Hey, weirdos, Elena here.
If you're looking to kick back and relax with Morbid, Wondery Plus is the way to go.
It's like having a cozy seat in our haunted mansion, no ads, just you and early access to new episodes.
You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or an Apple podcast or Spotify.
You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. Listening on Audible helps your imagination soar.
Whether you listen to stories, motivation, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love.
You can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, and new ways of thinking.
Listening can lead to positive changes in your mood, your habits, and ultimately, your overall well -being.
Audible has an incredible selection of over one million audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible originals all in one easy app.
Find the genres you love and discover new ones.
Explore bestsellers, new releases, plus thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and originals that members can listen to all all they want with more added all the time.
Right now, I am listening to The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, and I just cannot get enough of it.
I never want to pause it.
I'm literally like loading the dishwasher listening to it, on the treadmill listening to it constantly.
It's so awesome. I love being able to listen anytime, anywhere I want to.
And there's more to imagine when you listen.
Sign up for a free 30 -day Audible trial, and your first audiobook is free.
Visit audible .com slash morbid.
You know what time it is?
It's time for a fresh approach to dog food and that's where The Farmer's Dog comes in.
Developed by board -certified nutritionists, which is pretty impressive, The Farmer's Dog is human -grade dog food that's made with real meat and veggies and gently cooked to preserve those nutrients.
Traditional pet food is highly processed and difficult to portion correctly, but The Farmer's Dog, it's changed that with their freshly made food.
They take the guesswork out of serving sizes by precisely portioning your dog's food based on their very unique nutritional needs.
Sidney and Blanche are eating the Farmer's Dog right now, and we absolutely love it.
What's really fun is each packet has their name on it, so it says Blanche's Food, Sidney's Food, which is just fun.
They love it. They can't read, but I kind of pretend that they do.
Maybe they can. Maybe they can.
Who am I to say? Get 50 % off your first box of fresh, healthy food at thefarmersdog .com slash morbid.
Plus, you get free shipping.
Just go to thefarmersdog .com slash morbid to get 50 % off.
That's thefarmersdog .com slash morbid.
Your hair looks really good.
Oh, thank you. Hey, weirdos.
I'm Ash. And I'm Elena.
And yes, yes, morad.
Thank you. i feel like we should leave in the part where you said my hair looked really good because that was a very nice moment i was gonna say it before or i was gonna say it again i mean no i just like it it should be before the episode starts okay that should just be yeah that's how the recording started let's let's keep it in let's keep it in keep it in take out it do we do we burp before before we started no i know you never know not in this one at least oh yeah you know oh did you leave it in leave it in mention it all r .i .p also quick update uh in one of my last cases jack tupper i mentioned
a fucking uh horse owner named bill frankl and one of our horse right wasn't it or he was a horse owner and he hired jack tupper to be the trainer um and his name was bill frankl and one of our listeners said that that's bethany frankel's late father i myself need to do some digging to to make sure that's true but could be when you said the name i almost was like is any relation to bethany when i wrote it i thought it but i was too involved in the case that i forgot to go back and look at that little part we all thought it none of us said it but like is that him like for real i mean it's a very
quick google search that we could do it's her dad that's her our dad shit look at that he was called bobby though so i'm like bill bobby i mean i don't know people call people all kinds of things that's a wild little that's cray cray tidby up that is cray cray wild tidbit wild tidbit wow sorry i just got lost in a headline i was like uh you were like hey we're doing something here all right so it's listener tales and you know know what that means it's brought to you by you for you from you and all about you yay we're lucy goosey it's listener tales listener tales listener tales this one i don't
think has a theme it's just an episode with crazy tales in it can i start yeah awesome my tale is called the time i was accused of being an international spy for taking a picture of a mountain that looked like a butt so that's why i wanted to start because they took a picture of me that looked like a butt i already love this and it does look like a butt they sent a photo all right it says hi ash elena and deb deb just wanted to start off by saying how much i love the podcast i'm so glad that my co -worker recommended it to me because it's really kept me sane over the past few weeks as i've been
dealing with a severe concussion oh my gosh and i haven't been able to do pretty much anything other than listen to podcasts listening to your episodes have kept me entertained and saved me me from overwhelming boredom so thank you you're welcome you're welcome i'm not sure if this story is something you'd want to share on listener tales it is but i figured you might get a kick out of it either way i attached a double space puta and some pictures to this email i've also changed the names for privacy purposes thank you for reading so this happened while i was on a language immersion internship
program into a country uh nopa county nopa country a country I've got to go.
A country in East Africa.
I've changed all the names for privacy reasons.
Stop laughing at me.
On this particular day, I had gone on a site visit to a— Shut up!
It's not just me laughing.
Mikey is too. I know.
Everybody's laughing.
It's not just me being mean.
Everybody's mean to me all the time.
Please rescue me. Rescue her.
Rescue me. Just harmonizing BRB.
On this particular day!
why i had gone out to a site visit to a rural woman's banking collective with some employees of the non -profit i was interning with and a woman from the un who funded the non -profit that's pretty fucking cool the day had already been longer than expected because we had to stop for about an hour on the way to the village for a road to be built oh you know just gotta pause this road is being built now i still have a lot of questions about the road being built because if it wasn't there in the first place why were we going that way that's what i was gonna ask maybe it had been built then destroyed
and they were rebuilding it i don't know who knows we'll never know anyway we were running late because of the road situation and i was extremely hungry because i hadn't eaten anything all day after the woman from the u .n had regaled regaled regaled regaled me with stories about getting typhoid from food she ate in a similar context oh that'll get you hungry that will make you not want to eat anything ever i felt bad for not accepting the food from the the generous woman who offered it to me but I have already had enough stomach issues as it is and I really didn't feel like I could take the risk
I was also starting to get nervous because the sun was starting to go down and I had been warned many times about the dangers of being out after dark ah so you can imagine my delight when my co -worker pulled the car over for no apparent reason and pointed exactly excuse me excitedly out the window saying look Anna what does that mountain look like being the annoyed wet blanket I was feeling like in that moment I replied in a a monotone a butt jemma it looks like a butt do you want to take a picture i did not i just wanted to get home before dark and eat something so i sat grumpily in my seat as
everyone else in the car took pictures in hindsight the mountain really did look a lot like a butt and it was pretty funny but i was not feeling it in that moment and it turns out that was probably a good thing for me oh man my annoyance quickly turned to panic though when a man in a dirty t -shirt and cargo pants stuck his arm into the driver's side window reached over to Juma and pulled our keys out of the ignition the way my entire body would shut down I would just cease to exist the fight or flight response that I am currently feeling just thinking being in that position is outrageous right
now gotta go naturally Juma who was in the driver's seat asked the man what he was doing and demanded the keys back the man responded that he was a police officer doubt it and couldn't give the keys back because we were a threat to national security since we were taking pictures of the landscape landscape close to the border and foreigners were in the car now this was clearly bullshit because the village we had been at earlier was much closer to the border and we hadn't been taking a buttload of pictures there without issue no pun intended i'm also not even sure he was a police officer since he
didn't give us any form of id and was definitely not dressed like a police officer i wouldn't count on it yeah no i explained to him that i was not in fact a spy but rather a student and offered multiple times to show him my passport and visa he was uninterested after a few minutes of back and forth he demanded that juma get out of the car to quote unquote settle this i hate this like are we gonna have a cage match what the fuck this is where i started to get really worried i bet the police in this country did not have the best reputation and And while I knew he probably just wanted a bribe, I
was scared he might beat Juma up if he didn't want to pay.
And Juma was a stubborn but not very large guy.
After a few minutes of me craning my neck to try and see what was going on next to the car unsuccessfully, the next thing I knew, Juma was getting back into the driver's seat and the police officer, quote unquote, was hopping into the back seat of our car, getting real cozy with my coworkers, who were now sitting four people in the back row of seats.
What? we're all going to the police station to get this figured out he announced what what no I was actually pretty shocked by this development were you and do you because up to that point I was fully convinced that he was not a police officer but rather a random guy trying to make a quick buck to be honest me too I'm so this would also be shocking I'm still not convinced that he's not per this guy's insistence Juma drove the now very crowded car to the local police station where we we went in one by one for questioning.
I began to feel very glad that I did not take any pictures of butt mountains because they demanded to see my camera roll and had the pleasure of seeing my progress pictures from my workout plan and a few shots of monkeys stealing stuff from trash cans.
The rest of my coworkers frantically tried to delete their butt mountain pictures before their interrogation.
Much to my chagrin, the woman from the UN decided to use this moment to take a moral stance and refuse to show them her phone because of diplomatic immunity wow being that my main goal was getting home before dark and getting something to eat i tried to convince her to just let it go and show them her phone she had already deleted the pictures of butt mountain so i didn't get the big deal because she didn't speak the local language and the police officer didn't really speak english i got the pleasure of being her interpreter the police officer repeatedly demanded to know if she thought he would steal
her phone and insisted that he had no reason to because he had his own iPhone he's like bitch I have my own phone he's like I don't need your fucking phone he also clearly did not know much or care about the UN or the idea of diplomatic community the whole situation was just ridiculous to me and I had no interest in being in the and being the middleman but there I was in total we were probably at the police station for about three hours before the quote -unquote supervisor again I have no idea if any of these people were actually police officers but I think the place we were at was a police station unclear
clear what i'm so confused came to see what was going on this supervisor did have a healthy respect or fear of the un and when the un woman told him she needed his name and badge number to report to the un why she was checking in late he insisted that we leave as soon as possible with a deluge of apologies wow unfortunately i did not make it back before dark but did get home safe despite having to jump into some underbrush filled with rats to avoid getting hit by a car there were no street lights on my road so cars generally couldn't see pedestrians after dark at this point i still have a lot
of questions about what happened that day but i'm just happy to be able to look at look back at the story and laugh thanks for reading if you made it this far and keep it weird but not so weird that you pretend to be a police officer and steal non -profit workers keys and drag them to a maybe police station for hours when they're really just tired and hungry for obvious reasons i can't attach any attach any pictures of butt mountain but i've have attached some pictures of the road being built here.
I have no idea how to react to that one.
That's funny because I thought the picture that you did attach looked like a butt.
I was going to say, I didn't see the butt mountain, so I thought I was just missing it.
Yeah. It's not a mountain really now that I look at it.
It's just a tree and some brush.
Wow. But now I really want to see what a wild story that's insane truly a wild story wow dang anna imagine that's not your real name i know that don't worry we're not using real names but never but dang i just like that butt mountain was the thing that almost got you guys but that's not what i meant to say oh man hey weirdos we need to tell you about something that has completely blown our minds collectively there's a new show called lawless planet that's uncovering true crime stories so massive they're affecting the entire planet.
Post -Zach Goldbaum is investigating real cases where environmental destruction meets murder, conspiracy, and cover -ups.
We're talking about activists who disappear in the Amazon rainforest, whistleblowers who risk everything to expose deadly corporate secrets, and communities being silently poisoned while powerful people profit.
What makes these stories truly terrifying?
They're happening right now.
This isn't history.
It's a massive criminal conspiracy unfolding in real time, with consequences that affect us all.
Each episode feels like opening a case file into the darkest corners of corporate and government power.
Trust us. Once you start listening, you will not be able to stop thinking about these stories.
Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad -free right now by joining Wondery+.
Hey, weirdos. You know Ash and I have covered some seriously dark tales about romance gone really wrong.
Oh yeah, there are so many cases where too good to be true turns out to be exactly that.
Well, get ready for a love story that's going to blow your minds because this one is happening right now.
And get this. It's hosted by our friends Hannah and Saruti from Red Handed.
Meet Travis. He falls head over heels for Lily Rose.
She's gorgeous. She's understanding.
And she's literally perfect.
And she's not human.
That's right. Lily Rose is an AI companion, a computer program designed to be Travis's dream woman and at first it seems like a perfect relationship but when Lily Rose's behavior starts getting strange this love story takes a dark and twisted turn that no one saw coming.
Follow Flesh and Code on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can binge all episodes early and ad free by joining Wondery Plus.
All right well I'm gonna move on to Listener Tale.
my husband was kidnapped as an infant by child traffickers what what let's see what this is about it says thank you so much for the opportunity deb hey deb deb shut up hello weirdos first of all my husband is alive and well and was unharmed in his kidnapping good i put the subject line as a question because his this was my reaction when my mother -in -law told me the story you can call me by By a name I have always loved for a little girl, Siggy, short for a Norwegian name Sigrid.
Oh, I like that. I was originally planning on using my real name and coming up with an attempted witty and humorous introduction, considering my name is androgynous and is often mistaken for a man's.
I am not a man and unfortunately have the postpartum bodily scarring to prove it.
However, for the purposes of this story and to bend to the will of my catastro...
I can never say that word. Catastrophizing.
There you go. Right?
Anxiety, sounds good.
I'll be using aliases.
That's totally fine with us.
A few things before we get into it.
Number one, I feel I should be shunned from the podcast universe for not having heard of your show prior to my book club picking The Butcher and the Wren for the month of October last year.
Hey, that's awesome.
Elena, your novel was amazing and I loved every bit of that book.
Thank you. In my defense, I tend to stay within my comfort zone when it comes to books, podcasts, and movies, and my particular podcast love is true crime but one -story seasons, reasons such as Up and Vanished and Serial.
Really? However, that has all changed now because I cannot stop listening to your podcast. Thank you.
Shout out to my fellow morbid weirdo listeners, Lauren, Erin, Andrea, and Katie.
They all gave me permission to use their real names.
Hell yeah, you guys.
Hell yeah, yeah. Number two, since listening to the show, I've literally laughed out loud hearing Ash's unique vernacular term, including terms such as mans, thickums, McGee, and engodged.
Engodged. Congrats, by the way.
Also, being that I am a sixth generation Appalachian or Appalachian, I always say it wrong.
Okay, Appalachian mountain woman.
I can confirm you just told me how it's pronounced.
It's pronounced Appalachian.
Thank you. I will hold on to that now.
I firmly believe that any time Appalachian is mispronounced, an ancestor of mine rolls over in their grave saying, bless their heart, dripping in old southern lady condescension.
So for the sake of my gone but not forgotten family members with cool ass names like Icy and Zeta oh hell yeah just say it correctly folks Appalachian Appalachian from here on out it feels right it feels better finally this story is not mine to tell I take pride in sharing it because my husband was kidnapped is a great addition to two truths and a lie but ultimately the only morbid worthy happenings in my life have involved my father in a ski mask trying to scare me and a local criminal trying to escape the law by entering my house those are pretty good I feel I like the second one in particular.
And though both experiences were equally traumatizing, this story is much more entertaining and just freaking insane.
I myself even found it hard to believe when I first heard it, but it's as true as a dog's love for its human.
I do have a few what I've called siggy side notes scattered throughout the story to clarify things or to add interesting tidbits.
Those are from me, but the bulk of the story is from my mother -in -law's perspective.
So without further ado, here is my mother -in -law Drew's story of her five -month -old baby, B .T.
kidnapped in Hawaii oh my god she chose the name and it made me laugh considering the podcast we are submitting this to hey ash is fiance it is long so if it doesn't get played on the podcast I completely understand but I felt y 'all would appreciate the read given the story I've attached the double -spaced put off a another term I'm now obsessed with for your viewing ease as well as the newspaper article about the story so you know it's real and some picture of my mother -in -law my husband and I and my own little guy for for reference oh my god the most beautiful child adorable so beautiful by the way
ash she is a libra and i'm a virgo okay oh we got there we go we got a libra in here oh one more side note my dad has some creepy stories like my aunt waking up in a cemetery across the street from their house as a kid and my nana pronounced nana being temporarily paralyzed by otherworldly beings so if you'd like me to share those let me know please do we would like that keep on keeping it weird my gals siggy oh your family's so beautiful truly a gorgeous family oh my god you're a little bipey all right many of us have had moments in life that we can look back on and realize how extremely brave
and lucky we are for having gotten through them for me the kidnapping of my child was such an event i'm already i just got full chills down my body warmed i remember the day clearly october 10th 1989 my son was just one day shy of five months and was very much still an infant.
We had just relocated to Waikiki from Cupertino, California.
We had been living with my mom and my unhinged stepfather and wanted a new living environment for the health and safety of my son and I.
I was a radio DJ by trade and had decided to go to Hawaii to work for my friend, who was a new program director at KPOI, Honolulu's rock station.
A few weeks prior to this incident, I had managed to secure a small studio apartment in Waikiki for tea and myself.
I recall being shocked at the extremely high cost of rent.
I was on the hunt for a babysitter so that I could work in the evening hours.
My general shift was going to be from about 10 p .m. to 2 a .m. After failed attempts at finding care through the people I had met, and after scouring the newspaper ads without success, I decided to place an ad myself.
Several people responded to the ad, and in Hawaii, a lot of ladies take on childcare from their homes.
homes surely I'd be able to spot someone who was not a legitimate caretaker right this area is known for being very welcoming and family oriented one person in particular responded and left multiple messages I was going through a few others and had not called her back yet however she called me again sounding almost pushy about the job I should have seen that as a red flag as none of the other applicants had that same approach but I really needed to find a sitter and I honestly didn't think much of it i finally spoke with her and we talked for about 30 minutes she sounded nice she had kids of her
own she was a retired nurse etc etc all the normal sounding stuff so we set up a time to meet in person this initial contact was right around the time of my birthday october 7th so it's easy to recall the events in the timeline i remember going into her apartment which was very close to my own it was a tall high -rise building sitting in the alawai canal in the middle of Waikiki.
This is important to the story as being familiar with this building was one of the main factors in knowing what happened to T.
Since it was close to my birthday, we agreed that this woman, who we will call Stella for the purpose of the story, would try out an hour or two with my son and see if it was a good fit for us all.
I was super overprotective of him, being that I was a 25 -year -old single mother living 2 ,400 miles from home.
Therefore, I always had anxiety when anyone Anyone else watched him aside from my mother.
I'm that way anyway, so don't worry.
Except it's me that gets to watch them.
I decided to go out for a few hours to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It had recently opened and was supposed to be an amazing experience.
We decided on a date and time, and I really looked forward to a few hours on my own.
When I arrived at her apartment the initial time, Stella watched tea.
She was wearing a house dress, was about my height of 5 '8", was thin with bleach blonde hair, and wore wire -rimmed glasses.
She literally looked like a younger grandma type and appeared to stay home most of the time.
That night for me was everything I wanted it to be.
And the check -in calls with Stella went equally as well, with her giving me frequent updates on how T was doing.
I felt very excited to be moving on with my life and away from living with my abusive stepfather.
After a few hours of dinner and drinks, I called a cab and headed back to the apartment complex. When I got back to her 21st floor apartment, Stella quickly opened the door and invited me in.
The baby was sleeping soundly in a bed we had made on the floor, and he looked peaceful and happy.
We talked about how she was feeling, how I was feeling, and confirmed that we both wanted to do this again in the future.
I scooped the baby up, went down to the awaiting cab, and back to our new apartment.
Stella and I continued to talk on the phone in the coming days, and she always asked how T was doing and what he was up to on any given day.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, conversations were normal, she listened to my request, and she seemed like a genuinely nice person i never once felt any weird vibes or feelings when we spoke isn't that so scary that's terrifying some people just don't give off the vibe that they're a fucking monster the next opportunity for her to watch him was on the night of october 10th i had to go to the radio station to train before i could go on air so i was scheduled to be there in the early evening late afternoon for this purpose i thought it would be a great time for stella to watch the baby again and do
another trial run before i had to work full time as i had done this as i had done done before, I bundled the baby up, filled his large diaper bag with all the things he could possibly need and caught a taxi back to Stella's apartment.
Everything once again seemed normal when we arrived and she answered the door inviting us in.
However, I distinctly remember two things.
One, she was wearing a house dress like before, but this time she had regular clothes laying out on her bed, which I could see from the living room.
That struck me as a little odd, but I said nothing.
Two, she had placed two very large suitcases directly adjacent to the front door.
Those suitcases had not been present during the previous visit.
I asked her about them and she said she was taking them downstairs in the morning to her storage unit in the garage.
This didn't seem unusual as many of these buildings had subterranean parking with private storage units for tenants' items for an additional fee.
The baby was sleepy, so after sticking around for a few minutes chatting, I handed him over to get ready to leave. I recall saying something like, You don't have plans to go anywhere, right?
And she laughed as though the idea was preposterous.
She was drinking a Coca -Cola from a glass with ice, and I watched her swig and refill it several times while I sat there.
I stood up to leave, and as I left, I remembered that the lobby of her building had a large bank of phones.
I'd been meaning to call my best friend Bill for several days and had not gotten around to it.
So I decided I would use the phone in the lobby to update him on my new job and our life in Hawaii before going to work.
This proved to be a very critical decision in all of this because had I not stopped to call him in the lobby Stella would have likely gotten away with kidnapping my five -month -old oh I just got full chills all over again oh I walked to the bank of phones that is some like mama power in there that you were just like you know what I'm gonna stop right now yeah I'm not gonna wait till I get to the station I'm not gonna I'm gonna stop right now I walked to the bank of phones and remember getting him on the line immediately sounded He found a relief to hear from me and was asking all about the baby.
I told him about the job and the new apartment, that I was excited about finding a babysitter, and that I was in a really decent place mentally.
Oh. The phones were situated in the lobby so that when you used them, your back was turned away from the front door.
Therefore, if anyone were to exit the building and walk by you, you would most likely not see them.
Just before Bill and I said goodbye, he said, please take care of T, and if I were you, I would go back up there one more time to check on him.
What? Fucking Bill.
Why would you say that, too?
You wouldn't think your friend would just say that randomly.
He's just like, you know what?
He's got a feeling.
This was the best piece of advice I have ever received.
I hung up the phone and jumped in the elevator, heading back upstairs to Stella's apartment.
I remember walking up to the door.
I had just left 15 minutes earlier and seeing that it was slightly ajar.
It caught me off guard and I pushed on it, immediately calling out her name.
No one answered. I ventured further into the apartment and realized Stella's house dress was thrown on the bed.
The clothes she had laid out earlier were gone.
The lights were off.
The TV was off. And more importantly, my son, Stella, and those two suitcases had vanished.
Oh my God. My heart just dropped for you.
Truly. I began to freak out and I could literally feel the fear and adrenaline pumping so hard in my heart.
This could not be happening.
I must have been seeing things wrong.
She had to be here.
Where was my baby? My thoughts were racing and I started hyperventilating.
I was completely overwhelmed.
My first thought was that perhaps she had just gone to take the garbage out.
They had a separate garbage room in these buildings requiring you to walk down the hall to throw your trash away.
I ran as fast as I could down the hall, shrieking her name because I was just so scared.
Where had this lady gone with my baby?
Oh my God. I jumped back on the elevator thinking I would ride down to the security desk to the lobby and ask them if they had seen her or the baby.
When I approached the desk, I asked the two men sitting there if they had seen Stella come down the elevator or leave the building in any way.
They both nodded their heads and pointed to the door.
I asked, did she leave?
They both nodded again.
And one said she was carrying a baby and almost slipped on the floor, nearly dropping him on her way out of the building.
I could not believe what I was hearing.
Why? Why did she leave?
I asked the officer at the desk to call 911 and report a missing child.
I talked to the police and gave them a brief account of what happened, all in between sobbing and hyperventilating.
The police assured me they were on their way.
After I hung up with the police, I asked the security people to begin calling all taxi services in the area.
so they could determine which taxi Mae had possibly picked her up.
They called at least six or seven cab companies and each time they were told that no one had anyone that sounded like Stella or a baby in their car.
By this time, I had gone out to the front lawn in front of the apartment building and was sitting on the grass bawling my eyes out.
I'd been through so much bringing this baby into the world alone just a few months before and thought after everything we've been through, this is how it's going to end.
Oh my God. Before long, several police vehicles pulled up.
I recall there being a large police presence with an ambulance in tow as well.
It was during this period that I kept trying to figure out a way to make it back into the apartment building and up to the very top to jump off the roof.
I know it sounds scary, but I really thought that if my baby was gone, that I really did not want to be on this earth anymore.
The police asked me questions, mountains of questions.
How did I meet Stella?
What did she do for work?
What does she look like?
What phone numbers did I have for her?
How many times did you watch them before today?
And on and on. I was completely overwhelmed and to this day have never cried so hard in my life After sitting outside with the police I could hear the radio traffic on their police scanners as the situation progressed I couldn't understand everything as they were using codes But evidently they were pursuing some leads in the case and we were on stamp we were to stand by I cannot recall exactly how long we sat there waiting for any type of news, but it seemed like two hours at least Probably more I remember one of the officers, a large Samoan man, sitting next to me on the grass, reassuring me
everything would turn out okay.
I really didn't believe him, but I kept nodding my head.
Just then, an officer on the radio said the words my entire body had been aching to hear.
We got him. We got him.
We found the missing baby.
Oh my god. My whole body is covered.
Like literally, I was just going to say chills.
Like I had goosebumps on my legs right now.
Everyone around me cheered and high -fived.
We were all so excited.
and this was but this was still very much a police investigation even though they had somehow managed to find him and stella things still needed to be sorted out and the place the place to do that was the police station i was in a squad car and driven downtown to the honolulu police department it was a low -slung building on a side street with yet another subterranean parking structure beneath it i was led into a fairly large room that was dark inside with windows covered by dark drapes i was asked to sit at a large rectangular table in the center of the room with a very large real reel -to -reel
tape recorder in the center.
It was the classic, we just need to ask you a few questions mantra being said to me.
I agreed, but kept asking where my son was and when I would be able to see him.
They asked me numerous questions over and over again, framing it in different ways.
Why did I give my child to Stella?
Wasn't it true that I no longer wanted him?
So she must have said she like sold him.
Yep. Had I called to check on him while I was gone, either tonight or on the previous occasion she had watched him?
I simply tried to calm myself down and answer all their questions clearly and honestly to the best of my ability.
I understood they had a job to do, but it was an interrogation -style interview.
I felt confident in my heart that everything would work out and that I would be getting my baby back soon.
Suddenly, there was a commotion at the door of the interview room, and we learned that they had arrested Stella and were bringing her downstairs to the jail.
They wanted me to go down there and see if I could identify her.
i recall feeling so much anger that she had done this and was really looking forward to seeing her face to face as the patrol car rolled in i could clearly see a set of legs kicking at the glass of the rear door of the squad car no face no torso just legs that's so creepy when the car came to a stop an officer got out and walked around to let stella out of the car they grabbed her by each arm and walked in my direction immediately her eyes met mine and she began and cursing at me saying I had given her my baby that I was a liar and that she was taking care of him because I wasn't and so much other
utter bullshit She is disturbed I scream back and I think I called her every name in the book I was feeling homicidal at that point and really did not care about anything else aside from getting to her The police had repeatedly had to repeatedly hold me back as she passed by and went into the jail By this time it was dark outside and the officers escorted me back inside the building to wait They informed me that T had been taken to the hospital as a precaution to be checked out for any injuries or sign of abuse from Stella.
I remember sitting in that police station for another four or five hours.
It felt surreal and very out of body.
I had a hard time thinking about what had just happened because I was in shock and I was not responding to things as I usually would have. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery's podcast, American Scandal.
We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U .S. history, events that have shaped who we are as a country and that continue to define the American experience.
American Scandal tells marquee stories about American politics, like the break -in at the Watergate Hotel, an event that led to the downfall of a president and raised questions about the future of American democracy.
We go behind the scenes looking at devastating financial crimes, like the fraud committed at Enron and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
And we tell stories of complicated public figures like Edward Snowden and Monica Lewinsky, people who found themselves thrust into the spotlight and who spurred debates about the future of the country.
Follow American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts.
You can listen ad -free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.
After about five hours, an officer came to get me to walk into a different area of the police department.
When I rounded the corner, I saw T wrapped in a sheet with nothing on but a diaper.
He saw me and started crying.
I walked over, grabbed him, and gave him my biggest, longest hug I could imagine.
He immediately relaxed, and he appeared to be very tired.
I asked the police if I could leave and go home and they said yes they stated Stella would be in jail for a while as they were charging her with felonial felony custodial interference in the first degree a major felony there were additional charges as well but that was the main charge I was contacted the next day by police and they told me the story of how she was caught I was chomping at the bit to learn the story of her capture and her motive for kidnapping my child according According to police, she had gotten into the cab with the baby.
She had directed the cab driver to drive her to downtown Honolulu to Bishop Street.
The taxi driver immediately felt weird vibes from her as she was too old to have such a young baby who was only clothed in a diaper and a sheet.
He asked her whose baby he was, how old he was, and whatever information he could glean from her.
Wow, this guy's like great.
Seriously. She told him she was caring for a friend's child because the mom needed a break and could no longer care for him her response to his questions and her vague answers really grabbed his attention good for this guy while the taxi driver was driving to the destination he told her he needed to make a stop for gas she agreed and he pulled over to a gas station when he got out he called into the taxi stand explaining that he was driving an older lady with a baby and that he was concerned for the baby's welfare it was then that the taxi company realized their driver was driving around with the missing
child Everyone was looking for.
The driver was instructed to act normally and take Stella to wherever she wanted to go, but to stay with her to find out her actual destination.
They pulled in front of a large high -rise in downtown Honolulu.
Since she had two full suitcases and a baby, the taxi driver brilliantly offered to help her take her luggage upstairs.
Smart. So he would be able to see the apartment she was entering and provide valuable information to the police.
When he got to the apartment with her, he saw an older man and the baby was taken into another room.
The driver immediately contacted police with all the information he had on Stella including her exact location.
They waited several minutes for other officers to arrive before going upstairs to confront Stella and her apparent boyfriend who was part of the entire plan.
When they knocked, no one answered at first. I'm certain they were wondering who could be at the door.
After several tries, they opened the door and were confronted by the police.
At first, Stella denied knowing anything about a baby and denied knowing me.
Like they're not going to find the baby in the apartment, girlfriend?
Yeah. The police asked to come in and talk and go over the information that they had with Stella.
While they were in the apartment, they heard a baby crying and immediately knew the gig was up.
One of the officers walked to a closed back bedroom door and opened it up.
Inside, they found tea laying in a sheet and nothing more than a diaper.
No bottles, no diaper bag, nothing.
I'm not sure what happened to the diaper bag I left with her, but it was gone.
What? Both she and her boyfriend were handcuffed and searched.
It was during this time that the police discovered passports, other identification, and over $30 ,000 in cash.
What the fuck? It was clear that something nefarious was going on, and both parties were immediately arrested and taken into custody.
This is so bizarre.
The key to this whole story was the taxi driver.
If he had not been alert and aware when talking to Stella, he would have never stopped and called in to report what he was dealing with in the taxi.
a taxi since it was already a major response by the police and looking for a baby and we knew stella was in a cab at some point the driver's call was the one we were all waiting for i was able to get my baby back at the police station so t and i went home to our new apartment and called my father who is an experienced police officer for the sacramento police department and explain what happened siggy side note my husband's grandpa was not only a sacramento pd officer but one who had worked the golden state killer case and retired as a captain a real badass are you guys trying to kill me out here
like what story is like just the twist and turn seriously all of it was very hard to believe and he asked me many questions and for many details after speaking he decided the best thing for me was to gather my stuff and hop on the next available plane back to the mainland i must say it was very disappointing as i had high hopes for my time with t in our new state but ultimately our island time had run its course and wasn't meant to be I do not blame you we flew back to Sacramento not Cupertino there was no way I was going to put myself and my child back into that unhealthy situation my father
was very very well connected and was able to find an apartment for me within a few days he helped us furnish it and I began looking for work we were contacted by the Honolulu district attorney's office letting us know a victim slash witness Kokuwa services I'm not positive that sounds right though who could assist me with the resources I may need as well as to help me through the criminal justice system in Hawaii.
They also told me that it might take some time for the case to go to trial and that Stella had been released on bail with restrictions.
The fuck? She was not allowed to leave the state for any reason and she had to check in regularly with the probation officer to stay free until trial.
She agreed to this.
It took approximately two years for the case to wind its way through the court system and I was surprised when I received the call that we had a trial date.
The advocate told me they would be needing me to travel back to Hawaii to be a witness for the prosecution.
Oh man. I was excited that I might see some justice for what had been the scariest, harrowing, and most traumatizing event in my life.
It was a warm summer day as I flew out to Hawaii to attend the trial.
My mom stayed behind to take care of T as I had no intention of ever having him step foot in Hawaii again.
Immediately upon arrival, I was called down to the victim witness offices.
There I met with both prosecutors and their staff.
I was asked to repeat the story of what happened from my perspective, perspective and they helped me to recall certain parts of the kidnapping.
My mind was unsteady as I felt I had mentally blocked out much of the incident.
It was not something I wanted to talk or think about but I did my best in recalling the events.
For about three days we met every day and went over the questions they were going to ask me.
It made certain I responded truthfully but with an emphasis on certain things that had happened.
It was like going to school.
The biggest pointer they gave me was to look directly at the jury when answering and to express any emotions I might be having after recalling the events of that day.
The following day was the start of the trial.
I remember walking into the courtroom and the entire jury box was full of jurors.
It was strange seeing Stella sitting at the defense table as I had not seen her a long time.
I was placed on the witness stand and my testimony began.
It soon came to feel like I, not the defendant, the defendant was on trial.
It's sad how often that happens.
The defense attorney painted a picture of me that said I was a bad mom and had let Stella take the baby because I wanted to go out and party.
Meanwhile, you were going to your job.
He also stressed that I'd willingly given tea to Stella and that the only thing she was guilty of was being concerned for the welfare of my child.
What was the $30 ,000 in cash about then?
Once it came time, and why was it that when you came to, then the police came to the door and asked for the baby, they said there was no baby in the apartment.
Exactly. Once it came time for the prosecution to question me, I immediately began crying on the stand.
It was super emotional recalling the events one by one and having to explain my thoughts and my actions at every step.
I made it clear that in no way had I given my baby to Stella or anyone and that she never had permission to leave the apartment at any time with my child.
I ended up being on the witness stand for three days.
I gave honest testimony and told the facts as I remembered them.
On the third day, I was released as a witness and sent back to my hotel to wait the next step.
I felt completely spent and cried several more times recalling the events that I had tried to push down for so long.
I was never allowed in the courtroom while others testified, so I had no idea about what other things had been said other than my own testimony.
On day four, we were told the verdict had been reached.
SIGGY side note, I became a Susie Sleuth, as my mother -in -law calls it, and I ended up finding the basic docket information on the case.
Hell yeah, Susie Sleuth.
The jury debated for less than two hours.
This spineless bottom feeder was done.
Hell yeah. I was asked if I wanted to return to the courthouse and I declined as I was scared and nervous and just wanted it to be over so I could get back to California and my baby.
The verdict came in that afternoon and Stella and her boyfriend were found guilty on all counts against them.
Her boyfriend was convicted of lesser charges because his involvement had been significantly less than Stella.
Now, remember, she was out on bail waiting for the trial, so her attorney asked that she be allowed to remain on bail until sentencing.
Like she's a literal kidnapper.
The judge agreed against the protestation of the prosecution.
Oh, fuck. They set a sentencing date for about two months away to allow Stella to prepare for prison.
I don't know about that.
I left Hawaii and flew back home, and I continued my life in Sacramento and was working and going to school.
T was two and a half by this time, and his only concern was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The story does not end here, though.
I was contacted by the prosecutor's office about two months after the trial and told that Stella had jumped bail and was on the run.
She had somehow managed to get off the island and was on to an unknown destination.
The way my stomach is in knots for you.
The prosecutor assured me that T and I were safe and they had hard leads indicating that she had escaped to England.
How the fuck did she get to England?
They had Interpol and the Scotland Yard searching down leads trying to locate her to bring her back to the United States for sentencing as a bench warrant had been ordered by the judge in the case.
Several more months went by and they continued to search for her.
I was not in the loop in any of this and just assumed they would find her and bring her back.
After a few more months had passed, I called down to the victim witness program to inquire about the sentencing status.
I really did want to know the outcome of everything.
Wow. Womp. and plane tickets upon her arrest. It was clear this was a trafficking case and she had no intention of keeping T, but was using him as a pawn to make money.
That's so scary. And I have often wondered if she had done this to, that's what I wondered, to any other people.
To take full advantage of a young single mom living in a different state than her family with little money and resources and literally kidnap her baby to try to sell him was the stuff of television dramas and crime shows.
I will never forget the look on my baby boy's face when they turned him back over to me from the hospital.
he was so scared i remember that his photo was taken before we left the police station and he was turned into a news story in the honolulu star advertiser oh my god ciggy side note my mother -in -law says that she remembers seeing a front page news story with t's picture on it however neither of us were able to locate it when we searched online i found the articles pertaining to t's kidnapping but both were both were small little snippets in the crime section of the main honolulu newspapers papers i've attached them to my email and fyi they report that stella was drew's roommate which was solely
untrue the fuck they did not interview drew for the story for reasons unknown to her so some of the details are reported in an error nice my my true thanks and gratefulness go out to the honolulu police department for finding t so quickly and for really pursuing a case against stella i'm just so thankful they believe me i also want to thank the honolulu's prosecutor's office for for getting the conviction in court and for taking such good care of me through the process.
T is now 33 years old, happily married with a toddler son.
I often think of this experience and cannot fathom my life if he was not found and brought back to me.
I'm, like, gonna cry.
I know. It is sad that all too many cases like mine do not conclude with positive results.
I am a very lucky girl, and I thank God every day for getting me through this experience, going on to live a happy, successful life, and for making me a Grammy to the sweetest little boy on the planet.
ruined me holy hell what a fucking story i holy shit i am without words it's crazy that we're just like looking at a picture of t 33 and happy and he's the little boy at the center of this story my i'm like i feel tearing up here can you imagine being his wife being like there's no way like i ever would have never known you we wouldn't have our baby and like maybe drew wouldn't be here beautiful baby i know like this little baby i know their baby is so perfect oh i just want to smush your baby but you guys are so beautiful together and your mother -in -law is so beautiful and it's just like holy
shit that is on another level thank you for thank your mother -in -law drew for writing that down that was incredibly written what an incredibly told story holy Holy shit.
And thank you for sharing it with us.
And thank goodness T is here.
And that's awesome.
Wow. And you guys are beautiful.
And I'm just, my whole body is like on fight or flight mode right now.
I'm just so stressed out for your mother -in -law.
That is one of the craziest tales that we've ever gotten.
It's so scary that you have to be worried about that stuff.
It is. And it's sad that you can't trust someone to babysit your child.
And it's even worse that a lot of people, because it takes a village.
Absolutely. You know, and I always feel really fortunate that I have so many people around me that I trust and that my kids are comfortable with and that are willing to help and able to help.
And a lot of people don't have that.
No, especially single mothers.
Oh, we think about it constantly.
Like John and I are constantly like, how do people do this without their village near them?
Seriously. And I should say single fathers too.
Yeah. Crazy. Wow. Thank you for that.
I feel like we need something haunted after that.
Yeah, bring me a haunted shit.
All right. thank you for sharing that yes ciggy that was incredible all right we've got listener tail does a demon come with everyone's college tuition or just mine I'm obsessed I'm obsessed it says hello beautiful spooky listeners my name is Addison yes you can use my name of course I have to start my listener tail off by saying how amazing and inspiring y 'all are thank you y 'all have such an amazing bond with each other and never fail to brighten my day enough with all this mushy stuff though let's go down to the nitty -gritty of the scariest fucking night of my life that i still think about to
this day so hang on to your tits it's going to be a wild ride remix remix so i'm from greensville south carolina and attended college at the good old university of southern carolina i remember pulling up to my assigned dorm building with my dad's car packed to the brim of an absurd absurd amount of unnecessary dorm stuff that i plan to decorate my room with but hey a girl can't have too much decor am i right no you are right you are absolutely my short commute to the um no no on the short commute from greenville to columbia i was picturing my dorm to be super cute and homey but boy i was wrong
i stepped one foot into that apartment style dorm and took one look around thinking to myself that there is no amount of home decor in the world to fix this place up i mean the place literally looked like satan himself lived in that very dorm was it goth maybe my roommate elena maybe it was goth came in after and we looked at each other as if we were thinking the same thing.
What the actual fuck?
My dad, of course, started to do the typical dad inspection of the apartment, and my mom kept assuring me and Elena that the place wasn't that bad.
Mom, be fucking for real.
We hugged our parents goodbye and started to make our little hellhole our own.
In the first few months, there were very little strange things that would occur.
Cabinet doors would be open when we knew we'd left them shut, and the TV would turn on in the middle of the night by itself.
These little things didn't particularly scare us because we just thought we were carelessly leaving cabinet doors open or leaving lights on.
Valid. A few months later, we both found ourselves a boyfriend.
They are now our piece of shit exes.
And I digress. Oh shit.
I'm sorry. We both started to basically spend every night with our boyfriends because the apartment was just flat out eerie and scary to be in.
I always felt like I was being watched and I had the feeling we weren't alone in that nasty ass dorm.
As the holidays rolled around, everyone started to pack up and head home for Christmas break, including our boyfriends.
So, we had to tough it out and stay a few nights in the hellhole i had to stay an extra few days because i had a job at a stupid ass pizza place and was scheduled to work for the rest of the week i made elena stay with me that whole week because i would rather sleep on a park bench than sleep alone in that piece of shit apartment i like that i'm part of this i do too i feel good being part of us with you i like it a lot she begrudgingly agreed but broke the news to me that she was leaving a day early fuck her i'm just kidding but still she gave me a hug grabbed her things and walked out the door I
wanted to break down crying, but it's only one night alone.
How bad can it be? Luckily, I had to work a double shift that day, so I wasn't in the apartment most of the day.
I got back around 10 p .m. that night.
I made myself some dinner, sat on the couch to watch my comfort show.
Hell yeah, Rick and Morty.
As I was eating my canned soup dinner and goldfish, that sounds awesome.
We call it girl dinner.
I heard what sounded like a cabinet door opening in the kitchen.
The place was old as dirt, so literally everything creaked and made noises.
surprises I've seen way too many horror films in my life to get up and investigate so I quickly ran to our room and locked the door the apartment is set up where me and Elena share a big room with two twin beds and the bedroom door has a big latch lock that you could not get into without a key that me and elena tied around our wrists i got in bed and listened out for any more noises and didn't hear anything so i basically gaslit myself into thinking that i was being absolutely ridiculous and there was nothing there we've all done that yeah i turned the lights off and got into bed my bad thoughts
went away quickly as i lost as i got lost scrolling through instagram which was part of my nightly routine about 30 minutes passed by when i heard the fucking latch lock on my bedroom door unlock itself oh that's horrible i was frozen in fear and laid in my bed paralyzed staring at my bedroom door we had blackout curtains in our room so the room was literally pitch black except the light coming from my phone that barely illuminated the room the door slowly started to creak open and i shot under my covers because i wanted to become invisible to whatever was on the other side of that door i started
to cry and even pissed myself a little i'm such a pussy i feel you i would have done the same thing i knew for a fact that i locked the front door to my apartment and the door to my bedroom door and the only key to get in was literally still tied around my wrist all i could hear was heavy breathing and a slow shuffle like someone was dragging their feet coming into the room oh i literally mustered up or excuse me i finally mustered up the courage to call out elena no answer elena's like it's not me bitch it wasn't me the breathing and the shuffling got louder and louder there was absolutely no way
in hell that I was going to look at what or who entered my room I could hear things being thrown around on the floor and I knew that it was the pillows being tossed on the ground from Elena's bed then I heard the creaking from her bed as if someone was getting in bed to go to sleep what the fuck the breathing continued and I just sat there and silent cried I am a religious person so I silently repeated the Lord's Prayer over and over again until somehow I fell asleep i can't believe you fell asleep just holy shit there's a literal demon in the other you're just like nighty night i woke up in the morning
and looked over at elena's bed and what the fuck do i see all of the pillows were on the ground and the comforter looked as if someone had slept on top of it chills flooded my body because i watched elena flawlessly make her bed before she left i went to check the front door which was still locked i called my mom crying and told her what happened and without hesitation she said Addison we need to bless that apartment and get that thing the fuck out of there.
I told her that I was just going to come home for now because I could not spend another minute in that place alone.
I called Elena to tell her what happened and she completely believed me and apologized for not staying with me.
Apology not accepted.
Shit I don't blame you.
Elena's like god damn it.
After we came back from our month break we walked into to the apartment to find all the cabinet and closet doors open even our refrigerator hate that we dropped our stuff in the doorway and ran out of there i called my mom and i told her that we will not be staying another night there and my mom said yes you are we are paying good money for you to be there thanks mom for the guilt trip but fuck no well i love that she's like we're gonna bless that place and then she's like you're gonna stay the fuck in there even if there is a diamond diamonds we had your tuition we paid your tuition we had a deposit
on that place that we won't get back stay with that diamond damn my angel of a mom drove up to Colombia that day and made me and Alina walked uh walk to the room with her as she walked through the room with her she yelled get out of this house you are not welcome here and read scriptures from the bible I'll tell you what the people on our floor probably thought we were crazy as hell but fuck it my mom took us to lunch and dropped us back I love that she was like you guys want to get some lunch after that let's get get some let's get some appies let's go to applebee's who dropped us back off when we
walked in the place it felt lighter and not as eerie thank the lord we didn't have any more activity since that day but we quickly learned from other students who resided in the building had quickly learned from students who resided in the building had strange things going on in their rooms too move out day did not come soon enough but we survived me and elena continued to be roommates all throughout college and are still sisters to this day that's beautiful as for the building that fucker got torn down this year as it should thank you so much for listening to my tale it literally gave me chills
to write this five years later as it is still the scariest thing that has ever happened to me i love you both and i hope you have the best day much love addison oh addison addison that was terrifying we hope you have the best day and thank goodness you were out of that fucking dorm for real because holy hell no pun intended my god maybe a little pun intended that was totally intended don't lie to the girl don't lie to the girl that was intended wow addison that was a lot uh should we do one more all right let's do listener tale of a haunted airbnb told by an east coaster playing the character
of a midwesterner obsessed damn sorry if i'm like slipping over my words i had like a dental procedure done yesterday and And, you know, shit happens.
You better get it together.
Sorry. Hey, Ash and Elena.
I finally found the courage to write in my listener tale, so I hope it makes it onto the pod.
It did. As the phrase goes, I've attached double -spaced putt -a -foot and some pictures as well for your enjoyment.
I look forward to more morbid episodes.
Yours truly, Chelsea the New Yorker who ended up in Wisconsin by way of Oregon.
Also, I know Massachusetts pretty well and was never a fan of Mass Holes, but somehow you two make me want to visit more.
the b -k -l -y -n italian in me makes it hard to like boston though you don't like boston we'll forgive you can we read this i'm forgetting because you know what we'll forgive you you have a really cute cat airbnb host that was a ghost and you know what that rhymed it does so there we go it says hey ash and elena i'm chelsea you can use my name because i'm a 37 year old aquarius with leo rising who still thinks they're 27 i love it so i love me some recognition flips hair i recently discovered morbid in may of 2022 but thankfully my life is uneventful so i was able to catch up to the present day pretty quickly
i first started listening to you when i had a month off from work so i was painting my home and doing odd jobs around my house now every time i'm in a certain room or staring at my porch i think i painted that to btk or the exterior door frames I painted that to John Wayne Gacy.
So you're forever stuck in my home and brain now.
I'll never forget painting my kitchen to Albert Fish and laughing my ass off at the two of you trying to explain why they used to use the Boy Scouts and the fact that no matter what, there's always an issue with managing paperwork.
Truly. Boy Scouts doing police work.
Who knew? Cops dropping the ball.
Who knew? Who knew?
For the last few months, I've been wanting to write in because I have little moments in my 100 -year -old bungalow with my old man ghost who watches me when I've had too much to drink or with the old Polish lady who insists I'm playing with Ivan my cat after 2am.
I'm obsessed with your cat.
I'm obsessed with all of that.
And Ivan, I love that name.
If you yell at her that it's bedtime, she stops.
But this one is about my Airbnb experience in Grand Rapids.
Please give us the other ones too later.
Please do. I live in Milwaukee.
Please note, I was not born in Wisconsin or Wisconsin.
I am a new yawker brooklyn bread badass i just want to clarify i live here because it's cheap also now i understand why you don't like boston it makes sense you honestly think the dime this dime piece lesbian would live here at a free will and not inflation back to it most every halloween weekend i drive over to michigan for saga tuck saga tuck i got it saga tuck douglas adult only halloween parade oh that's a must for your bucket list if you love the arts the gays and damn fun fun weekend.
I do. That sounds amazing.
Love all of those things.
I always try to get one night in Grand Rapids since it's a little less than an hour drive from the parade.
This one weekend, I booked an Airbnb instead of my usual bougie Marriott suite.
This house was built in the 1800s, so it was freezing even though the heat was on and it was overall creaky and creepy, but so adorable.
I got in, didn't unpack, threw my food in the fridge and went out exploring.
When I came home to cook and unwind, I opened the fridge and found my chicken breasts wrapped in and very nice linens that had chickens embroidered on them, like they were hand -sewn.
What? I stood there confused and triple -checked my brain that I didn't do that.
I drank a lot at this time and smoked a lot, too.
I could have done it, but I know I didn't.
Why would I cover my breasts?
I ignored it, made dinner, and went to the living room where I proceeded to pass out.
However, many hours later, I woke up freezing, so I got up to hit the bedroom, and I passed the bathroom where I noticed all the bathroom products were on the floor.
Like someone went in and had a hissy fit over the fact that Tressamay was the shampoo provided.
It was me. I knew that I didn't, I knew that I didn't do that.
So I took note and headed into the bedroom.
I love that you're just like, I didn't do that.
In the bedroom, my stuff was neatly placed at the foot of the bed and one side of the comforters was folded down as a way of inviting me into bed.
What the fuck? I also knew I didn't neatly place anything and the bed originally did not look like this.
So now I'm spooked and I creep into bed, totally wigged out of my brain thinking, is my Airbnb host a ghost?
Yes. And as I'm laying there trying to fall asleep, trying not to wig out, I hear pacing in the kitchen.
As if someone is preparing a meal, pots moving, someone walking around the island, the fridge opening, opening.
So suffice to say, I did not fall asleep.
I also did not go out and investigate.
Nope. Fuck that. it can't be a mean ghost if they're trying to meal prep right i don't think so my ex -girlfriend joined me the next day because that's what lesbians do we break up and then take a mini vacay together just to make sure we know the reasons why we broke up wow if that's not the truth i love you i told her about my exhaustion and experience but she doesn't believe in that stuff and said i was drunk well guess who heard the meal popping after 2 a .m who's the drunk now Now, still me at this time.
The morning of checkout, I messaged the host and simply said, Your place is haunted.
To which she simply said.
I love that you were like, hey, by the way, your place is haunted.
To which she simply said, yes, we know, and she's very nice.
To which I simply said, yes, she felt motherly to me trying to take care of me.
I rated her five stars.
She rated me five stars, and I left. That's incredible.
I live in a spooky house, but I'm very cordial with my ghosts.
They do nice things for me, like fix my lights or play with Ivan.
That's awesome. I'm also an Airbnb host, and have only been told some folks hear footsteps.
My medium, yes, I have a medium, came to my home and told me all about the folks who live with me and how they watch me when I renovate and paint, and they love Ivan.
Sometimes Ivan and I hear walking around downstairs, or we smell cologne, but meh, it's just the ghosts.
But that Airbnb stay was perhaps the creepiest experience I've had.
I'm sure the tequila did not help the situation.
Never does. us. If you're ever in Milwaukee and need an Airbnb in a classic 1920s bungalow, look me up.
If you end up going to Saga Talk, I hope that's how you say it.
I think it is for the dope ass Halloween parade.
Make time for Grand Rapids.
The old houses are off the charts there.
Google Heritage Chill.
And thank you. If you ended up reading this on the pod, I told my homies, if you did, I would make them listen to it daily for a month straight.
Because again, Aquarius Leo flips hair.
Well, homies get ready.
Attached is a picture of Ivan and a picture of the front of my home that zillo took clearly during the month of october because i had it all decorated peep that handmade life -size michael myers oh handmade i gotta see it out of all the things i've accomplished in my life this is in the top three let me see it let me see it right now let me see this let me see this oh my god look at that holy shit i did i didn't spot it at first but then i did damn that's terrifying you should put that in the top three also ivan is beautiful i love ivan and also an all -gray you are beautiful you are you are a dime
piece lesbian a dime piece lesbian correctly described yourself i'm obsessed with this entire story chelsea that was an amazing story also i like the color of your bathroom good call i just love that your ghosts take care of you and play with your cat i know that's nice that's awesome i really like that sometimes you're tired and like you love your cat but you don't want to play with them and you wish somebody else would well i like that your medium came and confirmed that was just like you know what they like you and they're gonna take care of you and play with your cat yeah i also like that you
have a medium i'd like a medium that i just have i would also love that let's look into that i feel like we can make that happen let's get a fucking medium chelsea that was great chelsea siggy fucking who else do we read from i don't know if we're supposed to say the first person's name no anna okay and addison yep yep you're all of you fucking fantastic you killed it i love it that was a fun one that was a good one we needed those haunting ones to like you know be the the bread yeah those last two were the fun ones i didn't mean all of them and all of them were not fun no the that yeah crazy
whoa well i guess it's time for me to go now so we hope you keep listening keep sending those listen to tales and we hope that you keep it weird but not so weird that you live in a haunted house or you try to steal somebody's baby or you haunt a fucking dorm room because that's really terrifying and i mean i I think you should keep it so weird that you're a mountain that looks like a butt.
Definitely be that weird. Yay.
Mountains that look like butts, butts, butts, but butts, butts.
Thank you. Thank you.
If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad -free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
Prime members can listen ad -free on Amazon Music.
Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery .com slash survey.
