-old man financially ruined and emotionally shattered. How could a deception so precise go unnoticed for months?

In this episode, we explore the meticulous planning behind a stolen identity that led to a devastating loss. We uncover the quiet life of Leon Whitley, an accountant whose methodical nature was exploited by a patient scammer, and the surprising details that ultimately exposed the fraud.

Person: Leon Whitley
Age: 24
Location: Crestwood, Ohio
Occupation: Junior accountant
Temperature: 19 degrees Fahrenheit

- Leon Whitley sent every dollar he could find to a man who did not exist.
- The laptop stayed on for 41 minutes before being discovered by a runner.
- A photograph of a man in Aberdeen, Scotland, was used for five months to create the fake identity.
- Leon's coworker suggested he join a social platform in late August.
- The first money transfer was for $400, a sum designed not to alarm.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098876Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Engineer's Face: Stolen Identity, Stolen Life Imagine finding a laptop abandoned by a river, its screen glowing with a chat window and a name that doesn't belong to anyone alive. This chilling discovery unravels a sophisticated romance scam...
Imagine finding a laptop abandoned by a river, its screen glowing with a chat window and a name that doesn't belong to anyone alive. This chilling discovery unravels a sophisticated romance scam that left a 24-year-old man financially ruined and emotionally shattered. How could a deception so precise go unnoticed for months?

In this episode, we explore the meticulous planning behind a stolen identity that led to a devastating loss. We uncover the quiet life of Leon Whitley, an accountant whose methodical nature was exploited by a patient scammer, and the surprising details that ultimately exposed the fraud.

Person: Leon Whitley
Age: 24
Location: Crestwood, Ohio
Occupation: Junior accountant
Temperature: 19 degrees Fahrenheit

- Leon Whitley sent every dollar he could find to a man who did not exist.
- The laptop stayed on for 41 minutes before being discovered by a runner.
- A photograph of a man in Aberdeen, Scotland, was used for five months to create the fake identity.
- Leon's coworker suggested he join a social platform in late August.
- The first money transfer was for $400, a sum designed not to alarm.

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.]]>1437falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/hours-of-trust-the-teacher-who-taught-his-own-conman--73098874
Imagine spending 412 hours building trust with someone, only to discover it was a meticulously crafted deception. A gas technician's discovery of an unsealed envelope in Calvert, Ohio, would unravel a romance scam built on a teacher's genuine desire for connection. How did a language expert become the perfect target for a conman?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Carl Reynolds, an English teacher whose belief in the power of conversation was exploited by a scammer. We explore the subtle manipulations and psychological tactics used to extract over twenty thousand dollars from him, revealing the devastating impact of such a betrayal.

Person: Carl Reynolds
Location: Calvert, Ohio
Date: December 2019
Total Amount Scammed: $21,000
Profession: English as a Second Language Teacher

- Jerry Christensen found an unsealed envelope on Millbrook Lane, addressed in handwriting that didn't match the letter inside.
- Carl Reynolds, 48, had taught English for 22 years at Calvert Community College.
- The scammer, posing as Dean Marshall, an architect from Aberdeen, Scotland, requested tutoring in September 2018.
- The first money transfer of $3,000 occurred in February 2019, followed by $7,000 and $11,000.
- The scammer was operating from a studio apartment in Columbus, Ohio, having entered the US on a work visa in 2014.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098874Sun, 02 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaHours of Trust: The Teacher Who Taught His Own Conman Imagine spending 412 hours building trust with someone, only to discover it was a meticulously crafted deception. A gas technician's discovery of an unsealed envelope in Calvert, Ohio, would...
Imagine spending 412 hours building trust with someone, only to discover it was a meticulously crafted deception. A gas technician's discovery of an unsealed envelope in Calvert, Ohio, would unravel a romance scam built on a teacher's genuine desire for connection. How did a language expert become the perfect target for a conman?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Carl Reynolds, an English teacher whose belief in the power of conversation was exploited by a scammer. We explore the subtle manipulations and psychological tactics used to extract over twenty thousand dollars from him, revealing the devastating impact of such a betrayal.

Person: Carl Reynolds
Location: Calvert, Ohio
Date: December 2019
Total Amount Scammed: $21,000
Profession: English as a Second Language Teacher

- Jerry Christensen found an unsealed envelope on Millbrook Lane, addressed in handwriting that didn't match the letter inside.
- Carl Reynolds, 48, had taught English for 22 years at Calvert Community College.
- The scammer, posing as Dean Marshall, an architect from Aberdeen, Scotland, requested tutoring in September 2018.
- The first money transfer of $3,000 occurred in February 2019, followed by $7,000 and $11,000.
- The scammer was operating from a studio apartment in Columbus, Ohio, having entered the US on a work visa in 2014.

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.]]>1487falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-sealed-envelope-he-confessed-in-2-hours--73098871
A sealed envelope, smelling of lavender, was found addressed to a non-existent ZIP code, containing a letter from a woman to a soldier who didn't exist. This seemingly innocuous discovery became a crucial piece of evidence in a federal wire fraud case, but how did a careful, methodical accountant become entangled in such a sophisticated romantic scam?

In this episode, we delve into the life of Patricia Duncan, a 32-year-old accountant from Morrow, Indiana, whose meticulous nature and capacity for trust made her a target. We explore the subtle red flags she encountered and the broader scheme orchestrated by a man tracking multiple women across several states.

Person: Patricia Duncan
Age: 32
Location: Morrow, Indiana
Date: November 4th
Status: Victim of wire fraud

- Patricia Duncan lived alone at 114 Ashwood Lane with her 15-year-old tabby cat, Corbin, who required medication twice daily.
- She worked at the Morrow County Assessor's Office for six years and was known for color-coding her error logs.
- At 26, Patricia was diagnosed with PTSD after a car accident that killed a coworker.
- James Zimmerman, a 47-year-old veterans' affairs caseworker, tracked the "Dean Clark" profile across military-widow forums for eight months.
- The "Dean Clark" profile used a photograph of Craig Petty, a real Army sergeant, and engaged with at least eleven women across seven states.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098871Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Sealed Envelope: He Confessed in 2 Hours A sealed envelope, smelling of lavender, was found addressed to a non-existent ZIP code, containing a letter from a woman to a soldier who didn't exist. This seemingly innocuous discovery became a...
A sealed envelope, smelling of lavender, was found addressed to a non-existent ZIP code, containing a letter from a woman to a soldier who didn't exist. This seemingly innocuous discovery became a crucial piece of evidence in a federal wire fraud case, but how did a careful, methodical accountant become entangled in such a sophisticated romantic scam?

In this episode, we delve into the life of Patricia Duncan, a 32-year-old accountant from Morrow, Indiana, whose meticulous nature and capacity for trust made her a target. We explore the subtle red flags she encountered and the broader scheme orchestrated by a man tracking multiple women across several states.

Person: Patricia Duncan
Age: 32
Location: Morrow, Indiana
Date: November 4th
Status: Victim of wire fraud

- Patricia Duncan lived alone at 114 Ashwood Lane with her 15-year-old tabby cat, Corbin, who required medication twice daily.
- She worked at the Morrow County Assessor's Office for six years and was known for color-coding her error logs.
- At 26, Patricia was diagnosed with PTSD after a car accident that killed a coworker.
- James Zimmerman, a 47-year-old veterans' affairs caseworker, tracked the "Dean Clark" profile across military-widow forums for eight months.
- The "Dean Clark" profile used a photograph of Craig Petty, a real Army sergeant, and engaged with at least eleven women across seven states.

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.]]>1298falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/he-stole-her-life-not-just-her-money--73098867
Imagine finding a perfectly preserved photograph in a drainage ditch, face up, with a cryptic message on the back: "My Ruth. October. Always." This seemingly random discovery would become a crucial detail in a financial crimes investigation spanning four states and twelve years, revealing a meticulously planned romantic scam. How could a single photograph unlock such a complex web of deception?

In this episode, we delve into the life of Ruth Farrell, a provenance researcher with a gift for uncovering hidden histories, whose structured world was infiltrated by a man named Vernon Fleming. We explore the subtle shifts in her routine and the chilling discovery that the man she believed she was connecting with was not real, but a pre-recorded loop.

Person: Ruth Farrell
Date: October 14, 2019
Location: Aldermoor Regional Museum
Status: Financial crimes investigation
Period: 12 years

- A dog named Biscuit found an 8x10 inch, museum-quality framed photograph in a drainage ditch.
- The photograph was sealed in an archivist's plastic sleeve, with "My Ruth. October. Always." written on the back.
- Ruth Farrell, 52, had worked 22 years at the Aldermoor Regional Museum as a provenance researcher.
- Ruth inherited approximately $231,000, which she had barely touched.
- Digital forensics later revealed that Vernon Fleming's video calls to Ruth were a pre-recorded loop, not real-time conversations.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098867Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaHe Stole Her Life, Not Just Her Money Imagine finding a perfectly preserved photograph in a drainage ditch, face up, with a cryptic message on the back: "My Ruth. October. Always." This seemingly random discovery would become a crucial detail in a...
Imagine finding a perfectly preserved photograph in a drainage ditch, face up, with a cryptic message on the back: "My Ruth. October. Always." This seemingly random discovery would become a crucial detail in a financial crimes investigation spanning four states and twelve years, revealing a meticulously planned romantic scam. How could a single photograph unlock such a complex web of deception?

In this episode, we delve into the life of Ruth Farrell, a provenance researcher with a gift for uncovering hidden histories, whose structured world was infiltrated by a man named Vernon Fleming. We explore the subtle shifts in her routine and the chilling discovery that the man she believed she was connecting with was not real, but a pre-recorded loop.

Person: Ruth Farrell
Date: October 14, 2019
Location: Aldermoor Regional Museum
Status: Financial crimes investigation
Period: 12 years

- A dog named Biscuit found an 8x10 inch, museum-quality framed photograph in a drainage ditch.
- The photograph was sealed in an archivist's plastic sleeve, with "My Ruth. October. Always." written on the back.
- Ruth Farrell, 52, had worked 22 years at the Aldermoor Regional Museum as a provenance researcher.
- Ruth inherited approximately $231,000, which she had barely touched.
- Digital forensics later revealed that Vernon Fleming's video calls to Ruth were a pre-recorded loop, not real-time conversations.

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.]]>1519falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/she-finds-love-letters-tied-to-a-fish-hook-the-laura-hensley-case--73098864
Imagine finding 41 sealed envelopes, rubber-banded and tied to a fishing hook in a creek, with 12 addressed to a meticulous billing coordinator who grew heirloom tomatoes. This bizarre discovery was not the beginning of a story, but closer to its end, revealing a romance scam that targeted a woman described as "the most organized person" her friends knew. How did a seemingly clear-headed individual fall victim to such an elaborate deception?

In this episode, we delve into the Laura Hensley case, exploring the intricate details of a dating profile, a fabricated identity, and the carefully constructed emotional architecture that led to a conviction. We uncover the methods used to exploit trust and the devastating cost of the letters found in Cutter Creek.

Case: The Laura Hensley Case
Date: September 2022 (discovery), October 2023 (conviction)
Location: Cutter Creek, Alderton, Tennessee
Person: Laura Hensley, Connor Webb (alias), Emily Stevens (scammer), Janet Osborne (discoverer), Alan Pryor (photo victim)
Status: Conviction

- Janet Osborne found 41 sealed envelopes tied to a fishing hook on a trotline in Cutter Creek.
- Twelve of the envelopes were addressed to Laura Hensley, who lived three miles from the creek.
- Laura Hensley, a 46-year-old billing coordinator, was targeted by a dating profile for "Connor Webb."
- The profile used a photograph of Alan Pryor, a 63-year-old retired postal worker from Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Emily Stevens, 31, created the "Connor Webb" account and had been operating the scam for over four 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098864Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaShe Finds Love Letters Tied to a Fish Hook: The Laura Hensley Case Imagine finding 41 sealed envelopes, rubber-banded and tied to a fishing hook in a creek, with 12 addressed to a meticulous billing coordinator who grew heirloom tomatoes. This...
Imagine finding 41 sealed envelopes, rubber-banded and tied to a fishing hook in a creek, with 12 addressed to a meticulous billing coordinator who grew heirloom tomatoes. This bizarre discovery was not the beginning of a story, but closer to its end, revealing a romance scam that targeted a woman described as "the most organized person" her friends knew. How did a seemingly clear-headed individual fall victim to such an elaborate deception?

In this episode, we delve into the Laura Hensley case, exploring the intricate details of a dating profile, a fabricated identity, and the carefully constructed emotional architecture that led to a conviction. We uncover the methods used to exploit trust and the devastating cost of the letters found in Cutter Creek.

Case: The Laura Hensley Case
Date: September 2022 (discovery), October 2023 (conviction)
Location: Cutter Creek, Alderton, Tennessee
Person: Laura Hensley, Connor Webb (alias), Emily Stevens (scammer), Janet Osborne (discoverer), Alan Pryor (photo victim)
Status: Conviction

- Janet Osborne found 41 sealed envelopes tied to a fishing hook on a trotline in Cutter Creek.
- Twelve of the envelopes were addressed to Laura Hensley, who lived three miles from the creek.
- Laura Hensley, a 46-year-old billing coordinator, was targeted by a dating profile for "Connor Webb."
- The profile used a photograph of Alan Pryor, a 63-year-old retired postal worker from Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Emily Stevens, 31, created the "Connor Webb" account and had been operating the scam for over four years.

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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.]]>1246falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-buried-laptop-her-photo-his-other-victims--73098861
Imagine discovering your photograph buried in a field, forty miles from your home, beneath a laptop containing evidence of a sophisticated romantic scam. What secrets did investigators uncover that changed the entire scope of this story?

In this episode, we delve into the elaborate deception that ensnared Pamela Jensen, a meticulous food blogger from Marion, Ohio, who believed she was in love with an American food writer based in Rome. We explore how a carefully constructed online persona led her to wire $31,000 and plan a trip to Italy, only for her world to unravel with the discovery of a buried laptop.

Person: Pamela Jensen
Location: Marion, Ohio
Amount Wired: $31,000
Blog: Plain State Table
Followers: 14,000

- Pamela Jensen was 29 years old and lived in Marion, Ohio.
- She wired $31,000 to a man named Marco Pellegrini over three years.
- Her food blog, Plain State Table, had 14,000 followers.
- The scammer's profile included a licensed stock image and a fabricated award citation from 2015.
- The correspondence moved from email to a dedicated messaging app and weekly video calls over four months.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098861Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Buried Laptop: Her Photo, His Other Victims Imagine discovering your photograph buried in a field, forty miles from your home, beneath a laptop containing evidence of a sophisticated romantic scam. What secrets did investigators uncover that...
Imagine discovering your photograph buried in a field, forty miles from your home, beneath a laptop containing evidence of a sophisticated romantic scam. What secrets did investigators uncover that changed the entire scope of this story?

In this episode, we delve into the elaborate deception that ensnared Pamela Jensen, a meticulous food blogger from Marion, Ohio, who believed she was in love with an American food writer based in Rome. We explore how a carefully constructed online persona led her to wire $31,000 and plan a trip to Italy, only for her world to unravel with the discovery of a buried laptop.

Person: Pamela Jensen
Location: Marion, Ohio
Amount Wired: $31,000
Blog: Plain State Table
Followers: 14,000

- Pamela Jensen was 29 years old and lived in Marion, Ohio.
- She wired $31,000 to a man named Marco Pellegrini over three years.
- Her food blog, Plain State Table, had 14,000 followers.
- The scammer's profile included a licensed stock image and a fabricated award citation from 2015.
- The correspondence moved from email to a dedicated messaging app and weekly video calls over four months.

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.]]>1454falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-uniform-the-voice-and-the-16-500-lie--73098860
A meticulously folded Coast Guard uniform, sealed dry in a contractor bag despite a week of rain, was found beside a stranger's foundation. This discovery was no accident, but a deliberate act connected to a man who had worn it for just over four minutes and then vanished. What dark secret did this uniform conceal, and how did it lead to a devastating romantic scam?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Ryan Hensley, a precise and private technical writer who, after years of solitude, sought companionship on a dating app. His encounter with a man claiming to be a Coast Guard lieutenant commander, recently widowed, led to an eight-month-long deception that cost him thousands of dollars and exposed the vulnerability of seeking connection.

Person: Ryan Hensley
Date: July 9th
Location: Four Pelican Marsh Drive
Amount: $7,500
Profession: Technical writer

- A septic service technician found a Coast Guard dress uniform, pressed and folded, sealed in a contractor bag.
- The name tape on the uniform jacket read only "CARVER."
- Ryan Hensley, 54, a technical writer, sent $7,500 to someone he had never met in person.
- The scammer, Marcus Carver, sent 47 voice messages to Ryan before the year turned.
- The first $3,000 was wired to a routing number in South Carolina, listed as a "personal loan - military finance hold."

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098860Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Uniform, The Voice, and The $16,500 Lie A meticulously folded Coast Guard uniform, sealed dry in a contractor bag despite a week of rain, was found beside a stranger's foundation. This discovery was no accident, but a deliberate act connected...
A meticulously folded Coast Guard uniform, sealed dry in a contractor bag despite a week of rain, was found beside a stranger's foundation. This discovery was no accident, but a deliberate act connected to a man who had worn it for just over four minutes and then vanished. What dark secret did this uniform conceal, and how did it lead to a devastating romantic scam?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Ryan Hensley, a precise and private technical writer who, after years of solitude, sought companionship on a dating app. His encounter with a man claiming to be a Coast Guard lieutenant commander, recently widowed, led to an eight-month-long deception that cost him thousands of dollars and exposed the vulnerability of seeking connection.

Person: Ryan Hensley
Date: July 9th
Location: Four Pelican Marsh Drive
Amount: $7,500
Profession: Technical writer

- A septic service technician found a Coast Guard dress uniform, pressed and folded, sealed in a contractor bag.
- The name tape on the uniform jacket read only "CARVER."
- Ryan Hensley, 54, a technical writer, sent $7,500 to someone he had never met in person.
- The scammer, Marcus Carver, sent 47 voice messages to Ryan before the year turned.
- The first $3,000 was wired to a routing number in South Carolina, listed as a "personal loan - military finance hold."

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.]]>1439falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-dry-box-how-a-son-unmasked-marcus-veil--73098856
Imagine finding a perfectly dry, sealed laptop box on soaked ground behind a church, placed there after a storm. This strange discovery sparked a fraud investigation that uncovered a sophisticated scam targeting vulnerable individuals. What was inside that box, and how did it connect to a man named Marcus Veil?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Peggy Sawyer, a woman rebuilding her life after divorce, who found solace in an online support group called Renewal Circle. We explore how a seemingly genuine connection with "Marcus Veil" led her to invest her savings, and how her son, Gordon, used simple online tools to uncover a meticulously engineered deception that had run before.

Person: Thomas Foster
Location: Harlan Ridge Community Church, Breckett County
Date: Early June
Victim: Peggy Sawyer
Scammer: Marcus Veil (alias)

- Thomas Foster, a 61-year-old retired municipal water manager, found a dry, sealed laptop box on a wooden pallet behind a church.
- Peggy Sawyer, 50+, transferred six thousand dollars of her fourteen thousand dollars in savings to a digital wallet.
- Gordon Sawyer, 23, used a reverse image search to identify the man in "Marcus Veil's" profile photo as Scott Adler, a physical therapist in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- The digital wallet address Peggy used had been flagged eight months earlier in Greer County, 240 miles southwest of Harlan Ridge.
- Peggy's second divorce from Brett Orton was finalized in early 2019, after a four-year marriage.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098856Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Dry Box: How a Son Unmasked Marcus Veil Imagine finding a perfectly dry, sealed laptop box on soaked ground behind a church, placed there after a storm. This strange discovery sparked a fraud investigation that uncovered a sophisticated scam...
Imagine finding a perfectly dry, sealed laptop box on soaked ground behind a church, placed there after a storm. This strange discovery sparked a fraud investigation that uncovered a sophisticated scam targeting vulnerable individuals. What was inside that box, and how did it connect to a man named Marcus Veil?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Peggy Sawyer, a woman rebuilding her life after divorce, who found solace in an online support group called Renewal Circle. We explore how a seemingly genuine connection with "Marcus Veil" led her to invest her savings, and how her son, Gordon, used simple online tools to uncover a meticulously engineered deception that had run before.

Person: Thomas Foster
Location: Harlan Ridge Community Church, Breckett County
Date: Early June
Victim: Peggy Sawyer
Scammer: Marcus Veil (alias)

- Thomas Foster, a 61-year-old retired municipal water manager, found a dry, sealed laptop box on a wooden pallet behind a church.
- Peggy Sawyer, 50+, transferred six thousand dollars of her fourteen thousand dollars in savings to a digital wallet.
- Gordon Sawyer, 23, used a reverse image search to identify the man in "Marcus Veil's" profile photo as Scott Adler, a physical therapist in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- The digital wallet address Peggy used had been flagged eight months earlier in Greer County, 240 miles southwest of Harlan Ridge.
- Peggy's second divorce from Brett Orton was finalized in early 2019, after a four-year marriage.

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.]]>1331falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-violet-the-lie-she-believed-she-was-loved--73098855
Imagine receiving a heartfelt gift from a stranger, a vintage book with a pressed violet and a handwritten note, only to discover every detail was a calculated lie. This romantic scam drained a librarian of over $41,000, but the truth behind the deception was even more shocking than the con itself. How did a simple dried flower become a weapon in a sophisticated fraud?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Frances O'Brien, a meticulous librarian from Ohio who fell victim to an elaborate online romance scam. We explore how a con artist exploited her love for books and routine, meticulously crafting a false identity and a series of escalating financial demands that left Frances heartbroken and financially devastated.

Person: Frances O'Brien
Date: May 3, 2019
Location: Millhaven, Ohio
Amount Lost: $41,200
Item: 1960 Penguin paperback of Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog

- A brown kraft package arrived on May 3, 2019, containing a 1960 Penguin paperback of Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog.
- Between pages 42 and 43, a dried violet was pressed, and a handwritten card read: "Don't think about it. Just feel."
- Frances O'Brien, a 38-year-old reference librarian, transferred $41,200 by July 2019 to untraceable accounts.
- The violet was purchased at a craft supply store in Ohio, and the Edinburgh postmark was a novelty stamp.
- The scammer, "Denise Hunter," claimed to be a 51-year-old independent rare book dealer from Edinburgh.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098855Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Violet, The Lie: She Believed She Was Loved Imagine receiving a heartfelt gift from a stranger, a vintage book with a pressed violet and a handwritten note, only to discover every detail was a calculated lie. This romantic scam drained a...
Imagine receiving a heartfelt gift from a stranger, a vintage book with a pressed violet and a handwritten note, only to discover every detail was a calculated lie. This romantic scam drained a librarian of over $41,000, but the truth behind the deception was even more shocking than the con itself. How did a simple dried flower become a weapon in a sophisticated fraud?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Frances O'Brien, a meticulous librarian from Ohio who fell victim to an elaborate online romance scam. We explore how a con artist exploited her love for books and routine, meticulously crafting a false identity and a series of escalating financial demands that left Frances heartbroken and financially devastated.

Person: Frances O'Brien
Date: May 3, 2019
Location: Millhaven, Ohio
Amount Lost: $41,200
Item: 1960 Penguin paperback of Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog

- A brown kraft package arrived on May 3, 2019, containing a 1960 Penguin paperback of Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog.
- Between pages 42 and 43, a dried violet was pressed, and a handwritten card read: "Don't think about it. Just feel."
- Frances O'Brien, a 38-year-old reference librarian, transferred $41,200 by July 2019 to untraceable accounts.
- The violet was purchased at a craft supply store in Ohio, and the Edinburgh postmark was a novelty stamp.
- The scammer, "Denise Hunter," claimed to be a 51-year-old independent rare book dealer from Edinburgh.

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.]]>1400falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ghana-receipt-how-9-400-vanished-in-snow--73098854
Imagine discovering a thermal receipt for $9,400, destined for Accra, Ghana, half-buried in a Minnesota snowbank at dawn. This bizarre find was the first clue in an 18-month romantic scam that targeted a retired school librarian. How did a simple receipt lead investigators from a small town to a prepaid cell phone in Atlanta?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a federal wire fraud case involving a fictional missionary, a stolen photograph, and the quiet life of Megan A. Bennett in Harlan, Minnesota. We explore how a seemingly gentle online connection evolved into a sophisticated deception, leaving one woman believing every word for over a year.

Date: April 14, 2019
Location: Harlan, Minnesota
Person: Megan A. Bennett
Scammer: Marcus Elroy Stanton
Amount: $9,400

- A county road-grader operator found a thermal receipt for $9,400 in a snowbank on Route Nine.
- The receipt indicated a destination of Accra, Ghana, but no other personal items were found with it.
- Megan A. Bennett, a 62-year-old retired school librarian, was targeted in this scam.
- The scammer, Marcus Elroy Stanton, used a stolen photograph of Warren Gibbs, a structural engineer from Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Stanton operated from southwest Atlanta using a prepaid device and never left Georgia.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098854Sat, 25 Jul 2026 13:00:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Ghana Receipt: How $9,400 Vanished in Snow Imagine discovering a thermal receipt for $9,400, destined for Accra, Ghana, half-buried in a Minnesota snowbank at dawn. This bizarre find was the first clue in an 18-month romantic scam that targeted...
Imagine discovering a thermal receipt for $9,400, destined for Accra, Ghana, half-buried in a Minnesota snowbank at dawn. This bizarre find was the first clue in an 18-month romantic scam that targeted a retired school librarian. How did a simple receipt lead investigators from a small town to a prepaid cell phone in Atlanta?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a federal wire fraud case involving a fictional missionary, a stolen photograph, and the quiet life of Megan A. Bennett in Harlan, Minnesota. We explore how a seemingly gentle online connection evolved into a sophisticated deception, leaving one woman believing every word for over a year.

Date: April 14, 2019
Location: Harlan, Minnesota
Person: Megan A. Bennett
Scammer: Marcus Elroy Stanton
Amount: $9,400

- A county road-grader operator found a thermal receipt for $9,400 in a snowbank on Route Nine.
- The receipt indicated a destination of Accra, Ghana, but no other personal items were found with it.
- Megan A. Bennett, a 62-year-old retired school librarian, was targeted in this scam.
- The scammer, Marcus Elroy Stanton, used a stolen photograph of Warren Gibbs, a structural engineer from Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Stanton operated from southwest Atlanta using a prepaid device and never left Georgia.

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.]]>1439falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rabbit-hutch-he-knew-her-routine--73098852
Imagine the chilling realization that someone has been meticulously observing your life, down to the smallest details like the cold beads on your rabbit's water bottle. This is the terrifying reality of a romance scam, where every seemingly innocent detail is a calculated step in a predator's plan. How does a seemingly well-regarded real estate man become the architect of such a betrayal?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate deception that ensnared Gloria Callahan, a precise and warm woman who was anything but naive. We explore the subtle cues and calculated moves that allowed a scammer to build a false sense of intimacy, ultimately leading to a devastating financial loss.

Person: Gloria Callahan
Age: 26
Location: Harwick
Profession: Billing coordinator
Savings: $3,400

- Utility worker Holly Norris photographed a freshly tended cedar hutch at 7:15 AM on a Tuesday in late March.
- Gloria Callahan had a Holland Lop rabbit named Copperton and fed him at 6:45 AM and 5:30 PM daily.
- A coworker introduced Gloria to "Robert Long," a man who called her reliably at 8:15 AM.
- Gloria transferred $3,200 to the scammer after six weeks of calls.
- Investigators found a hardware store receipt dated February 22nd for rabbit hutch materials, linked to a loyalty card belonging to Brian Foss.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098852Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Rabbit Hutch: He Knew Her Routine Imagine the chilling realization that someone has been meticulously observing your life, down to the smallest details like the cold beads on your rabbit's water bottle. This is the terrifying reality of a...
Imagine the chilling realization that someone has been meticulously observing your life, down to the smallest details like the cold beads on your rabbit's water bottle. This is the terrifying reality of a romance scam, where every seemingly innocent detail is a calculated step in a predator's plan. How does a seemingly well-regarded real estate man become the architect of such a betrayal?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate deception that ensnared Gloria Callahan, a precise and warm woman who was anything but naive. We explore the subtle cues and calculated moves that allowed a scammer to build a false sense of intimacy, ultimately leading to a devastating financial loss.

Person: Gloria Callahan
Age: 26
Location: Harwick
Profession: Billing coordinator
Savings: $3,400

- Utility worker Holly Norris photographed a freshly tended cedar hutch at 7:15 AM on a Tuesday in late March.
- Gloria Callahan had a Holland Lop rabbit named Copperton and fed him at 6:45 AM and 5:30 PM daily.
- A coworker introduced Gloria to "Robert Long," a man who called her reliably at 8:15 AM.
- Gloria transferred $3,200 to the scammer after six weeks of calls.
- Investigators found a hardware store receipt dated February 22nd for rabbit hutch materials, linked to a loyalty card belonging to Brian Foss.

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.]]>1208falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-boarding-pass-that-unmasked-david-price--73098850
Imagine finding a pristine boarding pass for a flight three weeks away, addressed to a stranger, on your neighbor's porch. This seemingly innocuous discovery in February 2019 unraveled a sophisticated romantic scam that targeted thirteen women simultaneously. How did a simple boarding pass expose a system of calculated deception?

In this episode, we delve into the meticulous operation of "David Price," a persona crafted by Marcus Bellard, and how it ensnared Amanda Powell, a guidance counselor navigating a new chronic illness. We explore the subtle techniques that built trust and the precise timing that kept the elaborate fraud hidden.

Person: Troy Young, David Price, Amanda Powell, Marcus Bellard, Brenda Falk, Beth Caruso
Date: February 2019, Summer 2017, September 2017, November 2017, January 2018, Spring 2018
Location: Sycamore Terrace, São Paulo, Charlotte Douglas International, Atlanta Georgia, University City Charlotte North Carolina
Status: Unmasked, Divorced
Topic: Romantic scam, Autoimmune condition, Wellness app, Coaching platform

- Troy Young found a cream-colored gift box with a boarding pass on a neighbor's porch at 6:43 AM on a Tuesday in February 2019.
- The boarding pass listed a flight from São Paulo to Charlotte Douglas International, departing three weeks later, for passenger David Price.
- Amanda Powell, a 48-year-old guidance counselor, downloaded the NutriPath wellness app in September 2017 and was matched with "David Price" within 48 hours.
- "David Price" was a 44-year-old certified nutritionist and personal trainer based in Atlanta, Georgia, whose profile photo was a Brazilian fitness influencer with over 200,000 followers.
- Marcus Bellard, 41, operated the scam from a month-to-month rental in Charlotte, North Carolina, and kept a binder documenting the progress of women like Amanda Powell.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098850Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:00:13 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Boarding Pass That Unmasked David Price Imagine finding a pristine boarding pass for a flight three weeks away, addressed to a stranger, on your neighbor's porch. This seemingly innocuous discovery in February 2019 unraveled a sophisticated...
Imagine finding a pristine boarding pass for a flight three weeks away, addressed to a stranger, on your neighbor's porch. This seemingly innocuous discovery in February 2019 unraveled a sophisticated romantic scam that targeted thirteen women simultaneously. How did a simple boarding pass expose a system of calculated deception?

In this episode, we delve into the meticulous operation of "David Price," a persona crafted by Marcus Bellard, and how it ensnared Amanda Powell, a guidance counselor navigating a new chronic illness. We explore the subtle techniques that built trust and the precise timing that kept the elaborate fraud hidden.

Person: Troy Young, David Price, Amanda Powell, Marcus Bellard, Brenda Falk, Beth Caruso
Date: February 2019, Summer 2017, September 2017, November 2017, January 2018, Spring 2018
Location: Sycamore Terrace, São Paulo, Charlotte Douglas International, Atlanta Georgia, University City Charlotte North Carolina
Status: Unmasked, Divorced
Topic: Romantic scam, Autoimmune condition, Wellness app, Coaching platform

- Troy Young found a cream-colored gift box with a boarding pass on a neighbor's porch at 6:43 AM on a Tuesday in February 2019.
- The boarding pass listed a flight from São Paulo to Charlotte Douglas International, departing three weeks later, for passenger David Price.
- Amanda Powell, a 48-year-old guidance counselor, downloaded the NutriPath wellness app in September 2017 and was matched with "David Price" within 48 hours.
- "David Price" was a 44-year-old certified nutritionist and personal trainer based in Atlanta, Georgia, whose profile photo was a Brazilian fitness influencer with over 200,000 followers.
- Marcus Bellard, 41, operated the scam from a month-to-month rental in Charlotte, North Carolina, and kept a binder documenting the progress of women like Amanda Powell.

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.]]>1201falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-garden-was-tended-but-eric-vanished--73098848
Imagine a meticulously kept garden in mid-January, with tools laid out as if someone just stepped away, yet no one is there. What chilling discovery did a postal worker make that led investigators to a man who was alive but fundamentally changed?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Eric Cole, a man of precise habits and quiet trust, whose life was upended by a sophisticated fraud operation. We explore how a seemingly invisible scheme left a trail specific enough to lead to its collapse, starting with an untended garden and a curious cousin.

Person: Eric Cole
Age: 32
Location: Dellwood Flats
Inheritance: $240,000
Job: Parts coordinator

- Jessica Farrell found a cold-frame garden with a kneeling pad and clogs, but no one present.
- Mail had accumulated in Eric Cole's slot since January 7th.
- Eric Cole inherited $240,000 in three certificates of deposit after his father's death.
- He worked as a parts coordinator at a heavy equipment dealership in Briar Falls.
- Eric joined a social platform in early October, seeking a gardening group.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098848Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:00:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Garden Was Tended, But Eric Vanished Imagine a meticulously kept garden in mid-January, with tools laid out as if someone just stepped away, yet no one is there. What chilling discovery did a postal worker make that led investigators to a man...
Imagine a meticulously kept garden in mid-January, with tools laid out as if someone just stepped away, yet no one is there. What chilling discovery did a postal worker make that led investigators to a man who was alive but fundamentally changed?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Eric Cole, a man of precise habits and quiet trust, whose life was upended by a sophisticated fraud operation. We explore how a seemingly invisible scheme left a trail specific enough to lead to its collapse, starting with an untended garden and a curious cousin.

Person: Eric Cole
Age: 32
Location: Dellwood Flats
Inheritance: $240,000
Job: Parts coordinator

- Jessica Farrell found a cold-frame garden with a kneeling pad and clogs, but no one present.
- Mail had accumulated in Eric Cole's slot since January 7th.
- Eric Cole inherited $240,000 in three certificates of deposit after his father's death.
- He worked as a parts coordinator at a heavy equipment dealership in Briar Falls.
- Eric joined a social platform in early October, seeking a gardening group.

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.]]>1436falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-chess-set-was-in-the-wrong-house--73098774
Imagine discovering a detail in a familiar home that shatters everything you thought you knew about a loved one. When a neighbor found a hand-carved chess set in Wayne Fitzgerald's living room, she knew something was terribly wrong because Wayne didn't play chess. This seemingly small detail unraveled a silent, years-long romantic scam built on patience and exploiting love.

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a scheme that targeted Wayne Fitzgerald, a retired electrician, and at least five other individuals simultaneously. Learn how a sophisticated scammer used stolen identities and carefully gathered personal information to manipulate victims, turning their deepest affections into tools for financial gain.

Person: Wayne Fitzgerald
Age: 52
Location: Morrow Falls, Vance County
Platform: Board and Company
Scammer Persona: Robert Ford

- A neighbor discovered a hand-carved walnut and maple chess set in Wayne Fitzgerald's house in December 2019.
- Wayne Fitzgerald, a retired electrician, had lived at four Creekside Terrace since his early thirties.
- He rebuilt a relationship with his 26-year-old daughter, Melissa, who lived three hours east.
- Wayne drove 14 miles every Wednesday for eight years to visit his brother Dennis, who had multiple sclerosis.
- The scammer, using a stolen photo of Patrick Norris, contacted Wayne on Board and Company, a chess-themed platform, and began asking about his brother Dennis.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098774Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:29:14 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Chess Set Was in the Wrong House Imagine discovering a detail in a familiar home that shatters everything you thought you knew about a loved one. When a neighbor found a hand-carved chess set in Wayne Fitzgerald's living room, she knew...
Imagine discovering a detail in a familiar home that shatters everything you thought you knew about a loved one. When a neighbor found a hand-carved chess set in Wayne Fitzgerald's living room, she knew something was terribly wrong because Wayne didn't play chess. This seemingly small detail unraveled a silent, years-long romantic scam built on patience and exploiting love.

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a scheme that targeted Wayne Fitzgerald, a retired electrician, and at least five other individuals simultaneously. Learn how a sophisticated scammer used stolen identities and carefully gathered personal information to manipulate victims, turning their deepest affections into tools for financial gain.

Person: Wayne Fitzgerald
Age: 52
Location: Morrow Falls, Vance County
Platform: Board and Company
Scammer Persona: Robert Ford

- A neighbor discovered a hand-carved walnut and maple chess set in Wayne Fitzgerald's house in December 2019.
- Wayne Fitzgerald, a retired electrician, had lived at four Creekside Terrace since his early thirties.
- He rebuilt a relationship with his 26-year-old daughter, Melissa, who lived three hours east.
- Wayne drove 14 miles every Wednesday for eight years to visit his brother Dennis, who had multiple sclerosis.
- The scammer, using a stolen photo of Patrick Norris, contacted Wayne on Board and Company, a chess-themed platform, and began asking about his brother Dennis.

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.]]>1310falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-dry-laptop-her-cancer-survival-his-perfect-lie--73098727
Imagine finding a perfectly dry laptop in a soaked forest, 40 yards from any path, with no tracks leading to it. This bizarre discovery leads to a woman who survived cancer, only to fall victim to a sophisticated romantic scam. How did a seemingly impossible find unravel a meticulously crafted deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Cheryl Vogel, a cancer survivor whose life took an unexpected turn after joining an online support group. We explore the intricate details of a long-running romantic fraud that preyed on vulnerable individuals, and the surprising way it came to light.

Date of discovery: November 8, 2022
Item found: Rose-gold laptop owner: Cheryl Vogel
Scammer's alias: Howard Mitchell
Scammer's real name: Paul Hendricks

- A rescue beagle mix led Kathleen Wells 40 yards off the main path to the laptop.
- The laptop was found completely dry despite heavy rain 72 hours prior.
- Cheryl Vogel underwent a double mastectomy and eight rounds of chemotherapy for breast cancer.
- The scammer, "Howard Mitchell," was a persona created 18 months before Cheryl joined the group.
- Cheryl wired $22,000 to "Howard" after his first request for financial help.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098727Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:29:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Dry Laptop: Her Cancer Survival, His Perfect Lie Imagine finding a perfectly dry laptop in a soaked forest, 40 yards from any path, with no tracks leading to it. This bizarre discovery leads to a woman who survived cancer, only to fall victim...
Imagine finding a perfectly dry laptop in a soaked forest, 40 yards from any path, with no tracks leading to it. This bizarre discovery leads to a woman who survived cancer, only to fall victim to a sophisticated romantic scam. How did a seemingly impossible find unravel a meticulously crafted deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Cheryl Vogel, a cancer survivor whose life took an unexpected turn after joining an online support group. We explore the intricate details of a long-running romantic fraud that preyed on vulnerable individuals, and the surprising way it came to light.

Date of discovery: November 8, 2022
Item found: Rose-gold laptop owner: Cheryl Vogel
Scammer's alias: Howard Mitchell
Scammer's real name: Paul Hendricks

- A rescue beagle mix led Kathleen Wells 40 yards off the main path to the laptop.
- The laptop was found completely dry despite heavy rain 72 hours prior.
- Cheryl Vogel underwent a double mastectomy and eight rounds of chemotherapy for breast cancer.
- The scammer, "Howard Mitchell," was a persona created 18 months before Cheryl joined the group.
- Cheryl wired $22,000 to "Howard" after his first request for financial help.

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.]]>1420falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-nairobi-letters-he-believed-every-word--73098718
Imagine finding thirty letters from Nairobi and Kampala, alongside a cargo receipt for 430 kilograms of medical equipment, discarded in a Tennessee slough. This bizarre discovery unveiled a two-year romantic scam that preyed on one man's belief in the authenticity of a handwritten letter. How did a simple pen pal service lead to such an elaborate deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Kent Vogel, a careful and lonely records coordinator from Shelbyville, Tennessee, who sought connection through a pen pal service. We explore how a series of meticulously crafted letters from "Stanley Nelson" built a relationship that felt real, eventually leading to requests for help with medical equipment logistics.

Person: Kent Vogel
Location: Shelbyville, Tennessee
Duration: 14 months
Amount: $9,040
Items: 30 letters, 430 kg medical equipment

- Duane Casey found approximately thirty envelopes and a cargo receipt in Carver Slough.
- The postmarks on the letters included Nairobi, Kampala, and Accra.
- The cargo receipt was for 430 kilograms of medical equipment.
- Kent Vogel was 28 years old and worked as a records coordinator in an insurance office.
- Kent sent $9,040 over 14 months in a series of transfers.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098718Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:28:50 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Nairobi Letters: He Believed Every Word Imagine finding thirty letters from Nairobi and Kampala, alongside a cargo receipt for 430 kilograms of medical equipment, discarded in a Tennessee slough. This bizarre discovery unveiled a two-year...
Imagine finding thirty letters from Nairobi and Kampala, alongside a cargo receipt for 430 kilograms of medical equipment, discarded in a Tennessee slough. This bizarre discovery unveiled a two-year romantic scam that preyed on one man's belief in the authenticity of a handwritten letter. How did a simple pen pal service lead to such an elaborate deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Kent Vogel, a careful and lonely records coordinator from Shelbyville, Tennessee, who sought connection through a pen pal service. We explore how a series of meticulously crafted letters from "Stanley Nelson" built a relationship that felt real, eventually leading to requests for help with medical equipment logistics.

Person: Kent Vogel
Location: Shelbyville, Tennessee
Duration: 14 months
Amount: $9,040
Items: 30 letters, 430 kg medical equipment

- Duane Casey found approximately thirty envelopes and a cargo receipt in Carver Slough.
- The postmarks on the letters included Nairobi, Kampala, and Accra.
- The cargo receipt was for 430 kilograms of medical equipment.
- Kent Vogel was 28 years old and worked as a records coordinator in an insurance office.
- Kent sent $9,040 over 14 months in a series of transfers.

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.]]>1370falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-oak-stump-she-left-everything-for-a-ghost--73098709
Imagine finding a sealed prepaid Visa card and 43 pages of text messages in a rotting oak stump, left for a man who never existed. This romantic scam unravels the meticulously crafted deception that led a retired teacher to give everything for a ghost. How could someone so grounded fall for such an elaborate lie?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Linda Young, a 56-year-old retired teacher whose quiet life was upended by a sophisticated online romance scam. We explore the detailed methods used to create a believable, yet entirely fabricated, persona and the emotional manipulation that led Linda to make profound sacrifices.

Person: Linda Young
Age: 56
Occupation: Retired fifth-grade teacher
Date: Early September 2019
Location: Fenner Creek Road

- A topographer found a canvas pouch 18 inches from a property line.
- The pouch contained 43 pages of printed text messages, a handwritten letter, and a sealed Visa prepaid card.
- A Post-it note on the card read: "for whatever he needs next."
- Linda Young had taught for 27 years at Fenner Creek Elementary School.
- The first financial request was for $900 in August 2018, which was repaid in three weeks.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098709Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:28:38 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Oak Stump: She Left Everything For a Ghost Imagine finding a sealed prepaid Visa card and 43 pages of text messages in a rotting oak stump, left for a man who never existed. This romantic scam unravels the meticulously crafted deception that...
Imagine finding a sealed prepaid Visa card and 43 pages of text messages in a rotting oak stump, left for a man who never existed. This romantic scam unravels the meticulously crafted deception that led a retired teacher to give everything for a ghost. How could someone so grounded fall for such an elaborate lie?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Linda Young, a 56-year-old retired teacher whose quiet life was upended by a sophisticated online romance scam. We explore the detailed methods used to create a believable, yet entirely fabricated, persona and the emotional manipulation that led Linda to make profound sacrifices.

Person: Linda Young
Age: 56
Occupation: Retired fifth-grade teacher
Date: Early September 2019
Location: Fenner Creek Road

- A topographer found a canvas pouch 18 inches from a property line.
- The pouch contained 43 pages of printed text messages, a handwritten letter, and a sealed Visa prepaid card.
- A Post-it note on the card read: "for whatever he needs next."
- Linda Young had taught for 27 years at Fenner Creek Elementary School.
- The first financial request was for $900 in August 2018, which was repaid in three weeks.

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.]]>1371falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-man-who-never-existed-a-corkboard-of-lies--73098700
Imagine discovering a corkboard covered with 40 photos, all showing the same smile, but with different hands, jaws, and surgical scars. This chilling discovery revealed that the man in the photos never existed, and the woman who loved him lost over $6,000 trying to keep him safe. How did this elaborate romantic scam unfold?

In this episode, we uncover the meticulous construction of a fake identity and the devastating impact it had on a trusting woman. From a casual social media comment to daily messages and financial requests, explore the subtle tactics used to build a relationship based entirely on lies.

Person: Dawn Mitchell, Erin Novak, Charles Lewis, Trevor Aiken
Location: Tulloch County, Beaumont (Texas), Pensacola (Florida)
Amount Lost: $6,000
Item Discovered: Corkboard with 43 photographs
Profession of Victim: Intake coordinator at a physical therapy clinic

- The corkboard was found propped against a utility room wall, behind a water heater.
- Dawn Mitchell was 22 years old and had lived on Garfield Road for 14 months when the corkboard was discovered.
- The first financial request was for $412 for a truck belt repair.
- The largest single amount sent was $1,800 after a subcontractor liability claim.
- 31 of the 43 photographs on the corkboard were of Trevor Aiken's face.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098700Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:28:26 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Man Who Never Existed: A Corkboard of Lies Imagine discovering a corkboard covered with 40 photos, all showing the same smile, but with different hands, jaws, and surgical scars. This chilling discovery revealed that the man in the photos never...
Imagine discovering a corkboard covered with 40 photos, all showing the same smile, but with different hands, jaws, and surgical scars. This chilling discovery revealed that the man in the photos never existed, and the woman who loved him lost over $6,000 trying to keep him safe. How did this elaborate romantic scam unfold?

In this episode, we uncover the meticulous construction of a fake identity and the devastating impact it had on a trusting woman. From a casual social media comment to daily messages and financial requests, explore the subtle tactics used to build a relationship based entirely on lies.

Person: Dawn Mitchell, Erin Novak, Charles Lewis, Trevor Aiken
Location: Tulloch County, Beaumont (Texas), Pensacola (Florida)
Amount Lost: $6,000
Item Discovered: Corkboard with 43 photographs
Profession of Victim: Intake coordinator at a physical therapy clinic

- The corkboard was found propped against a utility room wall, behind a water heater.
- Dawn Mitchell was 22 years old and had lived on Garfield Road for 14 months when the corkboard was discovered.
- The first financial request was for $412 for a truck belt repair.
- The largest single amount sent was $1,800 after a subcontractor liability claim.
- 31 of the 43 photographs on the corkboard were of Trevor Aiken's face.

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.]]>1359falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-birdhouse-the-watch-and-the-man-who-never-arrived--73098691
Imagine finding a man's wristwatch, engraved with a cryptic message, wedged into a tree beside a birdhouse. This wasn't a lost item, but a deliberate placement, marking the chilling distance between a grieving woman and the man who never arrived. How could someone meticulously orchestrate a romance scam, leaving behind such precise clues?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Heather O'Connor, a widow in Moorfield, Indiana, who found solace in an online grief support group, only to become entangled in a sophisticated romantic fraud. We explore the subtle tactics used to exploit her vulnerability and the surprising details that ultimately unraveled the deception.

Person: Earl Wilson, Heather O'Connor, Patrick O'Connor, Steven Sanders, Lori Adams, Paula Seng
Date: July 9, 2019 (watch found), March 2017 (Patrick's death), September 2017 (Heather joins forum), October 2017 (Steven Sanders appears)
Location: Tanner Road, Moorfield Indiana, Aldrich Street, Carmel Indiana
Object: Casio diver watch, small wooden birdhouse
Amount: Sixty-two thousand dollars

- A retired water-authority worker found a Casio diver watch engraved "To H., every minute matters. - S."
- The birdhouse was installed by Heather following text instructions from Steven Sanders.
- Steven Sanders met Heather once for twenty minutes in a diner parking lot.
- Heather O'Connor was 38 years old and worked as an intake coordinator at a physical therapy clinic.
- Her beagle, Copley, was 13 years old and had failing kidneys, requiring daily subcutaneous fluids.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098691Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:28:14 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Birdhouse, The Watch, And The Man Who Never Arrived Imagine finding a man's wristwatch, engraved with a cryptic message, wedged into a tree beside a birdhouse. This wasn't a lost item, but a deliberate placement, marking the chilling distance...
Imagine finding a man's wristwatch, engraved with a cryptic message, wedged into a tree beside a birdhouse. This wasn't a lost item, but a deliberate placement, marking the chilling distance between a grieving woman and the man who never arrived. How could someone meticulously orchestrate a romance scam, leaving behind such precise clues?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Heather O'Connor, a widow in Moorfield, Indiana, who found solace in an online grief support group, only to become entangled in a sophisticated romantic fraud. We explore the subtle tactics used to exploit her vulnerability and the surprising details that ultimately unraveled the deception.

Person: Earl Wilson, Heather O'Connor, Patrick O'Connor, Steven Sanders, Lori Adams, Paula Seng
Date: July 9, 2019 (watch found), March 2017 (Patrick's death), September 2017 (Heather joins forum), October 2017 (Steven Sanders appears)
Location: Tanner Road, Moorfield Indiana, Aldrich Street, Carmel Indiana
Object: Casio diver watch, small wooden birdhouse
Amount: Sixty-two thousand dollars

- A retired water-authority worker found a Casio diver watch engraved "To H., every minute matters. - S."
- The birdhouse was installed by Heather following text instructions from Steven Sanders.
- Steven Sanders met Heather once for twenty minutes in a diner parking lot.
- Heather O'Connor was 38 years old and worked as an intake coordinator at a physical therapy clinic.
- Her beagle, Copley, was 13 years old and had failing kidneys, requiring daily subcutaneous fluids.

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.]]>1455falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-wedding-photo-that-never-was--73098679
Imagine discovering a wedding photo on your porch, only to realize the smiling couple in it are complete strangers, and one of them is supposedly you, married to a person who doesn't exist. This chilling scenario is at the heart of a romance scam that unraveled two years of meticulously crafted deception, costing one man his savings and his future. How did a simple photograph expose a scheme that had already consumed $63,000 and ensnared 22 victims?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Curtis Richardson, a 61-year-old landscaping contractor from Gallen, Ohio, who fell victim to a sophisticated online romance scam. We explore how a seemingly innocent connection on a vintage truck forum led to a fabricated relationship, a proposal, and significant financial loss, all built on a foundation of lies and stolen identities.

Person: Curtis Richardson
Date: June 11, 2019
Location: Dellwood Circle, Gallen, Ohio
Status: Scam exposed
Amount: $63,000

- A 15-year-old paperboy discovered a silver-framed wedding photograph on the porch of a man who had never been married.
- The scam involved 22 victims and cost Curtis Richardson $63,000 over two years.
- Curtis Richardson, a 61-year-old landscaping contractor, lived in the same house for 22 years.
- The scammer, "Alan Campbell," used a LinkedIn photo of Patrick Devereaux, a civil engineer from Atlanta, Georgia.
- The image of "Alan's" late wife in the wedding photo was a stock image used in at least 40 fraud profiles.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098679Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:28:03 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Wedding Photo That Never Was Imagine discovering a wedding photo on your porch, only to realize the smiling couple in it are complete strangers, and one of them is supposedly you, married to a person who doesn't exist. This chilling scenario is...
Imagine discovering a wedding photo on your porch, only to realize the smiling couple in it are complete strangers, and one of them is supposedly you, married to a person who doesn't exist. This chilling scenario is at the heart of a romance scam that unraveled two years of meticulously crafted deception, costing one man his savings and his future. How did a simple photograph expose a scheme that had already consumed $63,000 and ensnared 22 victims?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Curtis Richardson, a 61-year-old landscaping contractor from Gallen, Ohio, who fell victim to a sophisticated online romance scam. We explore how a seemingly innocent connection on a vintage truck forum led to a fabricated relationship, a proposal, and significant financial loss, all built on a foundation of lies and stolen identities.

Person: Curtis Richardson
Date: June 11, 2019
Location: Dellwood Circle, Gallen, Ohio
Status: Scam exposed
Amount: $63,000

- A 15-year-old paperboy discovered a silver-framed wedding photograph on the porch of a man who had never been married.
- The scam involved 22 victims and cost Curtis Richardson $63,000 over two years.
- Curtis Richardson, a 61-year-old landscaping contractor, lived in the same house for 22 years.
- The scammer, "Alan Campbell," used a LinkedIn photo of Patrick Devereaux, a civil engineer from Atlanta, Georgia.
- The image of "Alan's" late wife in the wedding photo was a stock image used in at least 40 fraud profiles.

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.]]>1463falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-glasses-case-buried-a-year-too-long--73098670
A road grader operator found a pristine, monogrammed glasses case buried in red clay, nearly a year after its owner, Robert Allen Whitmore, was declared dead from congestive heart failure. How could an unscratched item survive a Tennessee winter underground, and what did its discovery reveal about a case already closed?

In this episode, we explore the precise and patient unfolding of a story that begins not with a body, but with trust, and ends with a jury's swift decision. We delve into how a life can be completely redirected and how long that redirection can go undetected when manipulation is expertly applied.

Person: Robert Allen Whitmore
Location: Corrigan Bluff, eastern Tennessee
Date: May 14, 2019 (discovery of glasses case)
Age: 77 (in spring 2017)
Original Death Cause: Congestive heart failure

- Troy Dixon, a road grader operator, discovered the glasses case on Hatchett Mill Road.
- The glasses case was monogrammed with "R.A.W." and was unscratched with clean lenses.
- Robert Allen Whitmore had been dead for nearly a year when the case was found.
- His granddaughter, Holly Hunter, was 26 in spring 2017 and visited him weekly.
- A woman named Kathleen Patterson, who was not a real employee, arrived at Robert's home in March 2017.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098670Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:27:50 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Glasses Case Buried a Year Too Long A road grader operator found a pristine, monogrammed glasses case buried in red clay, nearly a year after its owner, Robert Allen Whitmore, was declared dead from congestive heart failure. How could an...
A road grader operator found a pristine, monogrammed glasses case buried in red clay, nearly a year after its owner, Robert Allen Whitmore, was declared dead from congestive heart failure. How could an unscratched item survive a Tennessee winter underground, and what did its discovery reveal about a case already closed?

In this episode, we explore the precise and patient unfolding of a story that begins not with a body, but with trust, and ends with a jury's swift decision. We delve into how a life can be completely redirected and how long that redirection can go undetected when manipulation is expertly applied.

Person: Robert Allen Whitmore
Location: Corrigan Bluff, eastern Tennessee
Date: May 14, 2019 (discovery of glasses case)
Age: 77 (in spring 2017)
Original Death Cause: Congestive heart failure

- Troy Dixon, a road grader operator, discovered the glasses case on Hatchett Mill Road.
- The glasses case was monogrammed with "R.A.W." and was unscratched with clean lenses.
- Robert Allen Whitmore had been dead for nearly a year when the case was found.
- His granddaughter, Holly Hunter, was 26 in spring 2017 and visited him weekly.
- A woman named Kathleen Patterson, who was not a real employee, arrived at Robert's home in March 2017.

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.]]>1409falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-twenty-faces-that-stole-her-love-and-money--73098658
Imagine discovering a hidden workspace with twenty identical photos of a man, a laptop still lit, and a legal pad. This was the scene a lineman stumbled upon, unknowingly uncovering the remnants of a romance fraud operation. What chilling secrets did this abandoned setup hold about the woman it targeted?

In this episode, we delve into the meticulous deception behind a romance fraud that ensnared Erin Campbell, a 48-year-old billing coordinator from Dellwood, Tennessee. We explore how a manufactured identity, built on stolen photos and a carefully crafted narrative, led her to send thousands of dollars to a man she never truly met.

Person: Erin Campbell
Location: Dellwood, Tennessee
Date: April 2019
Investigator: Gary Wagner
Fraudster: Devon Achebe

- Erin Campbell, a 48-year-old billing coordinator, was divorced for twelve years.
- She sent $11,200 to a man she never physically met.
- The fraud operation was run for 14 months by Devon Achebe, 31, from Atlanta.
- The face in the photographs belonged to Tim Ostrowski, a structural engineer from Columbus, Ohio, whose headshots were publicly available.
- A cold case from Arizona in 2017 involved Sandra Kwan losing $23,000 to a similar fraud using Ostrowski's photos.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098658Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:27:38 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Twenty Faces That Stole Her Love and Money Imagine discovering a hidden workspace with twenty identical photos of a man, a laptop still lit, and a legal pad. This was the scene a lineman stumbled upon, unknowingly uncovering the remnants of a...
Imagine discovering a hidden workspace with twenty identical photos of a man, a laptop still lit, and a legal pad. This was the scene a lineman stumbled upon, unknowingly uncovering the remnants of a romance fraud operation. What chilling secrets did this abandoned setup hold about the woman it targeted?

In this episode, we delve into the meticulous deception behind a romance fraud that ensnared Erin Campbell, a 48-year-old billing coordinator from Dellwood, Tennessee. We explore how a manufactured identity, built on stolen photos and a carefully crafted narrative, led her to send thousands of dollars to a man she never truly met.

Person: Erin Campbell
Location: Dellwood, Tennessee
Date: April 2019
Investigator: Gary Wagner
Fraudster: Devon Achebe

- Erin Campbell, a 48-year-old billing coordinator, was divorced for twelve years.
- She sent $11,200 to a man she never physically met.
- The fraud operation was run for 14 months by Devon Achebe, 31, from Atlanta.
- The face in the photographs belonged to Tim Ostrowski, a structural engineer from Columbus, Ohio, whose headshots were publicly available.
- A cold case from Arizona in 2017 involved Sandra Kwan losing $23,000 to a similar fraud using Ostrowski's photos.

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.]]>1350falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-bridal-veil-on-the-bench-he-used-a-template--73098647
Imagine finding a cathedral-length bridal veil, perfectly dry, on a frozen bench at dawn. This bizarre discovery on March 4, 2022, was the first thread in unraveling a sophisticated romantic scam that had been running for months, and even years. How could a single piece of fabric expose such a meticulously constructed deception?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Monica Henderson, a 32-year-old billing coordinator from Dunmore, Ohio, who believed she had found something real. We explore how a man built an elaborate infrastructure of trust within a grieving congregation, using pre-written message templates to ensnare multiple women, and the precise details that ultimately brought his scheme to light.

Person: Monica Henderson
Date: March 4, 2022
Location: Hargrove Reservoir, Dunmore, Ohio
Item: Cathedral-length bridal veil
Temperature: 31 degrees Fahrenheit

- A jogger, Douglas Cole, found the dry bridal veil on a bench at the quarter-mile marker of Hargrove Reservoir.
- Forensic examiner Paul Strang discovered six draft message templates on a prepaid phone, four of which matched conversations with women from Ridgecrest Community Church.
- Donald Draper, the scammer, used the LinkedIn profile photo of a civil engineer named Thomas Garrett from Portland, Oregon.
- Monica Henderson, a methodical billing coordinator, never sent any money and found out about the scam in time.
- The scammer, who called himself Donald Draper, had circulated a fake email from a "Pastor Elaine Sturgis" from Dayton to vouch for him.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098647Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:27:26 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Bridal Veil on the Bench: He Used a Template Imagine finding a cathedral-length bridal veil, perfectly dry, on a frozen bench at dawn. This bizarre discovery on March 4, 2022, was the first thread in unraveling a sophisticated romantic scam...
Imagine finding a cathedral-length bridal veil, perfectly dry, on a frozen bench at dawn. This bizarre discovery on March 4, 2022, was the first thread in unraveling a sophisticated romantic scam that had been running for months, and even years. How could a single piece of fabric expose such a meticulously constructed deception?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Monica Henderson, a 32-year-old billing coordinator from Dunmore, Ohio, who believed she had found something real. We explore how a man built an elaborate infrastructure of trust within a grieving congregation, using pre-written message templates to ensnare multiple women, and the precise details that ultimately brought his scheme to light.

Person: Monica Henderson
Date: March 4, 2022
Location: Hargrove Reservoir, Dunmore, Ohio
Item: Cathedral-length bridal veil
Temperature: 31 degrees Fahrenheit

- A jogger, Douglas Cole, found the dry bridal veil on a bench at the quarter-mile marker of Hargrove Reservoir.
- Forensic examiner Paul Strang discovered six draft message templates on a prepaid phone, four of which matched conversations with women from Ridgecrest Community Church.
- Donald Draper, the scammer, used the LinkedIn profile photo of a civil engineer named Thomas Garrett from Portland, Oregon.
- Monica Henderson, a methodical billing coordinator, never sent any money and found out about the scam in time.
- The scammer, who called himself Donald Draper, had circulated a fake email from a "Pastor Elaine Sturgis" from Dayton to vouch for him.

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.]]>1235falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-captain-s-medals-a-wife-s-final-betrayal--73098636
Imagine finding a frost-stiffened Army dress uniform jacket on a gas meter pipe, only to discover it belongs to a retired captain who has never been to your town. This bizarre discovery in Harlan Falls, Ohio, marked the beginning of a complex romantic scam involving a meticulously constructed identity. What led a 53-year-old woman to hang this uniform and then vanish?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Pamela Wright, a woman who, after the sudden death of her husband, found herself entangled in a sophisticated deception. We explore the quiet, deliberate construction of a persona that led her to believe in a man who didn't exist, and the financial transactions that followed.

Person: Pamela Wright
Location: Harlan Falls, Ohio
Date: February 2022
Status: Missing by choice

- A utility meter reader discovered an Army dress uniform jacket on a gas meter pipe at 14 Crescent Mill Road.
- The jacket belonged to Marcus Calloway, a retired Army captain living in Fayetteville, North Carolina, who had never been to Harlan Falls.
- Pamela Wright, 53, had been a billing compliance coordinator for 21 years at a regional insurance firm.
- She met "Captain Marcus Calloway" on Abiding Hearts, a faith-based dating site for older adults, in the fall of 2021.
- In December 2021, Pamela sent $4,200 for "Army travel documents" based on a detailed fee schedule.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098636Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:27:15 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Captain's Medals: A Wife's Final Betrayal Imagine finding a frost-stiffened Army dress uniform jacket on a gas meter pipe, only to discover it belongs to a retired captain who has never been to your town. This bizarre discovery in Harlan Falls,...
Imagine finding a frost-stiffened Army dress uniform jacket on a gas meter pipe, only to discover it belongs to a retired captain who has never been to your town. This bizarre discovery in Harlan Falls, Ohio, marked the beginning of a complex romantic scam involving a meticulously constructed identity. What led a 53-year-old woman to hang this uniform and then vanish?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Pamela Wright, a woman who, after the sudden death of her husband, found herself entangled in a sophisticated deception. We explore the quiet, deliberate construction of a persona that led her to believe in a man who didn't exist, and the financial transactions that followed.

Person: Pamela Wright
Location: Harlan Falls, Ohio
Date: February 2022
Status: Missing by choice

- A utility meter reader discovered an Army dress uniform jacket on a gas meter pipe at 14 Crescent Mill Road.
- The jacket belonged to Marcus Calloway, a retired Army captain living in Fayetteville, North Carolina, who had never been to Harlan Falls.
- Pamela Wright, 53, had been a billing compliance coordinator for 21 years at a regional insurance firm.
- She met "Captain Marcus Calloway" on Abiding Hearts, a faith-based dating site for older adults, in the fall of 2021.
- In December 2021, Pamela sent $4,200 for "Army travel documents" based on a detailed fee schedule.

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.]]>1358falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-offshore-rig-photo-he-knew-your-payday--73098625
Imagine losing seven years of meticulous savings in just four months, not to a market crash or medical emergency, but to a sophisticated romantic scammer who knew your exact pay schedule before ever saying hello. How could a man so careful, who tracked lunch costs and paid off his house early, fall victim to such a deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Jeffrey Reynolds, a 44-year-old floor supervisor from Calvary Creek, Ohio, who lost his entire savings to a man he believed was a petroleum engineer named Gregory Sharp. We explore the calculated patience of the scammer, the subtle signs noticed by those around Jeffrey, and the chilling discovery of a photograph meant to prove a lie.

Person: Jeffrey Reynolds
Location: Calvary Creek, Ohio
Date: September 2018 - January 2019
Amount Lost: $114,000
Scammer's Alias: Gregory Sharp

- Jeffrey Reynolds, a floor supervisor, spent seven years building his savings account.
- He lost $114,000 in eleven wire transfers over four months, from October 2018 to January 2019.
- The transfers consistently occurred within 2-4 hours of Jeffrey's direct deposit clearing.
- A photograph meant to prove the scammer's identity was found in a non-public storage room at Calvary Creek Fellowship.
- The image in the photograph was a cropped and edited photo of Scott Weller, a petroleum engineer from Scotland, placed against a Louisiana training facility background.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098625Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:27:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Offshore Rig Photo: He Knew Your Payday Imagine losing seven years of meticulous savings in just four months, not to a market crash or medical emergency, but to a sophisticated romantic scammer who knew your exact pay schedule before ever...
Imagine losing seven years of meticulous savings in just four months, not to a market crash or medical emergency, but to a sophisticated romantic scammer who knew your exact pay schedule before ever saying hello. How could a man so careful, who tracked lunch costs and paid off his house early, fall victim to such a deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Jeffrey Reynolds, a 44-year-old floor supervisor from Calvary Creek, Ohio, who lost his entire savings to a man he believed was a petroleum engineer named Gregory Sharp. We explore the calculated patience of the scammer, the subtle signs noticed by those around Jeffrey, and the chilling discovery of a photograph meant to prove a lie.

Person: Jeffrey Reynolds
Location: Calvary Creek, Ohio
Date: September 2018 - January 2019
Amount Lost: $114,000
Scammer's Alias: Gregory Sharp

- Jeffrey Reynolds, a floor supervisor, spent seven years building his savings account.
- He lost $114,000 in eleven wire transfers over four months, from October 2018 to January 2019.
- The transfers consistently occurred within 2-4 hours of Jeffrey's direct deposit clearing.
- A photograph meant to prove the scammer's identity was found in a non-public storage room at Calvary Creek Fellowship.
- The image in the photograph was a cropped and edited photo of Scott Weller, a petroleum engineer from Scotland, placed against a Louisiana training facility background.

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.]]>1453falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-linguistics-expert-who-could-hear-a-splice-and-chose-not-to-believe-herself--73098623
Imagine falling in love with a voice, only to discover it was an AI-generated illusion, meticulously crafted to exploit your deepest professional expertise. This chilling romance scam targeted a linguistics expert who could detect the most subtle vocal nuances, yet still fell victim to a sophisticated fraud. How could someone so attuned to the human voice be so completely deceived?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Brenda Stroud, a highly skilled linguist whose professional life revolved around the intricacies of human speech. We explore how her expertise was weaponized against her in a year-long "experiment" designed to test the limits of AI voice generation and deepfake technology, culminating in a shocking discovery.

Person: Brenda Stroud
Location: Mableton, Pelham County, North Carolina
Date: November 2021 - May 2022
Status: Victim of romance scam
Field: Applied linguistics

- Brenda Stroud held a master's degree in applied linguistics from UNC Greensboro, earned in 2020.
- She taught English as a second language to about 14 students at a time through LingoBridge.
- The scammer, Norman Brooks, was 37 years old and operated from Charlotte, North Carolina.
- The AI voice was trained on thousands of hours of open-source audio from language-learning platforms.
- A 24-year-old actor named Aaron Pendley, from Scottsdale, Arizona, had his face harvested for deepfake video calls without his knowledge.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098623Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:26:50 +0000Creator at ObomediaA linguistics expert who could hear a splice - and chose not to believe herself Imagine falling in love with a voice, only to discover it was an AI-generated illusion, meticulously crafted to exploit your deepest professional expertise. This...
Imagine falling in love with a voice, only to discover it was an AI-generated illusion, meticulously crafted to exploit your deepest professional expertise. This chilling romance scam targeted a linguistics expert who could detect the most subtle vocal nuances, yet still fell victim to a sophisticated fraud. How could someone so attuned to the human voice be so completely deceived?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Brenda Stroud, a highly skilled linguist whose professional life revolved around the intricacies of human speech. We explore how her expertise was weaponized against her in a year-long "experiment" designed to test the limits of AI voice generation and deepfake technology, culminating in a shocking discovery.

Person: Brenda Stroud
Location: Mableton, Pelham County, North Carolina
Date: November 2021 - May 2022
Status: Victim of romance scam
Field: Applied linguistics

- Brenda Stroud held a master's degree in applied linguistics from UNC Greensboro, earned in 2020.
- She taught English as a second language to about 14 students at a time through LingoBridge.
- The scammer, Norman Brooks, was 37 years old and operated from Charlotte, North Carolina.
- The AI voice was trained on thousands of hours of open-source audio from language-learning platforms.
- A 24-year-old actor named Aaron Pendley, from Scottsdale, Arizona, had his face harvested for deepfake video calls without his knowledge.

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.]]>1410falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-widow-the-creek-and-his-perfect-system--73098622
Imagine finding a dead cell phone in a creek, sealed in a waterproof case, with a perfectly dry photograph of a man in uniform tucked inside. This single, baffling detail would unravel fourteen months of meticulously crafted lies, exposing a sophisticated system designed to exploit women navigating the loneliness of widowhood. How could a photograph in a creek expose a hidden world of romantic scams?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Darlene Zeller, a 54-year-old widow from Reeds Spring, Missouri, who became a target of a calculated romantic fraud in the fall of 2022. We explore the precise methods used by Norman Erickson, the man behind the "MarcusB_Ret" persona, and how his system exploited Darlene's vulnerability, turning her quiet mornings into a calibrated trap.

Person: Darlene Zeller
Location: Reeds Spring, Missouri
Date: November 2022
Scammer: Norman Erickson
Victim's Age: 54

- April Whitley found a cell phone sealed in a clear waterproof case in Kessler Creek at 6:47 AM on a Saturday in November 2022.
- The phone contained a dry photograph of a man in uniform, a detail that helped unravel 14 months of lies.
- Darlene Zeller, a medical billing coordinator in Branson, Missouri, had been a widow for six years after her husband, Warren Zeller, died in 2016.
- Norman Erickson, operating from a rented house in Forsyth, Missouri, used Darlene's forum post about feeding goats to calibrate his daily 5:28 AM texts.
- The conversation moved from the "Surviving in Service" forum to email and then a messaging app within two weeks of the first exchange.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098622Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:26:39 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Widow, The Creek, and His Perfect System Imagine finding a dead cell phone in a creek, sealed in a waterproof case, with a perfectly dry photograph of a man in uniform tucked inside. This single, baffling detail would unravel fourteen months of...
Imagine finding a dead cell phone in a creek, sealed in a waterproof case, with a perfectly dry photograph of a man in uniform tucked inside. This single, baffling detail would unravel fourteen months of meticulously crafted lies, exposing a sophisticated system designed to exploit women navigating the loneliness of widowhood. How could a photograph in a creek expose a hidden world of romantic scams?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Darlene Zeller, a 54-year-old widow from Reeds Spring, Missouri, who became a target of a calculated romantic fraud in the fall of 2022. We explore the precise methods used by Norman Erickson, the man behind the "MarcusB_Ret" persona, and how his system exploited Darlene's vulnerability, turning her quiet mornings into a calibrated trap.

Person: Darlene Zeller
Location: Reeds Spring, Missouri
Date: November 2022
Scammer: Norman Erickson
Victim's Age: 54

- April Whitley found a cell phone sealed in a clear waterproof case in Kessler Creek at 6:47 AM on a Saturday in November 2022.
- The phone contained a dry photograph of a man in uniform, a detail that helped unravel 14 months of lies.
- Darlene Zeller, a medical billing coordinator in Branson, Missouri, had been a widow for six years after her husband, Warren Zeller, died in 2016.
- Norman Erickson, operating from a rented house in Forsyth, Missouri, used Darlene's forum post about feeding goats to calibrate his daily 5:28 AM texts.
- The conversation moved from the "Surviving in Service" forum to email and then a messaging app within two weeks of the first exchange.

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.]]>1611falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-museum-curator-who-fell-for-a-fake-artifact--73098620
Imagine falling for a sophisticated romance scam, not with your heart, but with your professional expertise and life savings. A museum curator, trained to spot fakes, found herself entangled in a web of deceit involving a pre-Columbian artifact and a man who never existed. How did a genuine artifact become the bait in a meticulously crafted romantic scam?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Valerie Sawyer, a collections management specialist at the Aldermoor Regional Museum, whose professional ambition and inheritance became targets. We trace the origins of a complex fraud that exploited her knowledge of cultural property repatriation and led her to transfer thousands of dollars to a scammer.

Person: Valerie Sawyer
Location: Crestfield, Ohio
Date: Summer 2021 - Late October 2022
Amount: $62,000 inheritance
Artifact: Pre-Columbian ceramic figurine

- Heather Young found a genuine four-inch pre-Columbian ceramic figurine on a vacant property in Morrow County, Ohio, in late October 2022.
- Valerie Sawyer, 23, was a collections management specialist at the Aldermoor Regional Museum with a bachelor's degree in art history.
- Valerie inherited $62,000 from her grandmother, intended for a property down payment.
- Howard Miller, an alleged independent artifact recovery consultant, contacted Valerie via a specialist online platform.
- Valerie transferred an initial $4,000, followed by $6,000, for what she believed were procedural delays in artifact repatriation.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098620Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:26:27 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Museum Curator Who Fell For a Fake Artifact Imagine falling for a sophisticated romance scam, not with your heart, but with your professional expertise and life savings. A museum curator, trained to spot fakes, found herself entangled in a web...
Imagine falling for a sophisticated romance scam, not with your heart, but with your professional expertise and life savings. A museum curator, trained to spot fakes, found herself entangled in a web of deceit involving a pre-Columbian artifact and a man who never existed. How did a genuine artifact become the bait in a meticulously crafted romantic scam?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Valerie Sawyer, a collections management specialist at the Aldermoor Regional Museum, whose professional ambition and inheritance became targets. We trace the origins of a complex fraud that exploited her knowledge of cultural property repatriation and led her to transfer thousands of dollars to a scammer.

Person: Valerie Sawyer
Location: Crestfield, Ohio
Date: Summer 2021 - Late October 2022
Amount: $62,000 inheritance
Artifact: Pre-Columbian ceramic figurine

- Heather Young found a genuine four-inch pre-Columbian ceramic figurine on a vacant property in Morrow County, Ohio, in late October 2022.
- Valerie Sawyer, 23, was a collections management specialist at the Aldermoor Regional Museum with a bachelor's degree in art history.
- Valerie inherited $62,000 from her grandmother, intended for a property down payment.
- Howard Miller, an alleged independent artifact recovery consultant, contacted Valerie via a specialist online platform.
- Valerie transferred an initial $4,000, followed by $6,000, for what she believed were procedural delays in artifact repatriation.

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.]]>1527falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-canning-jar-a-child-s-lie-a-woman-s-ruin--73098616
Imagine discovering a sealed jar containing a child's hospital wristband in an abandoned shed, only to learn no child ever lived there. This single, unsettling detail would unravel a multi-state romantic scam that left four women financially ruined. What hidden truth did this seemingly innocuous object reveal about the con artist behind it all?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Donna Edwards, a 38-year-old bookkeeper from Aldene, Tennessee, whose careful life was upended by a man she met online. We explore how a meticulously crafted online persona and a compelling story about a sick child led her to trust a stranger, ultimately costing her thousands of dollars.

Person: Donna Edwards
Date: Spring 2017
Location: Aldene, Tennessee
Online Platform: HeartlandMatch
Scammer's Alias: Rick Mercer

- Donna Edwards, a 38-year-old bookkeeper, meticulously filed quarterly taxes for seven years without a miss.
- She exchanged messages with Rick Mercer for several weeks before their first two-hour phone call.
- Over eight weeks, Donna sent six wire transfers totaling eleven thousand four hundred dollars.
- The scammer used photographs from Wade Norris, a construction supervisor in western Kentucky, without his consent.
- The only true detail in the scammer's story was his daughter's name, Chloe, who was eleven years old.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098616Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:26:14 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Canning Jar: A Child's Lie, A Woman's Ruin Imagine discovering a sealed jar containing a child's hospital wristband in an abandoned shed, only to learn no child ever lived there. This single, unsettling detail would unravel a multi-state...
Imagine discovering a sealed jar containing a child's hospital wristband in an abandoned shed, only to learn no child ever lived there. This single, unsettling detail would unravel a multi-state romantic scam that left four women financially ruined. What hidden truth did this seemingly innocuous object reveal about the con artist behind it all?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Donna Edwards, a 38-year-old bookkeeper from Aldene, Tennessee, whose careful life was upended by a man she met online. We explore how a meticulously crafted online persona and a compelling story about a sick child led her to trust a stranger, ultimately costing her thousands of dollars.

Person: Donna Edwards
Date: Spring 2017
Location: Aldene, Tennessee
Online Platform: HeartlandMatch
Scammer's Alias: Rick Mercer

- Donna Edwards, a 38-year-old bookkeeper, meticulously filed quarterly taxes for seven years without a miss.
- She exchanged messages with Rick Mercer for several weeks before their first two-hour phone call.
- Over eight weeks, Donna sent six wire transfers totaling eleven thousand four hundred dollars.
- The scammer used photographs from Wade Norris, a construction supervisor in western Kentucky, without his consent.
- The only true detail in the scammer's story was his daughter's name, Chloe, who was eleven years old.

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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.]]>1379falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-framed-photo-on-his-dashboard-a-teacher-s-14-000-lie--73098612
Imagine falling in love with a man who writes about food like a poet, only to discover he doesn't exist. A birdwatcher's chance photo reveals a framed picture of a woman on a dashboard, seven miles from her home, unknowingly entangled in a calculated deception. How did a retired English teacher from Virginia lose $14,000 to a phantom lover?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate web of a romance scam that targeted Paula Fitzgerald, a deliberate and discerning English teacher. We explore how a dead man's words and a stolen face became the foundation of a sophisticated lie, and the unexpected way it all unraveled.

Person: Paula Fitzgerald
Age: 63
Location: Waynesboro, Virginia
Amount Lost: $14,000
Period of Deception: 10 months

- Paula Fitzgerald was a retired English teacher with 27 years of experience at Waynesboro High School.
- Her blog, The Deliberate Table, had 40,000 subscribers by 2021.
- Martin Sullivan first contacted Paula in October 2021 via her blog's contact form.
- Paula sent the first $800 through Western Union in March 2022.
- By July 2022, Paula had sent a total of $14,000 to the scammer.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098612Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:26:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Framed Photo on His Dashboard: A Teacher's $14,000 Lie Imagine falling in love with a man who writes about food like a poet, only to discover he doesn't exist. A birdwatcher's chance photo reveals a framed picture of a woman on a dashboard,...
Imagine falling in love with a man who writes about food like a poet, only to discover he doesn't exist. A birdwatcher's chance photo reveals a framed picture of a woman on a dashboard, seven miles from her home, unknowingly entangled in a calculated deception. How did a retired English teacher from Virginia lose $14,000 to a phantom lover?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate web of a romance scam that targeted Paula Fitzgerald, a deliberate and discerning English teacher. We explore how a dead man's words and a stolen face became the foundation of a sophisticated lie, and the unexpected way it all unraveled.

Person: Paula Fitzgerald
Age: 63
Location: Waynesboro, Virginia
Amount Lost: $14,000
Period of Deception: 10 months

- Paula Fitzgerald was a retired English teacher with 27 years of experience at Waynesboro High School.
- Her blog, The Deliberate Table, had 40,000 subscribers by 2021.
- Martin Sullivan first contacted Paula in October 2021 via her blog's contact form.
- Paula sent the first $800 through Western Union in March 2022.
- By July 2022, Paula had sent a total of $14,000 to the scammer.

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.]]>1537falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-jacket-on-the-bench-how-a-coast-guard-officer-wasn-t--73098609
The dry Coast Guard jacket found on a wet bench at Pelican Cove Marina, along with a solitaire ring, launched an eight-day mystery focused not on who left it, but why. This strange discovery, a potential romantic scam, set the stage for a meticulous woman to uncover a web of deception. What hidden truths did Karen Underwood, an insurance claims processor, unearth about the man she thought she knew?

In this episode, we delve into the unsettling discovery at Pelican Cove Marina and follow Karen Underwood's methodical journey to piece together the last five months of her life. From a seemingly innocent message about a pelican to a desperate plea for funds, the narrative explores how a carefully constructed persona can ensnare even the most discerning individuals.

Person: Marilyn Mills, Russell Zeller, Karen Underwood, Bethany Ogle, Patricia, Douglas Hunter, Callie, Sandra
Date: July 9th, February, March, April, early June
Location: Pelican Cove Marina, Braden Beach, Florida panhandle, Pensacola, Azores
Amount: $1,200
Object: Coast Guard dress uniform jacket, solitaire ring

- A fifteen-year-old girl, Marilyn Mills, found a dry Coast Guard jacket and a solitaire ring on a wet bench at slip fourteen of Pelican Cove Marina.
- Detective Russell Zeller stated the jacket was "placed," not dropped or forgotten, suggesting a staged disappearance.
- Karen Underwood, a 25-year-old insurance claims processor, began building a timeline of her last five months after the discovery.
- Douglas Hunter, claiming to be a Coast Guard officer, messaged Karen on a general social platform in late February, asking about a pelican photo.
- Karen wired Douglas $1,200 in early June to cover a gap in insurance for his daughter Callie's appendicitis.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098609Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:25:50 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe jacket on the bench: how a Coast Guard officer wasn't The dry Coast Guard jacket found on a wet bench at Pelican Cove Marina, along with a solitaire ring, launched an eight-day mystery focused not on who left it, but why. This strange...
The dry Coast Guard jacket found on a wet bench at Pelican Cove Marina, along with a solitaire ring, launched an eight-day mystery focused not on who left it, but why. This strange discovery, a potential romantic scam, set the stage for a meticulous woman to uncover a web of deception. What hidden truths did Karen Underwood, an insurance claims processor, unearth about the man she thought she knew?

In this episode, we delve into the unsettling discovery at Pelican Cove Marina and follow Karen Underwood's methodical journey to piece together the last five months of her life. From a seemingly innocent message about a pelican to a desperate plea for funds, the narrative explores how a carefully constructed persona can ensnare even the most discerning individuals.

Person: Marilyn Mills, Russell Zeller, Karen Underwood, Bethany Ogle, Patricia, Douglas Hunter, Callie, Sandra
Date: July 9th, February, March, April, early June
Location: Pelican Cove Marina, Braden Beach, Florida panhandle, Pensacola, Azores
Amount: $1,200
Object: Coast Guard dress uniform jacket, solitaire ring

- A fifteen-year-old girl, Marilyn Mills, found a dry Coast Guard jacket and a solitaire ring on a wet bench at slip fourteen of Pelican Cove Marina.
- Detective Russell Zeller stated the jacket was "placed," not dropped or forgotten, suggesting a staged disappearance.
- Karen Underwood, a 25-year-old insurance claims processor, began building a timeline of her last five months after the discovery.
- Douglas Hunter, claiming to be a Coast Guard officer, messaged Karen on a general social platform in late February, asking about a pelican photo.
- Karen wired Douglas $1,200 in early June to cover a gap in insurance for his daughter Callie's appendicitis.

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.]]>1466falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-ditch-phone-42-000-a-lie-and-a-missing-man--73098608
Imagine finding a phone in a ditch with a notification for a $42,000 transfer and a message saying "I love you. Don't tell anyone yet." This discovery in Kessler, Indiana, by Melissa Clark, would unravel a romance scam that had been quietly operating for nearly two years. Who was behind this mysterious phone, and why was it discarded?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Michelle Barnes, a recently divorced woman in central Indiana who sought support in an online group, only to fall victim to a sophisticated deception. The narrative explores how a seemingly legitimate peer support group led her into a relationship with a man who was not who he claimed to be, culminating in a significant financial loss and a missing person.

Person: Melissa Clark
Location: County Road 7, Kessler, Indiana
Date: June 6, 2022
Amount: $42,000

- Melissa Clark found a phone in a drainage ditch on County Road 7 at 7:15 AM on a Monday.
- The phone's screen displayed a notification for a "$42,000" transfer and three messages.
- Michelle Barnes, 47, transferred $42,000 at 11:17 PM on June 5, 2022.
- The online support group Michelle joined was advertised by a flyer from "Robert Voss," who later denied sending it.
- The phone number linked to the messages was a VOIP line with a non-existent billing address in Nevada.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098608Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:25:38 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Ditch Phone: $42,000, A Lie, And A Missing Man Imagine finding a phone in a ditch with a notification for a $42,000 transfer and a message saying "I love you. Don't tell anyone yet." This discovery in Kessler, Indiana, by Melissa Clark, would...
Imagine finding a phone in a ditch with a notification for a $42,000 transfer and a message saying "I love you. Don't tell anyone yet." This discovery in Kessler, Indiana, by Melissa Clark, would unravel a romance scam that had been quietly operating for nearly two years. Who was behind this mysterious phone, and why was it discarded?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Michelle Barnes, a recently divorced woman in central Indiana who sought support in an online group, only to fall victim to a sophisticated deception. The narrative explores how a seemingly legitimate peer support group led her into a relationship with a man who was not who he claimed to be, culminating in a significant financial loss and a missing person.

Person: Melissa Clark
Location: County Road 7, Kessler, Indiana
Date: June 6, 2022
Amount: $42,000

- Melissa Clark found a phone in a drainage ditch on County Road 7 at 7:15 AM on a Monday.
- The phone's screen displayed a notification for a "$42,000" transfer and three messages.
- Michelle Barnes, 47, transferred $42,000 at 11:17 PM on June 5, 2022.
- The online support group Michelle joined was advertised by a flyer from "Robert Voss," who later denied sending it.
- The phone number linked to the messages was a VOIP line with a non-existent billing address in Nevada.

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.]]>1305falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/he-said-this-to-me-first-the-banker-s-box-confession--73098604
Imagine finding a soaked banker's box filled with rubber-banded emails and a marked paperback, only to discover it holds the key to a devastating romance scam. What if the person you believed you were falling in love with never actually existed?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Cheryl Jones, a technical writer from Sutter Creek, California, who lost $9,400 and seven months of her life to a meticulously crafted deception. We explore how a single detail, planted months before the truth emerged, ultimately explained everything.

Person: Cheryl Jones
Age: 31
Location: Sutter Creek, California
Loss: $9,400
Duration of Deception: 7 months

- A utility lineman found a soaked banker's box containing stacks of printed emails and a worn paperback.
- The paperback had passages underlined and three words written in the margin: "he said this to me first."
- Cheryl Jones, a technical writer, lost $9,400 over seven months to a romance scam.
- The scammer used the stolen identity of Dennis Draper, a retired plumber from Akron, Ohio, and photographs of Robert Hines, a retired English professor.
- The deception began in late October through an antiquarian books forum, where Cheryl was contacted by an account calling itself Dennis Draper.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098604Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:25:26 +0000Creator at ObomediaHe Said This To Me First: The Banker's Box Confession Imagine finding a soaked banker's box filled with rubber-banded emails and a marked paperback, only to discover it holds the key to a devastating romance scam. What if the person you believed...
Imagine finding a soaked banker's box filled with rubber-banded emails and a marked paperback, only to discover it holds the key to a devastating romance scam. What if the person you believed you were falling in love with never actually existed?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Cheryl Jones, a technical writer from Sutter Creek, California, who lost $9,400 and seven months of her life to a meticulously crafted deception. We explore how a single detail, planted months before the truth emerged, ultimately explained everything.

Person: Cheryl Jones
Age: 31
Location: Sutter Creek, California
Loss: $9,400
Duration of Deception: 7 months

- A utility lineman found a soaked banker's box containing stacks of printed emails and a worn paperback.
- The paperback had passages underlined and three words written in the margin: "he said this to me first."
- Cheryl Jones, a technical writer, lost $9,400 over seven months to a romance scam.
- The scammer used the stolen identity of Dennis Draper, a retired plumber from Akron, Ohio, and photographs of Robert Hines, a retired English professor.
- The deception began in late October through an antiquarian books forum, where Cheryl was contacted by an account calling itself Dennis Draper.

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.]]>1456falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-man-who-built-a-life-from-stolen-good-intentions--73098602
Imagine receiving an email with a photo of children in an orphanage, only to discover the man who sent it, "Dean Hansen," was a complete fabrication. This romance scam, built on stolen good intentions, highlights how a seemingly genuine connection can mask a sophisticated fraud. How did a retired insurance supervisor, accustomed to assessing risk, fall victim to such an elaborate deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Earl Price, a man who, after retiring, sought purpose in humanitarian work and became an "ideal candidate" for a long-running scam. We explore the meticulous construction of a fake identity and the subtle manipulation that led to significant financial loss.

Person: Earl Price
Amount: $61,400
Transfers: 22
Period: 18 months
Location: Pinecroft Nature Preserve

- The scammer used a photograph of Robert Finch, a retired contractor, without his knowledge.
- The fraudulent profile claimed to be a logistics coordinator for a children's program in Central America.
- Earl Price sent $400 after "Dean Hansen" mentioned a customs fee for a supply shipment.
- The scammer used downloaded newsletters and photographs from the legitimate Highcroft Children's Foundation.
- The fraud involved 22 wire transfers over 18 months, totaling $61,400.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098602Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:25:14 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Man Who Built a Life From Stolen Good Intentions Imagine receiving an email with a photo of children in an orphanage, only to discover the man who sent it, "Dean Hansen," was a complete fabrication. This romance scam, built on stolen good...
Imagine receiving an email with a photo of children in an orphanage, only to discover the man who sent it, "Dean Hansen," was a complete fabrication. This romance scam, built on stolen good intentions, highlights how a seemingly genuine connection can mask a sophisticated fraud. How did a retired insurance supervisor, accustomed to assessing risk, fall victim to such an elaborate deception?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Earl Price, a man who, after retiring, sought purpose in humanitarian work and became an "ideal candidate" for a long-running scam. We explore the meticulous construction of a fake identity and the subtle manipulation that led to significant financial loss.

Person: Earl Price
Amount: $61,400
Transfers: 22
Period: 18 months
Location: Pinecroft Nature Preserve

- The scammer used a photograph of Robert Finch, a retired contractor, without his knowledge.
- The fraudulent profile claimed to be a logistics coordinator for a children's program in Central America.
- Earl Price sent $400 after "Dean Hansen" mentioned a customs fee for a supply shipment.
- The scammer used downloaded newsletters and photographs from the legitimate Highcroft Children's Foundation.
- The fraud involved 22 wire transfers over 18 months, totaling $61,400.

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.]]>1367falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rabbit-the-receipt-and-the-43-minute-window--73098599
Imagine finding a receipt in your backyard from a store you never visited, timestamped for a time you were home, yet it proves someone was there, feeding your pet. This seemingly innocuous detail was a calculated message, part of a sophisticated romantic scam that cost Gordon Reynolds $22,000. How did a meticulous structural drafter, who measured tolerances to fractions of an inch, fall for a structure built on borrowed identity?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Gordon Reynolds, a man whose stable life on Dellwood Circle was meticulously dismantled by a con artist. We explore how a carefully constructed persona, based on a real man named Gregory Sanders, was used to exploit Gordon's trust and extract significant sums of money.

Person: Gordon Reynolds
Date: March 7, 2019
Location: Dellwood Circle, Virginia
Amount Lost: $22,000
Con Artist's Real Name: Philip Corwin

- Gordon Reynolds discovered a receipt from an agricultural supply store in Garfield Township, timestamped 4:47 PM the day before.
- The receipt was found in his rabbit's hutch, indicating someone had fed his rabbit, Clover, during a 43-minute window when Gordon was away.
- The account name on the receipt was Gregory Sanders, a man living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, unaware his identity was being used.
- Gordon Reynolds, a structural drafter at Pallister and Howe, had lived in the same house for eleven years and was 45 years old.
- The first financial transfer of $4,000 occurred in January, followed by a second transfer of $6,000 in February for a supposed kidney biopsy.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098599Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:25:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Rabbit, The Receipt, and The 43-Minute Window Imagine finding a receipt in your backyard from a store you never visited, timestamped for a time you were home, yet it proves someone was there, feeding your pet. This seemingly innocuous detail...
Imagine finding a receipt in your backyard from a store you never visited, timestamped for a time you were home, yet it proves someone was there, feeding your pet. This seemingly innocuous detail was a calculated message, part of a sophisticated romantic scam that cost Gordon Reynolds $22,000. How did a meticulous structural drafter, who measured tolerances to fractions of an inch, fall for a structure built on borrowed identity?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Gordon Reynolds, a man whose stable life on Dellwood Circle was meticulously dismantled by a con artist. We explore how a carefully constructed persona, based on a real man named Gregory Sanders, was used to exploit Gordon's trust and extract significant sums of money.

Person: Gordon Reynolds
Date: March 7, 2019
Location: Dellwood Circle, Virginia
Amount Lost: $22,000
Con Artist's Real Name: Philip Corwin

- Gordon Reynolds discovered a receipt from an agricultural supply store in Garfield Township, timestamped 4:47 PM the day before.
- The receipt was found in his rabbit's hutch, indicating someone had fed his rabbit, Clover, during a 43-minute window when Gordon was away.
- The account name on the receipt was Gregory Sanders, a man living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, unaware his identity was being used.
- Gordon Reynolds, a structural drafter at Pallister and Howe, had lived in the same house for eleven years and was 45 years old.
- The first financial transfer of $4,000 occurred in January, followed by a second transfer of $6,000 in February for a supposed kidney biopsy.

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.]]>1389falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/he-lived-30-feet-away-the-opal-ring-and-the-stalker-next-door--73098596
Imagine receiving a photograph of a stranger's hand wearing your grandmother's stolen opal ring, forced past the knuckle. This chilling image, postmarked Charlotte, arrived at a sheriff's office with no explanation, hinting at a romantic scam that had been building for months. What dark secret did this single photograph conceal?

In this episode, we uncover the meticulously constructed deception that targeted Diane Draper, a woman known for her careful decisions and disciplined life. We explore how a wellness app, a stolen identity, and a man living just thirty feet away converged to create a terrifying reality.

Case: Diane Draper
Person: Duane Schmidt (alias Dennis Schaefer)
Location: Millhaven, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina
Object: Oval opal ring, quarter-carat
Platform: NutriPath

- A manila envelope containing a 4x6 inch photograph of a hand wearing an opal ring was delivered to the Harwick County Sheriff's office on February fourteenth.
- The ring, an oval opal of quarter-carat, was identified as belonging to a grandmother in Millhaven, Tennessee, and had been stolen.
- Duane Schmidt, using the alias Dennis Schaefer, signed a lease on a ground-floor unit in Diane Draper's building in July, six months before the photograph arrived.
- Schmidt used photographs scraped without authorization from a Brazilian fitness influencer with over 400,000 followers for his NutriPath profile.
- Diane Draper, 28, was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition at 23, which significantly impacted her daily life and led her to seek control over her health.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098596Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:24:50 +0000Creator at ObomediaHe Lived 30 Feet Away: The Opal Ring and the Stalker Next Door Imagine receiving a photograph of a stranger's hand wearing your grandmother's stolen opal ring, forced past the knuckle. This chilling image, postmarked Charlotte, arrived at a...
Imagine receiving a photograph of a stranger's hand wearing your grandmother's stolen opal ring, forced past the knuckle. This chilling image, postmarked Charlotte, arrived at a sheriff's office with no explanation, hinting at a romantic scam that had been building for months. What dark secret did this single photograph conceal?

In this episode, we uncover the meticulously constructed deception that targeted Diane Draper, a woman known for her careful decisions and disciplined life. We explore how a wellness app, a stolen identity, and a man living just thirty feet away converged to create a terrifying reality.

Case: Diane Draper
Person: Duane Schmidt (alias Dennis Schaefer)
Location: Millhaven, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina
Object: Oval opal ring, quarter-carat
Platform: NutriPath

- A manila envelope containing a 4x6 inch photograph of a hand wearing an opal ring was delivered to the Harwick County Sheriff's office on February fourteenth.
- The ring, an oval opal of quarter-carat, was identified as belonging to a grandmother in Millhaven, Tennessee, and had been stolen.
- Duane Schmidt, using the alias Dennis Schaefer, signed a lease on a ground-floor unit in Diane Draper's building in July, six months before the photograph arrived.
- Schmidt used photographs scraped without authorization from a Brazilian fitness influencer with over 400,000 followers for his NutriPath profile.
- Diane Draper, 28, was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition at 23, which significantly impacted her daily life and led her to seek control over her health.

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.]]>1368falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-card-the-photos-and-the-106-000-silence--73098592
Imagine finding a hidden package on a Wyoming trail: a handmade card and photos of a man in military uniform, left by someone who meant every word. This discovery would eventually unravel a romantic scam involving a 55-year-old rancher and a staggering $106,000. What secret did this mysterious package hold?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Amy Sawyer, a self-sufficient rancher who, after the death of her husband, found solace in an online grief support forum. This led her to a man named "Russell O'Brien," whose carefully constructed online persona and daily calls would draw her into a sophisticated fraud.

Person: Amy Sawyer
Location: Harmon County, Wyoming
Amount: $106,000
Year: 2017

- A rescue dog named Bruno discovered a sealed zip-lock bag containing a watercolor card and four photographs.
- Amy Sawyer, a 55-year-old rancher, owned land without a mortgage but carried equipment debt.
- Her husband, Dennis Sawyer, died at 58 from a cardiac event in 2016.
- Amy had five certificates of deposit at Harmon County Savings, ranging from $12,000 to $41,000.
- "Russell O'Brien" claimed to be a 58-year-old UN logistics contractor in Mali, attached to MINUSMA.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098592Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:24:39 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Card, The Photos, and The $106,000 Silence Imagine finding a hidden package on a Wyoming trail: a handmade card and photos of a man in military uniform, left by someone who meant every word. This discovery would eventually unravel a romantic...
Imagine finding a hidden package on a Wyoming trail: a handmade card and photos of a man in military uniform, left by someone who meant every word. This discovery would eventually unravel a romantic scam involving a 55-year-old rancher and a staggering $106,000. What secret did this mysterious package hold?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Amy Sawyer, a self-sufficient rancher who, after the death of her husband, found solace in an online grief support forum. This led her to a man named "Russell O'Brien," whose carefully constructed online persona and daily calls would draw her into a sophisticated fraud.

Person: Amy Sawyer
Location: Harmon County, Wyoming
Amount: $106,000
Year: 2017

- A rescue dog named Bruno discovered a sealed zip-lock bag containing a watercolor card and four photographs.
- Amy Sawyer, a 55-year-old rancher, owned land without a mortgage but carried equipment debt.
- Her husband, Dennis Sawyer, died at 58 from a cardiac event in 2016.
- Amy had five certificates of deposit at Harmon County Savings, ranging from $12,000 to $41,000.
- "Russell O'Brien" claimed to be a 58-year-old UN logistics contractor in Mali, attached to MINUSMA.

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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.]]>1421falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-chess-game-that-stole-her-life-savings--73098590
A handwritten chess scoresheet, found in a creek, became the first clue in a missing person case that led investigators on a sixty-mile trail. How did a game that was never played on a board lead to a woman's disappearance and the theft of her life savings?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Heather Draper, a methodical librarian who fell victim to a sophisticated online romance scam. Discover how a seemingly innocent online chess game evolved into a meticulously planned deception that exploited her trust and routine.

Person: Heather Draper
Date: December 19, 2019
Location: Millhaven, Sycamore Terrace
Platform: CastleNet
Amount: Four thousand eight hundred dollars

- Heather Draper, a 22-year-old reference librarian, was reported missing for 41 hours.
- An envelope addressed to Heather was found in Pembrook Creek containing a 53-move chess scoresheet.
- A CastleNet account, "MarkGrandmaster," was created in May 2019, using stolen photos of Scott Neville.
- Heather transferred $1,800 and then $3,000 across two transactions in eight days.
- The scammer recorded Heather's personal details, including her Wednesday evening routine with her parents.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098590Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:24:26 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Chess Game That Stole Her Life Savings A handwritten chess scoresheet, found in a creek, became the first clue in a missing person case that led investigators on a sixty-mile trail. How did a game that was never played on a board lead to a...
A handwritten chess scoresheet, found in a creek, became the first clue in a missing person case that led investigators on a sixty-mile trail. How did a game that was never played on a board lead to a woman's disappearance and the theft of her life savings?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Heather Draper, a methodical librarian who fell victim to a sophisticated online romance scam. Discover how a seemingly innocent online chess game evolved into a meticulously planned deception that exploited her trust and routine.

Person: Heather Draper
Date: December 19, 2019
Location: Millhaven, Sycamore Terrace
Platform: CastleNet
Amount: Four thousand eight hundred dollars

- Heather Draper, a 22-year-old reference librarian, was reported missing for 41 hours.
- An envelope addressed to Heather was found in Pembrook Creek containing a 53-move chess scoresheet.
- A CastleNet account, "MarkGrandmaster," was created in May 2019, using stolen photos of Scott Neville.
- Heather transferred $1,800 and then $3,000 across two transactions in eight days.
- The scammer recorded Heather's personal details, including her Wednesday evening routine with her parents.

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.]]>1298falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/he-watched-her-house-he-stole-her-love--73098586
Imagine finding eleven bank transfer confirmations in your own mailbox, none of them yours, revealing a romance scam that siphoned over $94,000 from a cancer survivor. This meticulously engineered fraud, spanning nine months in Ohio, targeted a woman at her most vulnerable. How did a seemingly kind stranger become the architect of such a devastating betrayal?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a romance scam that exploited a woman's trust and her battle with illness. We explore how a Facebook group for cancer survivors became a carefully constructed trap, leading to a profound emotional and financial loss.

Person: Amy Williams
Location: Harlow, Ohio
Amount Scammed: Over $94,000
Method: Romance scam via Facebook group

- The scammer, Kevin T. Marsh, used a cropped photo of Greg Fontaine, a retired physical therapist from Spokane, Washington.
- Amy Williams, a 38-year-old registered nurse, had been two years past her final round of chemotherapy when the fraud began.
- The first transfer of $4,500 to Accra, Ghana, was returned, a deliberate tactic to build trust before larger requests.
- Kevin T. Marsh had previously rented short-term furnished apartments in Harlow, Ohio, twice, running similar schemes.
- The scam involved eleven bank transfer confirmations found in Amy Williams' mailbox by a county surveyor.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098586Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:24:15 +0000Creator at ObomediaHe Watched Her House. He Stole Her Love Imagine finding eleven bank transfer confirmations in your own mailbox, none of them yours, revealing a romance scam that siphoned over $94,000 from a cancer survivor. This meticulously engineered fraud,...
Imagine finding eleven bank transfer confirmations in your own mailbox, none of them yours, revealing a romance scam that siphoned over $94,000 from a cancer survivor. This meticulously engineered fraud, spanning nine months in Ohio, targeted a woman at her most vulnerable. How did a seemingly kind stranger become the architect of such a devastating betrayal?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a romance scam that exploited a woman's trust and her battle with illness. We explore how a Facebook group for cancer survivors became a carefully constructed trap, leading to a profound emotional and financial loss.

Person: Amy Williams
Location: Harlow, Ohio
Amount Scammed: Over $94,000
Method: Romance scam via Facebook group

- The scammer, Kevin T. Marsh, used a cropped photo of Greg Fontaine, a retired physical therapist from Spokane, Washington.
- Amy Williams, a 38-year-old registered nurse, had been two years past her final round of chemotherapy when the fraud began.
- The first transfer of $4,500 to Accra, Ghana, was returned, a deliberate tactic to build trust before larger requests.
- Kevin T. Marsh had previously rented short-term furnished apartments in Harlow, Ohio, twice, running similar schemes.
- The scam involved eleven bank transfer confirmations found in Amy Williams' mailbox by a county surveyor.

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.]]>1530falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-letters-from-nowhere-found-by-a-septic-tank--73098583
Imagine finding 40-50 handwritten letters, tied with twine and held down by a river stone on a septic tank lid, in a yard where no river exists. This discovery hints at a meticulously crafted deception, but what shocking truth did these letters conceal about a romance scam?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Marcia Bell, a 62-year-old bookkeeper whose life was upended by a sophisticated romantic fraud. We explore how a seemingly genuine correspondence evolved into a deep emotional connection, and the unexpected moment that exposed the scammer's true intentions.

Person: Marcia Bell
Date: October
Location: Harwick Township
Status: Unresolved
Period: 22 months

- A septic worker discovered 40-50 handwritten letters on onion-skin paper, tied with kitchen twine.
- The letters were held down by a white quartz river stone, despite no river being within 40 miles.
- Marcia Bell, a 62-year-old bookkeeper, had been absent from her home for six days.
- For 22 months, Marcia corresponded with "Scott Crawford," a British-Ghanaian civil engineer.
- Crawford eventually asked Marcia to sign for a shipping container in Cincinnati, claiming immigration restrictions prevented him from doing so.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098583Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:24:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Letters from Nowhere: Found by a Septic Tank Imagine finding 40-50 handwritten letters, tied with twine and held down by a river stone on a septic tank lid, in a yard where no river exists. This discovery hints at a meticulously crafted...
Imagine finding 40-50 handwritten letters, tied with twine and held down by a river stone on a septic tank lid, in a yard where no river exists. This discovery hints at a meticulously crafted deception, but what shocking truth did these letters conceal about a romance scam?

In this episode, we uncover the story of Marcia Bell, a 62-year-old bookkeeper whose life was upended by a sophisticated romantic fraud. We explore how a seemingly genuine correspondence evolved into a deep emotional connection, and the unexpected moment that exposed the scammer's true intentions.

Person: Marcia Bell
Date: October
Location: Harwick Township
Status: Unresolved
Period: 22 months

- A septic worker discovered 40-50 handwritten letters on onion-skin paper, tied with kitchen twine.
- The letters were held down by a white quartz river stone, despite no river being within 40 miles.
- Marcia Bell, a 62-year-old bookkeeper, had been absent from her home for six days.
- For 22 months, Marcia corresponded with "Scott Crawford," a British-Ghanaian civil engineer.
- Crawford eventually asked Marcia to sign for a shipping container in Cincinnati, claiming immigration restrictions prevented him from doing so.

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.]]>1571falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-deaf-architect-the-missing-days-and-the-cold-case--73098580
Imagine finding a birthday card in a tree, only to discover it's a piece of evidence in a massive financial fraud. This accidental discovery would unravel a sophisticated romance scam operation that touched at least twelve women across three states, with total losses exceeding ninety thousand dollars. How did a simple card lead to such a complex criminal investigation?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Michelle Carlson, a claims processor who meticulously built her life, only to have it upended by a man she met online. We explore the calculated tactics of a scammer who posed as a deaf architect, and how his fabricated emergencies led Michelle to wire over fourteen thousand dollars.

Person: Michelle Carlson
Date: September 9, 2019
Location: Halverson Reservoir
Status: Cold Case
Loss: Exceeding ninety thousand dollars

- A retired postal worker found a birthday card addressed to "Michelle" in a bur oak tree, eleven feet up.
- The card contained a photograph of a man and was signed "Mark."
- The discovery led to the unraveling of a financial operation affecting at least twelve women across three states.
- Total losses from the scam exceeded ninety thousand dollars.
- Michelle Carlson wired fourteen thousand two hundred dollars across six separate transactions to the scammer.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098580Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:23:50 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Deaf Architect, The Missing Days, and The Cold Case Imagine finding a birthday card in a tree, only to discover it's a piece of evidence in a massive financial fraud. This accidental discovery would unravel a sophisticated romance scam...
Imagine finding a birthday card in a tree, only to discover it's a piece of evidence in a massive financial fraud. This accidental discovery would unravel a sophisticated romance scam operation that touched at least twelve women across three states, with total losses exceeding ninety thousand dollars. How did a simple card lead to such a complex criminal investigation?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Michelle Carlson, a claims processor who meticulously built her life, only to have it upended by a man she met online. We explore the calculated tactics of a scammer who posed as a deaf architect, and how his fabricated emergencies led Michelle to wire over fourteen thousand dollars.

Person: Michelle Carlson
Date: September 9, 2019
Location: Halverson Reservoir
Status: Cold Case
Loss: Exceeding ninety thousand dollars

- A retired postal worker found a birthday card addressed to "Michelle" in a bur oak tree, eleven feet up.
- The card contained a photograph of a man and was signed "Mark."
- The discovery led to the unraveling of a financial operation affecting at least twelve women across three states.
- Total losses from the scam exceeded ninety thousand dollars.
- Michelle Carlson wired fourteen thousand two hundred dollars across six separate transactions to the scammer.

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.]]>1471falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-face-that-never-existed-he-stole-her-grief--73098578
Imagine falling for a man whose face never truly existed, a phantom crafted from stolen images and a woman's profound grief. This is the chilling reality of a romance scam that preyed on a widow's vulnerability, leaving behind a trail of emotional and financial devastation. How did a seemingly genuine connection turn into a meticulously constructed deception?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of how Troy Allen Porter manufactured a person from scratch, exploiting Pamela Taylor's widowhood and her desire for connection. We explore the architecture of this fiction and the surprising moment a simple reverse image search exposed the truth, revealing a web of lies built on other people's lives and faces.

Person: Pamela Taylor
Date: August 9, 2019
Location: Crestfield Lane, central Ohio
Status: Romance scam exposed
Scammer: Troy Allen Porter

- A photograph with a never-before-seen face appeared on Pamela Taylor's doorstep on August 9, 2019.
- Pamela Taylor, 49, was a medical billing specialist who lost her husband in 2015.
- She sent Troy Allen $11,000 by May and another $8,000 by late June.
- Her colleague, David Becker, used a reverse image search to identify the man in her photo as Greg Albanese, a fitness instructor in Tucson.
- The blue-fleece photo of Greg Albanese used in the scam was from 2014.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098578Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:23:38 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Face That Never Existed: He Stole Her Grief Imagine falling for a man whose face never truly existed, a phantom crafted from stolen images and a woman's profound grief. This is the chilling reality of a romance scam that preyed on a widow's...
Imagine falling for a man whose face never truly existed, a phantom crafted from stolen images and a woman's profound grief. This is the chilling reality of a romance scam that preyed on a widow's vulnerability, leaving behind a trail of emotional and financial devastation. How did a seemingly genuine connection turn into a meticulously constructed deception?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of how Troy Allen Porter manufactured a person from scratch, exploiting Pamela Taylor's widowhood and her desire for connection. We explore the architecture of this fiction and the surprising moment a simple reverse image search exposed the truth, revealing a web of lies built on other people's lives and faces.

Person: Pamela Taylor
Date: August 9, 2019
Location: Crestfield Lane, central Ohio
Status: Romance scam exposed
Scammer: Troy Allen Porter

- A photograph with a never-before-seen face appeared on Pamela Taylor's doorstep on August 9, 2019.
- Pamela Taylor, 49, was a medical billing specialist who lost her husband in 2015.
- She sent Troy Allen $11,000 by May and another $8,000 by late June.
- Her colleague, David Becker, used a reverse image search to identify the man in her photo as Greg Albanese, a fitness instructor in Tucson.
- The blue-fleece photo of Greg Albanese used in the scam was from 2014.

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.]]>1475falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-valentine-s-card-that-buried-her-alive--73098577
Imagine finding a perfectly dry Valentine's card in eight inches of frozen slush that had been accumulating for six weeks. This physical impossibility was the first thread in a chilling romantic scam that slowly unraveled. What hidden truths did this mysterious card conceal?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Debra Marshall, a medical billing coordinator whose life was meticulously structured by caregiving and grief. We explore how a seemingly innocuous online support forum became the entry point for a calculated deception, leading to a series of financial transfers to a man she had never met.

Person: Debra Marshall
Location: Harwick, Weller County
Object: Valentine's card
Amount: $11,200

- A plow operator found a dry Valentine's card in eight inches of frozen slush on Kettner Road.
- Debra Marshall was a 34-year-old medical billing coordinator at an orthopedic clinic.
- Her mother, Patrice Marshall, died in March after a six-year battle with early-onset Parkinson's.
- Debra joined an online support forum called NeuralLoss Network after her mother's death.
- She made four transfers totaling $11,200 to a man she knew as John Wells in one month.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098577Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:23:27 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Valentine's Card That Buried Her Alive Imagine finding a perfectly dry Valentine's card in eight inches of frozen slush that had been accumulating for six weeks. This physical impossibility was the first thread in a chilling romantic scam that...
Imagine finding a perfectly dry Valentine's card in eight inches of frozen slush that had been accumulating for six weeks. This physical impossibility was the first thread in a chilling romantic scam that slowly unraveled. What hidden truths did this mysterious card conceal?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Debra Marshall, a medical billing coordinator whose life was meticulously structured by caregiving and grief. We explore how a seemingly innocuous online support forum became the entry point for a calculated deception, leading to a series of financial transfers to a man she had never met.

Person: Debra Marshall
Location: Harwick, Weller County
Object: Valentine's card
Amount: $11,200

- A plow operator found a dry Valentine's card in eight inches of frozen slush on Kettner Road.
- Debra Marshall was a 34-year-old medical billing coordinator at an orthopedic clinic.
- Her mother, Patrice Marshall, died in March after a six-year battle with early-onset Parkinson's.
- Debra joined an online support forum called NeuralLoss Network after her mother's death.
- She made four transfers totaling $11,200 to a man she knew as John Wells in one month.

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.]]>1342falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-empty-envelope-he-never-existed--73098574
Imagine falling deeply in love with an engineer named Howard Quinn for fourteen months, only to discover he never existed. This romantic scam began with an empty envelope found on a back porch in Tennessee, leading to a multi-continental investigation. How did a missing name become the most crucial detail in a seven-year fraud operation?

In this episode, we uncover the elaborate deception that ensnared Pamela Marshall, a 53-year-old office manager from Clover Bluff, Tennessee. Her journey into a sophisticated romantic fraud began on a dating platform, leading to a relationship built on lies and a significant financial loss.

Person: Pamela Marshall
Location: Clover Bluff, Tennessee
Date: June 2019
Platform: MatchPoint Connections
Fraud Duration: 7 years

- An empty, cream-colored envelope with a return address in Accra, Ghana, was found on a back porch in Clover Bluff, Tennessee.
- Pamela Marshall, 53, had lived at 4418 Sycamore Ridge Drive since 2008.
- Howard Quinn's profile photo was stolen from Dennis Pruitt, a retired contractor in Spokane, Washington.
- Quinn proposed to Pamela by message in October 2018, not in person.
- By February 2019, Pamela had sent approximately twenty-two thousand dollars to Quinn.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098574Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:23:14 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Empty Envelope: He Never Existed Imagine falling deeply in love with an engineer named Howard Quinn for fourteen months, only to discover he never existed. This romantic scam began with an empty envelope found on a back porch in Tennessee,...
Imagine falling deeply in love with an engineer named Howard Quinn for fourteen months, only to discover he never existed. This romantic scam began with an empty envelope found on a back porch in Tennessee, leading to a multi-continental investigation. How did a missing name become the most crucial detail in a seven-year fraud operation?

In this episode, we uncover the elaborate deception that ensnared Pamela Marshall, a 53-year-old office manager from Clover Bluff, Tennessee. Her journey into a sophisticated romantic fraud began on a dating platform, leading to a relationship built on lies and a significant financial loss.

Person: Pamela Marshall
Location: Clover Bluff, Tennessee
Date: June 2019
Platform: MatchPoint Connections
Fraud Duration: 7 years

- An empty, cream-colored envelope with a return address in Accra, Ghana, was found on a back porch in Clover Bluff, Tennessee.
- Pamela Marshall, 53, had lived at 4418 Sycamore Ridge Drive since 2008.
- Howard Quinn's profile photo was stolen from Dennis Pruitt, a retired contractor in Spokane, Washington.
- Quinn proposed to Pamela by message in October 2018, not in person.
- By February 2019, Pamela had sent approximately twenty-two thousand dollars to Quinn.

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.]]>1293falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-nurse-the-will-and-the-missing-43-000--73098572
Imagine finding a waterlogged portfolio in a river, only to discover a will, a photo, and a card reading, "You are the first real thing that has happened to me in twenty years." This discovery unravels a two-year romantic scam that left an elderly man $43,000 poorer and a detective with the most unsettling question of his career. What hidden depths of deception lie beneath this seemingly simple find?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Rachel Sheridan, a licensed practical nurse in Braden Falls, Ohio, whose quiet life was upended by a man named Paul Harris. We explore how Harris meticulously built a relationship with Rachel and then with her patient, Thomas Wexler, leading to a complex financial scheme. How did this romance con unfold, and what made it so difficult for investigators to untangle?

Person: Rachel Sheridan
Location: Braden Falls, Ohio
Amount: $43,000
Facility: Copperhill Assisted Living
Duration: Two years

- Lisa Bell found a waterlogged leather portfolio in the Elden River on a Tuesday morning in May.
- The portfolio contained a legal document, a photograph, and a handwritten card in blue ink.
- Rachel Sheridan, 46, was a licensed practical nurse with eleven years of experience at Copperhill Assisted Living.
- Thomas Wexler, 79, was a widowed resident at Copperhill with assets estimated between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
- Paul Harris met Rachel on Hargrove Trail, asking about wild blue phlox, and later brought her heirloom tomato seedlings.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098572Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:23:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Nurse, The Will, And The Missing $43,000 Imagine finding a waterlogged portfolio in a river, only to discover a will, a photo, and a card reading, "You are the first real thing that has happened to me in twenty years." This discovery unravels a...
Imagine finding a waterlogged portfolio in a river, only to discover a will, a photo, and a card reading, "You are the first real thing that has happened to me in twenty years." This discovery unravels a two-year romantic scam that left an elderly man $43,000 poorer and a detective with the most unsettling question of his career. What hidden depths of deception lie beneath this seemingly simple find?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Rachel Sheridan, a licensed practical nurse in Braden Falls, Ohio, whose quiet life was upended by a man named Paul Harris. We explore how Harris meticulously built a relationship with Rachel and then with her patient, Thomas Wexler, leading to a complex financial scheme. How did this romance con unfold, and what made it so difficult for investigators to untangle?

Person: Rachel Sheridan
Location: Braden Falls, Ohio
Amount: $43,000
Facility: Copperhill Assisted Living
Duration: Two years

- Lisa Bell found a waterlogged leather portfolio in the Elden River on a Tuesday morning in May.
- The portfolio contained a legal document, a photograph, and a handwritten card in blue ink.
- Rachel Sheridan, 46, was a licensed practical nurse with eleven years of experience at Copperhill Assisted Living.
- Thomas Wexler, 79, was a widowed resident at Copperhill with assets estimated between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
- Paul Harris met Rachel on Hargrove Trail, asking about wild blue phlox, and later brought her heirloom tomato seedlings.

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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.]]>1298falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-dry-meter-box-that-uncovered-a-love-scam--73098565
Imagine a meticulously planned romance scam, running flawlessly for three years, brought down by a single, seemingly insignificant detail: a dry meter box. What critical piece of evidence was hidden inside, and how did it unravel an international deception?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Peggy Vaughn, a careful and intelligent woman who fell victim to a sophisticated love scam. We explore the precise methods used by the scammer, the subtle signs that alerted her friend, and the unexpected observation that ultimately exposed the entire operation.

Person: Marcia Miller
Date: April 2022
Location: Calloway County
Status: Uncovered a love scam
Amount: $19,200

- Marcia Miller, a utility meter reader for eleven years, noticed a dry meter box at 414 Grover Street.
- Inside the dry meter box, she found a laminated photograph of a man's face.
- The man in the photograph was Charles O'Brien on a dating profile, but his real name was Thomas Brewer, living in Portland, Oregon.
- Peggy Vaughn, a 29-year-old billing coordinator, had sent $19,200 to the scammer.
- The scam operation had been running for at least three years, reaching from Mableton to Lagos, Nigeria.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098565Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:22:51 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Dry Meter Box That Uncovered a Love Scam Imagine a meticulously planned romance scam, running flawlessly for three years, brought down by a single, seemingly insignificant detail: a dry meter box. What critical piece of evidence was hidden...
Imagine a meticulously planned romance scam, running flawlessly for three years, brought down by a single, seemingly insignificant detail: a dry meter box. What critical piece of evidence was hidden inside, and how did it unravel an international deception?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Peggy Vaughn, a careful and intelligent woman who fell victim to a sophisticated love scam. We explore the precise methods used by the scammer, the subtle signs that alerted her friend, and the unexpected observation that ultimately exposed the entire operation.

Person: Marcia Miller
Date: April 2022
Location: Calloway County
Status: Uncovered a love scam
Amount: $19,200

- Marcia Miller, a utility meter reader for eleven years, noticed a dry meter box at 414 Grover Street.
- Inside the dry meter box, she found a laminated photograph of a man's face.
- The man in the photograph was Charles O'Brien on a dating profile, but his real name was Thomas Brewer, living in Portland, Oregon.
- Peggy Vaughn, a 29-year-old billing coordinator, had sent $19,200 to the scammer.
- The scam operation had been running for at least three years, reaching from Mableton to Lagos, Nigeria.

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.]]>1539falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-preacher-s-deception-four-proposals-one-fake-woman--73098563
Imagine finding four marriage proposals, each addressed to a different man, all in the same handwriting, hidden in a church closet. This discovery in March 2019 at Calvary Ridge Church unraveled a sophisticated romantic scam that had been quietly preying on its members for months. How did one man orchestrate such a deception with a woman who didn't exist?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate web woven by Curtis Bell, a new face in the congregation who introduced four unsuspecting men to "Linda Marsh." We explore how Bell used stolen identities and personal details to craft a believable persona, leading to hundreds of emails and phone calls, and ultimately, financial extraction from his targets.

Date: March 2019
Location: Calvary Ridge Church, Harwick County
Person: Curtis Bell
Victim Count: Four men
Fake Identity: Linda Marsh

- Patricia Peterson found four handwritten marriage proposals addressed to different men in a shoebox.
- The woman in the photograph used by Bell was Deborah Holt, a schoolteacher from Pensacola, Florida.
- George Price, a 56-year-old building inspector, received his first email from "Linda Marsh" on November 14, 2018.
- The scam involved hundreds of emails and two phone calls from a prepaid device purchased in Chattanooga.
- April Dalton used a reverse image search that took 12 minutes to identify Deborah Holt from George Price's inbox.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098563Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:22:38 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Preacher's Deception: Four Proposals, One Fake Woman Imagine finding four marriage proposals, each addressed to a different man, all in the same handwriting, hidden in a church closet. This discovery in March 2019 at Calvary Ridge Church...
Imagine finding four marriage proposals, each addressed to a different man, all in the same handwriting, hidden in a church closet. This discovery in March 2019 at Calvary Ridge Church unraveled a sophisticated romantic scam that had been quietly preying on its members for months. How did one man orchestrate such a deception with a woman who didn't exist?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate web woven by Curtis Bell, a new face in the congregation who introduced four unsuspecting men to "Linda Marsh." We explore how Bell used stolen identities and personal details to craft a believable persona, leading to hundreds of emails and phone calls, and ultimately, financial extraction from his targets.

Date: March 2019
Location: Calvary Ridge Church, Harwick County
Person: Curtis Bell
Victim Count: Four men
Fake Identity: Linda Marsh

- Patricia Peterson found four handwritten marriage proposals addressed to different men in a shoebox.
- The woman in the photograph used by Bell was Deborah Holt, a schoolteacher from Pensacola, Florida.
- George Price, a 56-year-old building inspector, received his first email from "Linda Marsh" on November 14, 2018.
- The scam involved hundreds of emails and two phone calls from a prepaid device purchased in Chattanooga.
- April Dalton used a reverse image search that took 12 minutes to identify Deborah Holt from George Price's inbox.

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.]]>1473falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-notebook-he-logged-every-lie--73098557
Imagine finding a waterproof sleeve of photographs in a ditch, only to discover a handwritten message on the back of a military portrait: "I'll always come home to you." This chilling discovery in Harker County, Tennessee, unearths a romantic fraud that preys on trust and consistency. What secret did these images hold that led a young woman to discard them, yet not throw them away?

In this episode, we uncover the meticulous deception of a con artist who targeted Marcia Bishop, a 22-year-old woman with a steady life and a savings account. Learn how a seemingly genuine connection built on shared interests and consistent communication slowly eroded her financial security and trust.

Person: Marcia Bishop
Location: Harker County, Tennessee
Date: February 2019
Salary: $27,000 per year
Initial Savings: $4,000

- The photographs were found by a golden retriever in a drainage ditch on the Marcia Bishop trail.
- Marcia Bishop worked at Restoration Partners, a physical therapy clinic, earning $27,000 annually.
- She had saved $4,000 by the fall of 2018 and volunteered at an animal shelter every Tuesday for four years.
- Marcus Webb, posing as an Army staff sergeant, contacted Marcia via Facebook in September 2018.
- Marcia sent Marcus $400 in November 2018, and by February 2019, had transferred a total of $3,200.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098557Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:22:26 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Notebook: He Logged Every Lie Imagine finding a waterproof sleeve of photographs in a ditch, only to discover a handwritten message on the back of a military portrait: "I'll always come home to you." This chilling discovery in Harker County,...
Imagine finding a waterproof sleeve of photographs in a ditch, only to discover a handwritten message on the back of a military portrait: "I'll always come home to you." This chilling discovery in Harker County, Tennessee, unearths a romantic fraud that preys on trust and consistency. What secret did these images hold that led a young woman to discard them, yet not throw them away?

In this episode, we uncover the meticulous deception of a con artist who targeted Marcia Bishop, a 22-year-old woman with a steady life and a savings account. Learn how a seemingly genuine connection built on shared interests and consistent communication slowly eroded her financial security and trust.

Person: Marcia Bishop
Location: Harker County, Tennessee
Date: February 2019
Salary: $27,000 per year
Initial Savings: $4,000

- The photographs were found by a golden retriever in a drainage ditch on the Marcia Bishop trail.
- Marcia Bishop worked at Restoration Partners, a physical therapy clinic, earning $27,000 annually.
- She had saved $4,000 by the fall of 2018 and volunteered at an animal shelter every Tuesday for four years.
- Marcus Webb, posing as an Army staff sergeant, contacted Marcia via Facebook in September 2018.
- Marcia sent Marcus $400 in November 2018, and by February 2019, had transferred a total of $3,200.

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.]]>1367falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-river-phone-74-000-and-a-life-undone--73098554
Imagine finding a smartphone in an icy river, still on, displaying a message that ended an eleven-week relationship and cost one man $74,000. What hidden dangers lurk in the digital connections we make?

In this episode, we uncover the story behind a phone recovered from the Cassaway River, revealing a sophisticated romantic scam that spanned four states and defrauded seven victims of $162,000. How did a methodical man like Leon Lane fall victim to such an elaborate scheme?

Person: Leon Lane
Location: Guthrell, lower Midwest
Date: January 9, 2019
Total Loss: $162,000
Victims: 7

- Ronald Hamilton found the phone in the Cassaway River, sixty yards south of the county road bridge.
- The phone was sealed in a clear waterproof case, with its battery at eleven percent.
- The scam involved a man posing as Kevin Harris, an American offshore engineer working in the North Sea.
- Leon Lane transferred $2,000, $3,200, $4,500, and $8,000 in separate requests.
- Every single request for money arrived within 48 hours of Leon Lane's paycheck hitting his account.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098554Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:22:14 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe River Phone: $74,000 and a Life Undone Imagine finding a smartphone in an icy river, still on, displaying a message that ended an eleven-week relationship and cost one man $74,000. What hidden dangers lurk in the digital connections we make?...
Imagine finding a smartphone in an icy river, still on, displaying a message that ended an eleven-week relationship and cost one man $74,000. What hidden dangers lurk in the digital connections we make?

In this episode, we uncover the story behind a phone recovered from the Cassaway River, revealing a sophisticated romantic scam that spanned four states and defrauded seven victims of $162,000. How did a methodical man like Leon Lane fall victim to such an elaborate scheme?

Person: Leon Lane
Location: Guthrell, lower Midwest
Date: January 9, 2019
Total Loss: $162,000
Victims: 7

- Ronald Hamilton found the phone in the Cassaway River, sixty yards south of the county road bridge.
- The phone was sealed in a clear waterproof case, with its battery at eleven percent.
- The scam involved a man posing as Kevin Harris, an American offshore engineer working in the North Sea.
- Leon Lane transferred $2,000, $3,200, $4,500, and $8,000 in separate requests.
- Every single request for money arrived within 48 hours of Leon Lane's paycheck hitting his account.

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.]]>1275falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-laminated-card-he-taught-her-to-belong-she-stole-everything--73098552
Imagine believing you're falling in love, only to discover the person doesn't exist, and your life savings are gone. This is the chilling reality of a retired teacher who lost over sixty thousand dollars to a sophisticated romance scam. How did a laminated card, found tied to an oak tree, become the key to unraveling this elaborate deception?

In this episode, we delve into the meticulous crafting of a long-con romance scam that preyed on a lonely man's desire for connection. We explore the subtle tactics used to build trust and manipulate emotions, leading to a devastating financial loss.

Person: William Reynolds
Date: December 4, 2022
Location: Aldermoor, West Virginia
Status: Retired teacher, victim of romance scam
Amount lost: $61,400

- A county surveyor found a laminated card fixed to an oak tree with orange paracord.
- The card belonged to a 62-year-old retired teacher who believed he was in love for 22 months.
- William Reynolds had taught English as a second language for 31 years.
- The scammer, "Lydia Shen," messaged William four days after he posted a tutoring announcement in January 2021.
- A digital forensic analysis revealed a folder with William's name was created three weeks before "Lydia Shen's" first message.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098552Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:22:02 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Laminated Card: He Taught Her To Belong, She Stole Everything Imagine believing you're falling in love, only to discover the person doesn't exist, and your life savings are gone. This is the chilling reality of a retired teacher who lost over...
Imagine believing you're falling in love, only to discover the person doesn't exist, and your life savings are gone. This is the chilling reality of a retired teacher who lost over sixty thousand dollars to a sophisticated romance scam. How did a laminated card, found tied to an oak tree, become the key to unraveling this elaborate deception?

In this episode, we delve into the meticulous crafting of a long-con romance scam that preyed on a lonely man's desire for connection. We explore the subtle tactics used to build trust and manipulate emotions, leading to a devastating financial loss.

Person: William Reynolds
Date: December 4, 2022
Location: Aldermoor, West Virginia
Status: Retired teacher, victim of romance scam
Amount lost: $61,400

- A county surveyor found a laminated card fixed to an oak tree with orange paracord.
- The card belonged to a 62-year-old retired teacher who believed he was in love for 22 months.
- William Reynolds had taught English as a second language for 31 years.
- The scammer, "Lydia Shen," messaged William four days after he posted a tutoring announcement in January 2021.
- A digital forensic analysis revealed a folder with William's name was created three weeks before "Lydia Shen's" first message.

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.]]>1226falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-soldier-the-secret-photo-and-her-stolen-heart--73098551
Imagine finding a hidden birthday card and a photograph that would eventually convict a man on four criminal counts and connect two women who had never spoken. This discovery, made by a well technician in November 2022, revealed a carefully placed secret that would expose a shocking romantic scam. How did a simple photo lead to such a complex web of deceit?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Monica Casey, a pharmacy technician whose life took an unexpected turn after a chance encounter and a dead car battery. We explore how a seemingly helpful stranger crafted a fictional soldier persona to exploit her trust, and the meticulous work of a fraud investigator tracking linguistic patterns across states.

Person: Monica Casey
Date: November 2022
Location: Harlan Mill Road
Status: Four criminal counts
Case: Romantic scam

- A well technician found a birthday card and a photograph sealed in a zip-lock bag on a rural property.
- The photograph had "Kandahar, two thousand nineteen. The last good day" written on the back.
- A man named Kevin Marsh created the "Eric Schmidt" profile within 72 hours of meeting Monica Casey.
- Eric Schmidt's first message to Monica Casey was sent on October 14, 2022.
- The fictional soldier's profile used the image of a real sergeant, Sean Pryor, who had roughly four thousand Instagram followers.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098551Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:21:50 +0000Creator at ObomediaThe Soldier, The Secret Photo, and Her Stolen Heart Imagine finding a hidden birthday card and a photograph that would eventually convict a man on four criminal counts and connect two women who had never spoken. This discovery, made by a well...
Imagine finding a hidden birthday card and a photograph that would eventually convict a man on four criminal counts and connect two women who had never spoken. This discovery, made by a well technician in November 2022, revealed a carefully placed secret that would expose a shocking romantic scam. How did a simple photo lead to such a complex web of deceit?

In this episode, we delve into the story of Monica Casey, a pharmacy technician whose life took an unexpected turn after a chance encounter and a dead car battery. We explore how a seemingly helpful stranger crafted a fictional soldier persona to exploit her trust, and the meticulous work of a fraud investigator tracking linguistic patterns across states.

Person: Monica Casey
Date: November 2022
Location: Harlan Mill Road
Status: Four criminal counts
Case: Romantic scam

- A well technician found a birthday card and a photograph sealed in a zip-lock bag on a rural property.
- The photograph had "Kandahar, two thousand nineteen. The last good day" written on the back.
- A man named Kevin Marsh created the "Eric Schmidt" profile within 72 hours of meeting Monica Casey.
- Eric Schmidt's first message to Monica Casey was sent on October 14, 2022.
- The fictional soldier's profile used the image of a real sergeant, Sean Pryor, who had roughly four thousand Instagram followers.

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.]]>1319falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-birdwatcher-cleans-a-drain-inside-43-photos-of-a-liar--73098550
Imagine finding an envelope in a drainage ditch at 5:40 AM, only to discover 43 photos of a man with the word "Liar" scrawled on the back. This isn't just a random act; it's a calculated move in a sophisticated romance scam that spans states and targets unsuspecting victims. What hidden motive drove someone to leave this damning evidence in a wildlife preserve?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a romance scam that began with a birdwatcher's discovery and led to the unraveling of a fabricated identity. We explore how a retired postal worker's keen observation skills initiated an investigation into a con artist who meticulously studied his victims.

Person: Jeffrey Dalton
Date: Third Tuesday of October
Location: Harmon Flats Wildlife Preserve
Status: Found-property report
Case: Gable case

- Jeffrey Dalton, a 51-year-old retired postal worker, found 43 professional photographs in a wet envelope.
- The envelope was discovered at 5:40 AM in a drainage ditch along Creel Road.
- Iris Gable, a 61-year-old retired schoolteacher, lost $64,000 over eleven months to a man she met online.
- Vernon Snyder, a 48-year-old Senior Curator, lost $111,000 of his inheritance to the same scammer.
- The scammer used the stolen identity and photographs of Kevin Shea, a working photographer in Portland, Oregon.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098550Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:21:38 +0000Creator at ObomediaA birdwatcher cleans a drain. Inside: 43 photos of a liar Imagine finding an envelope in a drainage ditch at 5:40 AM, only to discover 43 photos of a man with the word "Liar" scrawled on the back. This isn't just a random act; it's a calculated...
Imagine finding an envelope in a drainage ditch at 5:40 AM, only to discover 43 photos of a man with the word "Liar" scrawled on the back. This isn't just a random act; it's a calculated move in a sophisticated romance scam that spans states and targets unsuspecting victims. What hidden motive drove someone to leave this damning evidence in a wildlife preserve?

In this episode, we uncover the intricate details of a romance scam that began with a birdwatcher's discovery and led to the unraveling of a fabricated identity. We explore how a retired postal worker's keen observation skills initiated an investigation into a con artist who meticulously studied his victims.

Person: Jeffrey Dalton
Date: Third Tuesday of October
Location: Harmon Flats Wildlife Preserve
Status: Found-property report
Case: Gable case

- Jeffrey Dalton, a 51-year-old retired postal worker, found 43 professional photographs in a wet envelope.
- The envelope was discovered at 5:40 AM in a drainage ditch along Creel Road.
- Iris Gable, a 61-year-old retired schoolteacher, lost $64,000 over eleven months to a man she met online.
- Vernon Snyder, a 48-year-old Senior Curator, lost $111,000 of his inheritance to the same scammer.
- The scammer used the stolen identity and photographs of Kevin Shea, a working photographer in Portland, Oregon.

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.]]>1476falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/he-was-inside-her-house-she-never-knew--73098547
Imagine discovering a seven-month relationship was a complete fabrication, only to then find evidence that the man you thought was hundreds of miles away had been inside your home, uninvited and unknown. This chilling romantic scam reveals how a meticulously crafted deception can invade the most private spaces. How could someone be so close, yet remain entirely hidden?

In this episode, we uncover the unsettling details of Karen Vogel's experience, a claims processor from Nebraska whose careful life was upended by a sophisticated online romance. We explore the precise engineering behind a scam that left a paper trail on a porch and a shocking realization inside a house.

Person: Karen Vogel
Location: Harwick County, Nebraska
Dating Platform: HearthLink
Scammer's Fictional Name: Carl
Scammer's Real Photo Source: Stephen Aldrich

- A fourteen-year-old paper delivery girl discovered the first clues of the scam on a porch railing in September.
- Karen Vogel was 32 years old in the winter of 2019 when she joined HearthLink.
- The scammer used photographs of Stephen Aldrich, a freight coordinator from Salina, Kansas, who had two adult sons.
- Karen sent the first wire transfer of $1,800 in May, three months after matching with "Carl."
- By July, Karen had made five wire transfers, ranging from $1,400 to $6,200.

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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73098547Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:21:27 +0000Creator at ObomediaHe Was Inside Her House. She Never Knew Imagine discovering a seven-month relationship was a complete fabrication, only to then find evidence that the man you thought was hundreds of miles away had been inside your home, uninvited and unknown. This...
Imagine discovering a seven-month relationship was a complete fabrication, only to then find evidence that the man you thought was hundreds of miles away had been inside your home, uninvited and unknown. This chilling romantic scam reveals how a meticulously crafted deception can invade the most private spaces. How could someone be so close, yet remain entirely hidden?

In this episode, we uncover the unsettling details of Karen Vogel's experience, a claims processor from Nebraska whose careful life was upended by a sophisticated online romance. We explore the precise engineering behind a scam that left a paper trail on a porch and a shocking realization inside a house.

Person: Karen Vogel
Location: Harwick County, Nebraska
Dating Platform: HearthLink
Scammer's Fictional Name: Carl
Scammer's Real Photo Source: Stephen Aldrich

- A fourteen-year-old paper delivery girl discovered the first clues of the scam on a porch railing in September.
- Karen Vogel was 32 years old in the winter of 2019 when she joined HearthLink.
- The scammer used photographs of Stephen Aldrich, a freight coordinator from Salina, Kansas, who had two adult sons.
- Karen sent the first wire transfer of $1,800 in May, three months after matching with "Carl."
- By July, Karen had made five wire transfers, ranging from $1,400 to $6,200.

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.]]>1469falsefull