March 7, 2024 • 9 mins
In Season 1, The Girlfriends told the story of how a group of incredible women came together to bring down one bad ex-boyfriend and seek justice for the murder of Gail Katz.
But there’s one part of that story that’s still a mystery.
During the investigation into Gail’s case, a torso washed up on Staten Island and was misidentified as Gail. Nobody knows her name or what happened to her after she was ruled out from the case.
In Season 2, the amateur ladies detective club are back with a new mission: to uncover the identity of this woman and finally find Our Lost Sister.
The Girlfriends: Our Lost Sister is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.
For more from Novel visit Novel.Audio
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Girlfriends, just a heads up. In this episode you'll
hear themes of violence, murder, and of course me swearing
at times. So not much has changed, has it?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Carol, you know why are you calling me on a
random Wednesday morning? What's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay, look, don't shoot me, but I think I want
you to investigate another cold case.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
What we must have a bad connection.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I better hang up.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
You know that moment when someone comes into your life
and you know it's never going to be the same again.
The first time that happened to me was when I
met a guy named Bob who I saw it was
a total catch, but he turned out to be a
fucking asshole.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Who murdered his first wife, Gail Katz. Listen to the.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
First series of The Girlfriends if you want to hear
that story. The second time someone turned my life upside
down was when this adore British woman randomly called me.
She asked me to make a podcast about how myself
and a group of incredible women investigated what happened to
Gayle and Well, I just couldn't say no to her,
(01:12):
so my producer, Anna became like one of the family.
My new surrogate daughter and within a few months of meeting,
she flew out to stay with me in Las Vegas,
where I said her constantly like the good Jewish mother,
I am, Oh, my god, I.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Know my guests. I took Anna to meet my mom
who loved her.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Did people tell you how beautiful you are?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Your hair?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Your face? I mean your skin show off? And she
met my friends.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I have no children, you kid be my daughter.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Together we turned my tragic dating history into the number
one podcast in six countries. Deal turns out Anna's not finished.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
With me yet.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
There's one mystery from the first series that we never
managed to solve. Our lost sister, the woman who's torso
washed up on Staten Island and was buried in Gail's
grave for nearly a decade, that is, until it was
discovered that her body did not belong to Gail CAATs.
(02:30):
What's her name and more importantly, what's her story?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
People want answers.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I've received so many emails, comments and calls.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
What's this about the torso?
Speaker 1 (02:42):
This is a loose end for this poor woman who
never was identified.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Whose torso is it?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Who is this victim and what's being done to try
to identify her?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
And see justice.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But I have to admit I'm worried. I mean, we
spent a year working night and day trying to identify her.
Already we never got an answer, and what if we
still can't?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
But what if we don't try.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I feel like if we don't do this, nobody's going
to try, and we're the only ones left. And if
anyone can do it, we can.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
The girlfriends God.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
And that's how she gets me. She always lures me
back in. But I'm right, you know, I'm really right.
This is going to be really hard. But luckily it's
not just.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Me and Anna.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We have the whole Girlfriend's gang to help us solve
this case. There's Gail's sister, Elaine.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
You killed my sister and I know you think you
got away with it, but I will always hound you
and haunt you.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
And there's my dear friend Mindy.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
I hope that we can make something positive out of this,
and between us, Me, Mindy, Elaine, Anna, we don't just
want to solve a case. We want to make a difference.
We want to show way every woman's story matters. But
if we're going to do this, we need your help too,
(04:10):
So listen up, get your pen and paper out.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
This is all we.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Know so far about the woman we're trying to identify.
On May twenty one, nineteen eighty nine, her torso washed
up in New York, just north of the Arizonto Bridge
on Staten Island. The autopsy report said she'd been in
the water for two to three months, and DNA testing
(04:35):
was limited back then, so the medical examiner compared some
X rays that showed similarities between the two.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
That sufficiently allowed them to change Jane Doe Torso on
the death certificate to gal Kat Spirimba.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
She was then buried in the Cat's family plot in Queens.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
And finally I felt that I I found my sister
and she was safe.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
But that's not the end of the story.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
In the summer of nineteen ninety eight, the Manhattan District
Attorney's office exhumed the body from Gail's grave for DNA testing.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
And they said to me, the torso is not Gail.
And after a string of curses, I said to them,
you have ripped the shred of closure that I have
away from me.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Then the torso seemingly vanishes. No one from Gail's case
knows what happened to her. So If the torso is
not Gail Cat's Berenbaum, then who is she and where
did she go?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Told you it wasn't going to be easy.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And that's why, dear girlfriends, we need your help, because
we know that we are stronger together. Last series, by
just passing the podcast between each other, you helped over
fifteen hundred people connect with our charity Partner No More
and get potentially life saving advice regarding intimate partner violence.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
So let's do it again. Let's work together.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
If you have any leads, ideas, or suggestion for how
we can solve this thirty five year old gold case,
how we can identify this missing woman, our lost girlfriend,
please please email us at the Girlfriends at novel dot Audio,
or you can reach out to me on my socials
at Carol A Fisher that's Carol with an E. Our
(06:47):
live investigation will be dropping on this feed in a
few months time, so if you haven't already, hit the
follow up button so you don't miss when we released
the first episode, and please tell your friends we're back
and that we need their help too. Until then, hold
your girlfriends tight.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
That's perfect, Thank you, Carl.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I can't believe we're fucking doing this again.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I can't and you're like sitting here, I'm like, what
has happened in my life? The Girlfriends is produced by
Novel for iHeartRadio. For more from Novel, visit novel dot Audio.
The show is hosted by Me Carol Fisher, and our
chief investigator is Mindy Shapiro. To find me on social media,
(07:37):
search Carol A. Fisher, That's Carol with an E. The
series is produced and written by Anna Sinfield and Lee Meyer.
Our assistant producer is Madeline Parr, who also fact checked
this episode. The editor is Joe Wheeler. Max O'Brien is
our executive producer. Production management from Sharie Houston and Sharkrlett Woolf.
(08:01):
Sound design, mixing and scoring.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
By Daniel Kempson.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Music supervision by Anna Sinfield and Nicholas Alexander. Original music
composed by Luisa Gerstein. The series artwork was designed by
Christina Lemcool. Story development by Anna Sinfield. Willard Foxton is
creative director of Development. Special thanks to Katrina Norvel, David Wasserman,
(08:26):
Beth Anne Macaluso, Carrie Lieberman, Carly Frankel, and all the
team at WME, and a special shout out to Vince Hayward,
who's my partner, for taking on the role of girlfriend's
confidant and lead tech support
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Adject to have nut check, nudge to have uncheck,
Hey, Girlfriends, just a heads up. In this episode you'll
hear themes of violence, murder, and of course me swearing
at times. So not much has changed, has it?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Carol, you know why are you calling me on a
random Wednesday morning? What's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay, look, don't shoot me, but I think I want
you to investigate another cold case.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
What we must have a bad connection.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I better hang up.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
You know that moment when someone comes into your life
and you know it's never going to be the same again.
The first time that happened to me was when I
met a guy named Bob who I saw it was
a total catch, but he turned out to be a
fucking asshole.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Who murdered his first wife, Gail Katz. Listen to the.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
First series of The Girlfriends if you want to hear
that story. The second time someone turned my life upside
down was when this adore British woman randomly called me.
She asked me to make a podcast about how myself
and a group of incredible women investigated what happened to
Gayle and Well, I just couldn't say no to her,
(01:12):
so my producer, Anna became like one of the family.
My new surrogate daughter and within a few months of meeting,
she flew out to stay with me in Las Vegas,
where I said her constantly like the good Jewish mother,
I am, Oh, my god, I.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Know my guests. I took Anna to meet my mom
who loved her.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Did people tell you how beautiful you are?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Your hair?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Your face? I mean your skin show off? And she
met my friends.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I have no children, you kid be my daughter.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Together we turned my tragic dating history into the number
one podcast in six countries. Deal turns out Anna's not finished.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
With me yet.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
There's one mystery from the first series that we never
managed to solve. Our lost sister, the woman who's torso
washed up on Staten Island and was buried in Gail's
grave for nearly a decade, that is, until it was
discovered that her body did not belong to Gail CAATs.
(02:30):
What's her name and more importantly, what's her story?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
People want answers.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I've received so many emails, comments and calls.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
What's this about the torso?
Speaker 1 (02:42):
This is a loose end for this poor woman who
never was identified.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Whose torso is it?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Who is this victim and what's being done to try
to identify her?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
And see justice.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But I have to admit I'm worried. I mean, we
spent a year working night and day trying to identify her.
Already we never got an answer, and what if we
still can't?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
But what if we don't try.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I feel like if we don't do this, nobody's going
to try, and we're the only ones left. And if
anyone can do it, we can.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
The girlfriends God.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
And that's how she gets me. She always lures me
back in. But I'm right, you know, I'm really right.
This is going to be really hard. But luckily it's
not just.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Me and Anna.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We have the whole Girlfriend's gang to help us solve
this case. There's Gail's sister, Elaine.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
You killed my sister and I know you think you
got away with it, but I will always hound you
and haunt you.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
And there's my dear friend Mindy.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
I hope that we can make something positive out of this,
and between us, Me, Mindy, Elaine, Anna, we don't just
want to solve a case. We want to make a difference.
We want to show way every woman's story matters. But
if we're going to do this, we need your help too,
(04:10):
So listen up, get your pen and paper out.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
This is all we.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Know so far about the woman we're trying to identify.
On May twenty one, nineteen eighty nine, her torso washed
up in New York, just north of the Arizonto Bridge
on Staten Island. The autopsy report said she'd been in
the water for two to three months, and DNA testing
(04:35):
was limited back then, so the medical examiner compared some
X rays that showed similarities between the two.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
That sufficiently allowed them to change Jane Doe Torso on
the death certificate to gal Kat Spirimba.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
She was then buried in the Cat's family plot in Queens.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
And finally I felt that I I found my sister
and she was safe.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
But that's not the end of the story.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
In the summer of nineteen ninety eight, the Manhattan District
Attorney's office exhumed the body from Gail's grave for DNA testing.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
And they said to me, the torso is not Gail.
And after a string of curses, I said to them,
you have ripped the shred of closure that I have
away from me.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Then the torso seemingly vanishes. No one from Gail's case
knows what happened to her. So If the torso is
not Gail Cat's Berenbaum, then who is she and where
did she go?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Told you it wasn't going to be easy.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And that's why, dear girlfriends, we need your help, because
we know that we are stronger together. Last series, by
just passing the podcast between each other, you helped over
fifteen hundred people connect with our charity Partner No More
and get potentially life saving advice regarding intimate partner violence.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
So let's do it again. Let's work together.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
If you have any leads, ideas, or suggestion for how
we can solve this thirty five year old gold case,
how we can identify this missing woman, our lost girlfriend,
please please email us at the Girlfriends at novel dot Audio,
or you can reach out to me on my socials
at Carol A Fisher that's Carol with an E. Our
(06:47):
live investigation will be dropping on this feed in a
few months time, so if you haven't already, hit the
follow up button so you don't miss when we released
the first episode, and please tell your friends we're back
and that we need their help too. Until then, hold
your girlfriends tight.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
That's perfect, Thank you, Carl.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I can't believe we're fucking doing this again.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I can't and you're like sitting here, I'm like, what
has happened in my life? The Girlfriends is produced by
Novel for iHeartRadio. For more from Novel, visit novel dot Audio.
The show is hosted by Me Carol Fisher, and our
chief investigator is Mindy Shapiro. To find me on social media,
(07:37):
search Carol A. Fisher, That's Carol with an E. The
series is produced and written by Anna Sinfield and Lee Meyer.
Our assistant producer is Madeline Parr, who also fact checked
this episode. The editor is Joe Wheeler. Max O'Brien is
our executive producer. Production management from Sharie Houston and Sharkrlett Woolf.
(08:01):
Sound design, mixing and scoring.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
By Daniel Kempson.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Music supervision by Anna Sinfield and Nicholas Alexander. Original music
composed by Luisa Gerstein. The series artwork was designed by
Christina Lemcool. Story development by Anna Sinfield. Willard Foxton is
creative director of Development. Special thanks to Katrina Norvel, David Wasserman,
(08:26):
Beth Anne Macaluso, Carrie Lieberman, Carly Frankel, and all the
team at WME, and a special shout out to Vince Hayward,
who's my partner, for taking on the role of girlfriend's
confidant and lead tech support
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Adject to have nut check, nudge to have uncheck,
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