August 14, 2023 • 28 mins
This week’s hometowns include a superhero dad and searching for missing jewelry.
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello, and welcome to my favorite Murder the minisode.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
That's right, that's correct, You've never been more right in
your life. Nope, that was affirmative. Good job pressing play.
We're gonna make you happy, you.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Personally, and I'll make it worth your while. You want
to go first, you want me to go first, Go
for it?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
This one's called first Responder Trick or Treat story. HM, Hi,
ladies and all known associates. Let me tell you the
story of one of the craziest Halloween nights of my
dad's life. He's a retired firefighter from Colorado and just
the best guy I know. Of all the things he
has seen and done in his career, this particular day
(00:58):
must have been one of the more stress days of
his life, as he had to save my mom, my sister,
and myself from choking all in one day. What. Yes,
I was probably about six and my sister was eight
on this particular Halloween. It all started at lunch and
my mom choked on a tomato and the salad she
was eating. We were all at the kitchen table, and
(01:19):
my dad calmly got up and came over and gave
her the Heinmlich maneuver and saved her from peril. We
were all a little freaked out, but when about our
lunch as if it hadn't happened, We then all got
ready to go trick or treating later in the evening.
I think my sister and I were clowns this year.
Before we went out to solicit the neighborhood for candy,
we decided on a dinner of leftover pizza. My sister
(01:42):
is a freak and likes to heat hers up in
the microwave.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So do I do you? I think I got a
little mushy the second day? Is that weird? Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
No, I think it's pretty common. But I do like
to take the time to do in the oven because
then it crisps up any kind of questionable area it
does that. Okay, let us know what do you like
to do?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Listener, kit, Let's get the vote going on social media
and really let everybody weigh in. If she had eaten
it cold like a normal person, we could have avoided
the next disaster. The pizza was some bargain chain variety
and the cheese became extremely stretchy and weird in the
microwave when she went to eat it. She choked on
the plasticy, stringy cheese. Thank God for my superhero dad
(02:25):
who reached into her mouth and grabbed the stringy cheese
from the back.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Of her throat, saving her life.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Shit.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It was highly dramatic and scary.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We all regrouped and decided to hit the streets for
some hallowing fun. When we got home from our trigger
treat trip, my sister and I dumped out our candy
buckets to take a look at all the goods and
decide which five pieces we wanted to have before bed.
Now it was my turn to make a weird choice
For one of my pieces of candy. I decided on
a root beer flavored hard candy root beer barrels. That's right,
(02:56):
it has a barrel shape and was the exact size
of a six year olds asideus, I love those candies.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
They're so good. Those are good ones. Those are good ones.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So I accidentally swallowed as soon as I put it
in my mouth and begin to choke. Here comes my father,
the choking Savior. He calmly laid me flat on the
living room floor on my stomach, down a spot he
was looking for on my back, and gave me a
forceful smack with his hand out popped the barrel, and
sweet relief I could breathe again. After that, he looked
at the three of us and just said, that's it.
(03:27):
Nobody eats anything the rest of tonight. You're all going
to BED.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I heard of bed.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I don't know how he stayed as common as he
did while we were all trying to choke to death
in front of him on one day, but I know
we wouldn't be here without his level head. He's the
best person, and I'm so proud of his thirty year
career as a first responder. Hope you all enjoyed that
crazy Halloween story. Miriam, what a great name. That's my
middle name.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That's right, that's your grandma's name, right, No, just a
random fucking name. Full credit to you and no credit
to your grandma. But also, I think that's the thing
no one understands about first responders is that three choking
family members in one day is small potatoes compared to
(04:13):
what they actually deal with when they show up somewhere
and someone's house is on fire and there's people inside,
or someone's having a heart attack or just had a
heart I mean, like that's the thing is my dad
would come home from the firehouse and he would need
to take a nap because they would do runs the
mill of the night, so he didn't get a full
night sleep, and you'd get really mad if you woke
(04:35):
them up, like you had to really tiptoe around. But
he would also nap on the front room couch, so
it's like, come on, thanks, work with us a little bit.
But also I have the memory of a gnat, so
I would be quiet for four minutes and then I'd
be Laura, you took.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
My thing whatever. But like I was like, God, why
does dad get so mad when he wakes us up?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And then my mom one time was just like because
they had to pull a family out of a house
last night, And then I just went my go, oh,
that's right, my dad's not going to an office and
sitting in a chair. They really go through serious shit, like.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Emotional ups and downs and fucking constant shit. So no
wonder he was ready three times to fucking unchoke these people.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah, he's just like oh this again. He knew exactly
how much time he had before that root beer barrel
was you know, I mean, that's so crazy. But also
I feel like after the second choking, that's when you
have the family meeting and start threatening people like one
more choking and I'm not saving you yet. Everyone needs
to slow down now, this is the rule. Halloween is
(05:40):
the day I would definitely choke though, because what an
exciting day for eating. Truly, Okay, this one's great. I'm
not going to read you the subject line. It just starts.
Writing is not my strong suit, so thanks for taking
the time to read this. I've been listening to your
show since first dropped, and I've wanted to share my
(06:02):
family murder story that I learned way too young. I'm
sure it contributed to my fascination with everything true crime. Well,
that and the fact that my mom let me fall
asleep to unsolved mysteries as a six year old. Oh
my god, hell yah.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Six so soothing Robert Stack telling you about missing children,
The dulcet tones of Robert Stack asking you to please
call in. I remember here the first time I heard
the theme song, like after the Internet had come out,
like years after I had actually watched the show, and
the chills it immediately gave me, Like ten years later.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, we're just as fucking hardcore as when I used
to watch it because I think the genius of that
show and maybe what we all learned from that show
to do for podcasting is they were talking directly to
the audience. Yeah, maybe you can help solve a mystery.
Do you know a man who had a yellow van
that he left on the side of the road. It's like,
I know who this is? Is that our neighbor?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I wished?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It was so exciting. Yeah, the dream of like, could
you meachine if you could go to school in like
sixth grade and be like guys I called and and
solved an on mystery last night. Oh oh truly, there's this.
There's the script we've been waiting to write. Uh, okay, sorry,
we've completely sidebar this thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
No, anyhow, let's begin. My great aunt Susan married a
real asshole. Kenneth was an abusive so ob funny side note,
Susan and my grandma Sondra had a double wedding. This
was probably an attempt on my great grandmother, a Polish immigrant,
to save money. Fortunately for our side of the family,
Grandma Sondra picked better men than her little sister. Just like,
(07:45):
really get a chance to slant to I was gonna
say slam Susan. I've never seen Suzanne spelled with an Oh. No,
I've never heard it that way before, Sondra and Susan
okay anyway. Susan eventually divorced Kenneth and did everything she
could to get this awful man out of her and
their children's lives. As many obsessive and violent people do,
(08:07):
he couldn't let go. His plan was to get rid
of her because of an impending court proceeding, so he
did what people did back in the sixties. He took
out an ad in the classifieds. He put out an
ad saying that he'd pay big bucks for a small job.
One individual who was broken out of work was intrigued,
so he reached out to the number in the ad.
Kenneth explained, I don't care how you do it, but
(08:29):
I'll pay you to get rid of my ex wife.
Make it look like an accident. You can run her
over by a car or electrocuter in the bath, but
just get it done. I'll give you one thousand dollars
up front, and the remainder of your payment three thousand
dollars will be waiting for you in wait for it.
A nondescript bus Locker. When this individual came to the
(08:50):
realization that Kenneth was adamant in his plan, he reached
out to my aunt Susan to warn her.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
She contacted the authority. I know, it's so cool. She
contacted the authorities, and Kenneth was eventually sent to prison
for attempted murder. This old newspaper article I found about
this only mentioned the preliminary hearing, so I'm not sure
how much time he received upon sentencing. And then they
it says in parentheses La Times, November first, nineteen sixty eight,
(09:17):
so it made it all the way to the LA Times.
Probably not long enough given the statutes at the time.
I'm proud of the actions that this stranger took to
warn Suzanne, and even more proud for her getting Kenneth
out of her in her kids' lives. Pay attention to
red flags, trust your gut and SSDGM SHAWNA. Wow, how terrifying.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You get a knock at the door, some fucking stranger
there who's like, guess what, Yeah, that's awful, and you
went to her before calling the police, which yeah, kind
of funny.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, which actually I think may have been the smartest
move because before he lets the red tape get He's like,
you need to know that you have to stay away
from this guy, which is yeah, very cool. Also, Shawna,
you need to know that was a very well written email.
So yeah, do not say writing is not your strong suit,
because I would argue that it is. Yes, absolutely, that
(10:13):
was perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yeah, this one's called found treasure story in DC.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yay.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
You all are wonderful and I have a tendency to ramble,
so I should really get started. In a recent miniso
number three forty two, you requested found money stories and
mischievous pet stories. I have both, but I'm going to
choose the found money story because the pet one involves
a lot of pooping and vomiting, so I'll spare you.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
A couple of years ago, I lived in DC and
it was the first city I ever lived in. I
am from and have lived in most places where it
is necessary to drive everywhere Anyway. This particular day, a
friend and I were planning to go see and exhibit
at the Japanese Cultural Center on the history of Denham.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Very cool, right, Yes? The location Denham like Jeans. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The location is very much in a section of DC,
where it would be a stupid idea to drive, but nevertheless,
I made the call and got in my car. I
picked up my friend and proceeded to navigate the busy
city streets. When my friend exclaimed pull over without questioning,
I pulled into the exit of a parking garage and
turned on my hazards. My friend jumps out of the
car and runs into the busy street and starts collecting
(11:23):
what I can only make out a small pieces of paper,
blowing through the traffic and pedestrians walking on the sidewalk.
When he gets back into the car, I'm able to
see that he is holding a wad of twenty dollars bills.
Oh loose, twenty dollars bills. We're blowing down this very
busy DC street and no one noticed except for my friend.
It was a real life money grabbing boothoo and he
(11:45):
was able to snatch about two hundred and forty dollars.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Holy shit, I know it's a dream come true. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
We argued about what cut I should receive from being
the getaway driver, and I could only convince him to
give me around four. I got bullshit on that she
should have gotten more.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
She definitely should have. And also it's just like, as
my friend used to say, you didn't pay for it,
give me half, like you just went outside and grabbed
some shit.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
So yeah, whatever, I'm not still bitter about.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That or anything.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Stay sexy and keep your eyes peeled for loose twenties
blowing down the street.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Sam, she her? Wait Sam, did they know why?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Like?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Did they figure that out? I can't imagine.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Maybe someone listening right now is talking about the time
they lost three hundred dollars in twenties in DC.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I like to imagine that like the US mint back
door blew open and a bunch of twenties flew off
the machine, freshly minted twenties out in the street. Uh okay,
I'll just start it, Hi, Georgia, Karen and MFM crew.
I know how much you guys love a good ghost
story and a found treasure story, So here's one rolled together.
(12:56):
About eight years ago, my wonderful mother passed away unexpectedly
from a heartdech She was at home alone at the time,
but managed to call nine one one. Unfortunately, she was
gone before the paramedics arrived. My sister and I grown
adults living in separate states, returned home to start the
gut wrenching process of planning her funeral. That's horrible, so sad,
so sad. After a day or two of being home,
(13:19):
our dad asked where her wedding rings that she wore
every day were, because he wanted to put them in
a safe spot. It hadn't occurred to us to ask
about the jewelry she was wearing when she was taken
to the hospital, so I called the appropriate people, assuming
I would just pick them up, except I was told
my mom wasn't wearing any jewelry when the paramedics arrived.
(13:39):
Apparently this is all very well documented, and no jewelry
or rings were with her at the time. My mom
loved jewelry, and this seemed very odd, but I chalked
it up to it being earlier in the morning when
she passed, and she hadn't gotten her full look together
for the day. L e WK. I love it. This
is when my sister and I both remember something odd. Now.
(14:01):
I don't know if this was a common held belief
by an older generation or just a strange family thing,
but our grandparents and assumingly our mom by association, were
convinced that if paramedics ever came to your house, you
needed to hide all of your valuables to prevent them from.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Being poor first responders, like just immediately not trusted.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I feel like I'm on everybody's side on this one,
where it's like it's just a funny thing, where it's
just like it could be any number.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Is that an Italian thing? Is it an immigrant thing?
Is it a certain part of town thing? Could be anything.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean, it could be a legit thing back in
the day that they actually stole shit.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So who the fuck knows? Yeah, back when fire departments
were private companies where it was just like five dudes
that would come into your house and do whatever they wanted. Sure,
and it must have been discussed multiple times during our
childhoods because we both remembered it, like Grandma, these good
people are here to help. No one's trying to take
your collection of glass ducks in the curio cabinet, And
(15:05):
who has the time or the right frame of mind
to hide things in an emergency anyway, Well, it turns
out my mom, Sharon, that's ho h. So my sister
and I discreetly start to look around the house on
this effed up treasure hunt, all while trying to not
let our dad figure out what we're doing. We go
through all the quickly accessible spots, some obvious like ringstands,
(15:26):
bedside tables, jewelry drawers, etc. And some not so obvious.
We find every piece of jewelry we knew about, and
lots of questionable but entertaining costume jewelry, but we cannot
find her wedding rings. I'm trying not to panic, jumping
between where the hell could she have put them? And
oh my god, my parents were right all along and
they are stolen, and how the fuck are we going
(15:48):
to tell our dad we can't find the rings. Now,
this is where the story gets good. We were maybe
four days in at the house and I'm trying to
take a nap in my teenage bedroom. I haven't slept
in days, and I'm in and a half awake, half
asleep trance when I see my mom in this dream vision,
whatever you want to call it. I see her standing
(16:09):
in front of the closet in her bedroom, looking at
me like she's making sure I'm paying attention. She shows
me her hands with her perfectly manicured red nails, and
then in parentheses. I did not inherit her skills it
self manicures, by the way, a fact that I'm still
very disappointed at. And then, with such vivid detail, she
holds the precious rings in her hands, goes to the
(16:32):
very back of the walking closet to a robe hidden
behind all of her clothes, and proceeds to put the
rings in the right hand pocket of the robe. I
wake up with a gas sit up straight in bed,
freaking out my husband, who is sitting next to me,
and bolt out of bed, saying I know where the
rings are. I run through the house to the opposite
(16:53):
side to her room, to the walking closet, and guess
what I find? In the In the very back, hidden
behind her clothes is the robe, exactly as I saw
it in my dream. And in the right hand pocket
of the robe are her wedding rings. Oh my fucking god,
I loved my funny, sweet mom so much.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Oh no, I loved my funny, sweet mom so much,
and I'm grateful that even in the afterlife, her organized
and thoughtful spirit made sure I found her hidden treasure.
I just can't get over her vision where her mom
is acting like her mom, being like look at me.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I need you to follow me on this thing what
I'm doing. Don't look at your phone right now. This
is important.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Later on, when the house was being sold and we
had to move everything out, I made sure to hang
on to that robe just in case. My husband and
I are often in the car eight plus hours a
week commuting and love your podcast. Thank you for helping
those long hours pass quickly. Stay sexy, and make sure
someone in your family knows your parents dining spots x
(18:02):
ex Jess. Oh my god, that's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Also, just that Jess got to have one last moment
with her mom. Yeah, yeah, that you always hope.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
For, right, Yeah, you're just not having to kind of
do it by yourself and be picturing it.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, but to actually like she came to me in
a dream and boss me around one last.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Time, and it gives you that like hope that there
is something more like after life. Yes, and their memory
is still with you and maybe they're a part of
them is with you too.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And you know that she's making you focus on what's important,
which is rings and valuables.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Juliillary Jewelry. Well, this one is like is that your
last one?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Is it? No, I think I wonder because.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
This is like, that was such a heart tugging when
I don't that'd be a good ender.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
But this isn't heart tugging at all. Well, it's my fault.
It was heart tugging because I just that was me
having a moment. So we can cut that part of
the Oh no, I loved any kidding.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
This one is not heart tucking and it's called reason
for the binocular ban of nineteen fourteen, mentioned in episode
three eighty four. Oh oh, Hi, all love the pod
and I thought i'd share this interesting old timey story
from London. In episode three eighty four, when telling the
story of Billy Carlton, Georgia mentioned that there was a
law in Britain in nineteen fourteen that forbid people from
(19:27):
buying binoculars. I can tell you why.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Oh nice.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
In nineteen fourteen, the First World War was just starting,
and it was the first war where the range of
the ballistics and weaponry had become so long that a
lot of the fighting was taking place from a really
far distance. I hadn't thought about that. That means that
one of the most important pieces of military equipment were
high quality binoculars, as they helped the soldiers hit their targets. Now,
(19:52):
at that time, the UK was suffering from a huge
shortage of glass. If you want to learn more about
why that was, you should read British journals Ed Conway's
book The Material World. That's also where I got this
story from. Germany, on the other hand, were the leaders
in making all sorts of advanced telescopes and binoculars, which
put them at a huge advantage. There were public campaigns
(20:14):
in the UK that not only stopped people from buying binoculars,
but also encouraged people to donate any that they had
to the military, including things like opera glasses. Apparently the
King and Queen donated some too. What makes the story
really interesting is that Britain actually sent a spy to
Switzerland to try and negotiate with the Germans to allow
Britain to buy binoculars from them, so basically trying to
(20:37):
buy equipment from Germany that would make it easier for
them to kill Germans.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
What's crazy is that Germany accept at the offer in
return for rubber for tires and engine fan belts. Because
the UK was controlling supply of rubber via its colonies.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Jesus, I mean Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That's dark men and their wars, fucking a and capitalism
and colonialism. H the exchange of goods never actually took
place because the UK managed to start producing glass domestically instead.
Really not sure what the moral of the story is here,
except for stay sexy and hold onto your opera binoculars.
You never know when they may become handy. Question Mark
(21:20):
Heidi she Her.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I loved it. Heidi was like in the midst of
what sounds like a fascinating book, and then it's like
she's listening to a true crime podcast and she's like,
I could tell you about this part.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I can help you with this world's collide. The book
sounds good again. It's called The Material World by Ed Conway.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, I love it. I also like the idea of
a soldier that's like shooting long distance and then holding
up opera glasses all fancy. Yeah, Okay, here's my last one.
The subject line is my Dad's adventure on the River. Hi, there,
Karen and Georgia. I refuse to believe that Stephen it's
(22:00):
no longer there, but proud of him for doing what
he needed to do. So I'm adding him into But really, hi,
everyone who works for MFM, thanks for making this fun
show that I've been listening to since its inception. I
recently listened to the Cruise Ship Near Death Experience and
I wanted to share my dad's My dad and his
dad used to take their boat out on the Missouri
(22:21):
River together to water ski back in the sixties. Wow. Nowadays,
water skiing usually requires more than two people, and for
good reason. When the skier falls, someone else is usually
in the boat and can alert the driver that Hey,
the skier's down, turn the boat around and go get them.
But on this particular day, it was just my dad
and his dad no spotter. Soque my dad falling, it
(22:42):
was inevitable. He was bound to fall. When he did,
he just had to chill in the water until his
dad figured out that he needed to turn around and
go back to get him. Sometimes it would take a
while for his dad to realize, meaning he'd be very
far away down the river and then think, oh, I
have to go back and get my kid. My dad
tried his best to yell at his dad, but the
boat motor was too loud and he watched his dad
(23:04):
just keep going down the river farther and farther until
he was almost out of sight. My dad figured he'd
be waiting a while, so he was just treading water
and enjoying nature, when all of a sudden, he heard
this show sucking sound and it's literally like so long
as c hhh e eow. But then it says kind
(23:27):
of like that annoying noise that someone makes when they're
trying to drink that last drop of drink out of
a straw. So he thought to himself, hmm, this is
probably not good. And then he looks over and realizes
that the noise is coming from a giant water vortex. Huh.
He tries his best to swim away from the noise,
but the current became too strong and he realized that
(23:50):
he was just going to get pulled down into the vortex.
My god. He looked for his dad again, but his
dad still hadn't turned around. Dude, every two seconds, turn
around you.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Just like, can we have a pre agreement that you're
not just gonna fuck off down the river.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Because I mean Jesus, okay. He didn't want to waste
precious energy yelling and waving for his dad since his
dad was too far away, to possibly see or hear him.
My dad has always struck me as a very calm
and collected guy, and I think that's the thing that
saved his life that day. Before he got too close
to the vortex, he took off his ski belt and
(24:26):
kicked off his skis. He just let the current from
the vortex suck him in. Imagine how fucking scary this
would be, and then he took a deep breath when
it pulled him down under the water. My dad is
a pretty smart guy, and he knew that the only
way out of the current would be to angle away
from it. So he tucked himself into a cannonball position,
and when his feet hit the floor of the river,
(24:48):
he sprang up from the bottom of the floor to
the surface of the water at an angle, pointing his
body upward and straight like a pencil, and then swam
away with all his might. I think he told me
that the river must have only been ten or fifteen
feet deep at this spot. Thankfully, once he reached the
surface and he popped his head out of the water,
(25:08):
he had made it far enough away from the vortex.
His dad had just happened to be waiting in the
boat close to the spot where my dad had materialized
and said to him, where the fuck did you go?
This story has always been one of my favorites to
listen to my dad tell because I never ceased to
be amazed at how he just accepted the situation, came
up with a plan, and stuck to it in order
(25:30):
to get out. I recall this story often when I'm
faced with a strange situation and remind myself that sometimes
you just have to accept what's going to happen to you,
but you don't have to accept that it's going to
hurt you. I think that's the reason that survivor stories
are so cool. There's this grit to those survivors, like
these were the cards they were dealt, but somehow they
figured out a way to change the game and win. Anyway,
(25:53):
Stay sexy and tell your dad when you get sucked
into a water vortex next time, for goodness sake. Megan, Oh, Like,
what a freak thing.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I mean, I'm not familiar with rivers, but that doesn't
sound like something that happens all the time.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
No, and you know it's super weird. The reason I
got excited when I started reading this email is because
I watched a TikTok the other day where it just
said at the top, watch till the end, and it
just looked like a very calm, still river with some
trees in it. Did you see that? One saw that?
And the trees just start going underwater totally, and then.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Something tech starts sucking everything down and around that is
that is the craziest video. And I bet it happens
more often and people have seen it, but they don't
survive it, so they can't talk about it, right, Yeah,
they can't report back.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, only if you're standing on the river bank, and
only if you have a phone ready. But in a
time before cell phones, it was just people going, Okay,
so I'm standing there and all of a sudden, all
the trees disappear. Yeah, on the other side of the
river bank. Yeah, and no one believes you. This happened
to me once in Hawaii where I was trying to
get of the ocean and I was mistiming it how
(27:04):
the waves were coming and I basically got yanked back
in and so it was really weird. It was like
the sand went out from under my I thought I
could kind of walk a riptide. Yeah, yes, so the
sand just falls away from under my feet. I get
pulled backwards, and I had the same thing where I
was just like, do not panic. Take it Like as
(27:25):
I was going, I was just like, take the biggest
breath you can get into a ball and understand that
you have to wait this out and it's probably not
going to be as quick as you want, so just
calm down.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, panicking is the worst possible thing you could do
in so many situations.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah, in those you have to go like help me,
lizard brain like that, you have to go into that
part of your brain where it's like, this is a
survival part of my brain where no talking, no yelling.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
No, there isn't like a TikTok how to about surviving
fucking nature? Tell us about write us in your freak
of nature survival stories please, or your parents or your grandparents,
we don't care whose they.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Are any or just if you've heard one.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
You love those right, Yeah, and thanks for listening and
hanging out with us for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
And sharing your stories.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
That was an excellent batch of stories. Definitely stay sexy
and don't get murdered. Gay Elvis, do you want a cookie?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
This has been an exactly right Production. Our senior producer
is Alejandra Keck. Our editor is Aristotle Osceveto. This episode
was mixed by Leona Squalacci. Emailing your hometowns to My
Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at my
Favorite Murder and on Twitter at my Fave Murder.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Goodbye,
Hello, and welcome to my favorite Murder the minisode.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
That's right, that's correct, You've never been more right in
your life. Nope, that was affirmative. Good job pressing play.
We're gonna make you happy, you.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Personally, and I'll make it worth your while. You want
to go first, you want me to go first, Go
for it?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
This one's called first Responder Trick or Treat story. HM, Hi,
ladies and all known associates. Let me tell you the
story of one of the craziest Halloween nights of my
dad's life. He's a retired firefighter from Colorado and just
the best guy I know. Of all the things he
has seen and done in his career, this particular day
(00:58):
must have been one of the more stress days of
his life, as he had to save my mom, my sister,
and myself from choking all in one day. What. Yes,
I was probably about six and my sister was eight
on this particular Halloween. It all started at lunch and
my mom choked on a tomato and the salad she
was eating. We were all at the kitchen table, and
(01:19):
my dad calmly got up and came over and gave
her the Heinmlich maneuver and saved her from peril. We
were all a little freaked out, but when about our
lunch as if it hadn't happened, We then all got
ready to go trick or treating later in the evening.
I think my sister and I were clowns this year.
Before we went out to solicit the neighborhood for candy,
we decided on a dinner of leftover pizza. My sister
(01:42):
is a freak and likes to heat hers up in
the microwave.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So do I do you? I think I got a
little mushy the second day? Is that weird? Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
No, I think it's pretty common. But I do like
to take the time to do in the oven because
then it crisps up any kind of questionable area it
does that. Okay, let us know what do you like
to do?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Listener, kit, Let's get the vote going on social media
and really let everybody weigh in. If she had eaten
it cold like a normal person, we could have avoided
the next disaster. The pizza was some bargain chain variety
and the cheese became extremely stretchy and weird in the
microwave when she went to eat it. She choked on
the plasticy, stringy cheese. Thank God for my superhero dad
(02:25):
who reached into her mouth and grabbed the stringy cheese
from the back.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Of her throat, saving her life.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Shit.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It was highly dramatic and scary.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We all regrouped and decided to hit the streets for
some hallowing fun. When we got home from our trigger
treat trip, my sister and I dumped out our candy
buckets to take a look at all the goods and
decide which five pieces we wanted to have before bed.
Now it was my turn to make a weird choice
For one of my pieces of candy. I decided on
a root beer flavored hard candy root beer barrels. That's right,
(02:56):
it has a barrel shape and was the exact size
of a six year olds asideus, I love those candies.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
They're so good. Those are good ones. Those are good ones.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So I accidentally swallowed as soon as I put it
in my mouth and begin to choke. Here comes my father,
the choking Savior. He calmly laid me flat on the
living room floor on my stomach, down a spot he
was looking for on my back, and gave me a
forceful smack with his hand out popped the barrel, and
sweet relief I could breathe again. After that, he looked
at the three of us and just said, that's it.
(03:27):
Nobody eats anything the rest of tonight. You're all going
to BED.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I heard of bed.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I don't know how he stayed as common as he
did while we were all trying to choke to death
in front of him on one day, but I know
we wouldn't be here without his level head. He's the
best person, and I'm so proud of his thirty year
career as a first responder. Hope you all enjoyed that
crazy Halloween story. Miriam, what a great name. That's my
middle name.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That's right, that's your grandma's name, right, No, just a
random fucking name. Full credit to you and no credit
to your grandma. But also, I think that's the thing
no one understands about first responders is that three choking
family members in one day is small potatoes compared to
(04:13):
what they actually deal with when they show up somewhere
and someone's house is on fire and there's people inside,
or someone's having a heart attack or just had a
heart I mean, like that's the thing is my dad
would come home from the firehouse and he would need
to take a nap because they would do runs the
mill of the night, so he didn't get a full
night sleep, and you'd get really mad if you woke
(04:35):
them up, like you had to really tiptoe around. But
he would also nap on the front room couch, so
it's like, come on, thanks, work with us a little bit.
But also I have the memory of a gnat, so
I would be quiet for four minutes and then I'd
be Laura, you took.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
My thing whatever. But like I was like, God, why
does dad get so mad when he wakes us up?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And then my mom one time was just like because
they had to pull a family out of a house
last night, And then I just went my go, oh,
that's right, my dad's not going to an office and
sitting in a chair. They really go through serious shit, like.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Emotional ups and downs and fucking constant shit. So no
wonder he was ready three times to fucking unchoke these people.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah, he's just like oh this again. He knew exactly
how much time he had before that root beer barrel
was you know, I mean, that's so crazy. But also
I feel like after the second choking, that's when you
have the family meeting and start threatening people like one
more choking and I'm not saving you yet. Everyone needs
to slow down now, this is the rule. Halloween is
(05:40):
the day I would definitely choke though, because what an
exciting day for eating. Truly, Okay, this one's great. I'm
not going to read you the subject line. It just starts.
Writing is not my strong suit, so thanks for taking
the time to read this. I've been listening to your
show since first dropped, and I've wanted to share my
(06:02):
family murder story that I learned way too young. I'm
sure it contributed to my fascination with everything true crime. Well,
that and the fact that my mom let me fall
asleep to unsolved mysteries as a six year old. Oh
my god, hell yah.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Six so soothing Robert Stack telling you about missing children,
The dulcet tones of Robert Stack asking you to please
call in. I remember here the first time I heard
the theme song, like after the Internet had come out,
like years after I had actually watched the show, and
the chills it immediately gave me, Like ten years later.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, we're just as fucking hardcore as when I used
to watch it because I think the genius of that
show and maybe what we all learned from that show
to do for podcasting is they were talking directly to
the audience. Yeah, maybe you can help solve a mystery.
Do you know a man who had a yellow van
that he left on the side of the road. It's like,
I know who this is? Is that our neighbor?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I wished?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It was so exciting. Yeah, the dream of like, could
you meachine if you could go to school in like
sixth grade and be like guys I called and and
solved an on mystery last night. Oh oh truly, there's this.
There's the script we've been waiting to write. Uh, okay, sorry,
we've completely sidebar this thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
No, anyhow, let's begin. My great aunt Susan married a
real asshole. Kenneth was an abusive so ob funny side note,
Susan and my grandma Sondra had a double wedding. This
was probably an attempt on my great grandmother, a Polish immigrant,
to save money. Fortunately for our side of the family,
Grandma Sondra picked better men than her little sister. Just like,
(07:45):
really get a chance to slant to I was gonna
say slam Susan. I've never seen Suzanne spelled with an Oh. No,
I've never heard it that way before, Sondra and Susan
okay anyway. Susan eventually divorced Kenneth and did everything she
could to get this awful man out of her and
their children's lives. As many obsessive and violent people do,
(08:07):
he couldn't let go. His plan was to get rid
of her because of an impending court proceeding, so he
did what people did back in the sixties. He took
out an ad in the classifieds. He put out an
ad saying that he'd pay big bucks for a small job.
One individual who was broken out of work was intrigued,
so he reached out to the number in the ad.
Kenneth explained, I don't care how you do it, but
(08:29):
I'll pay you to get rid of my ex wife.
Make it look like an accident. You can run her
over by a car or electrocuter in the bath, but
just get it done. I'll give you one thousand dollars
up front, and the remainder of your payment three thousand
dollars will be waiting for you in wait for it.
A nondescript bus Locker. When this individual came to the
(08:50):
realization that Kenneth was adamant in his plan, he reached
out to my aunt Susan to warn her.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
She contacted the authority. I know, it's so cool. She
contacted the authorities, and Kenneth was eventually sent to prison
for attempted murder. This old newspaper article I found about
this only mentioned the preliminary hearing, so I'm not sure
how much time he received upon sentencing. And then they
it says in parentheses La Times, November first, nineteen sixty eight,
(09:17):
so it made it all the way to the LA Times.
Probably not long enough given the statutes at the time.
I'm proud of the actions that this stranger took to
warn Suzanne, and even more proud for her getting Kenneth
out of her in her kids' lives. Pay attention to
red flags, trust your gut and SSDGM SHAWNA. Wow, how terrifying.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You get a knock at the door, some fucking stranger
there who's like, guess what, Yeah, that's awful, and you
went to her before calling the police, which yeah, kind
of funny.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, which actually I think may have been the smartest
move because before he lets the red tape get He's like,
you need to know that you have to stay away
from this guy, which is yeah, very cool. Also, Shawna,
you need to know that was a very well written email.
So yeah, do not say writing is not your strong suit,
because I would argue that it is. Yes, absolutely, that
(10:13):
was perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yeah, this one's called found treasure story in DC.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yay.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
You all are wonderful and I have a tendency to ramble,
so I should really get started. In a recent miniso
number three forty two, you requested found money stories and
mischievous pet stories. I have both, but I'm going to
choose the found money story because the pet one involves
a lot of pooping and vomiting, so I'll spare you.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
A couple of years ago, I lived in DC and
it was the first city I ever lived in. I
am from and have lived in most places where it
is necessary to drive everywhere Anyway. This particular day, a
friend and I were planning to go see and exhibit
at the Japanese Cultural Center on the history of Denham.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Very cool, right, Yes? The location Denham like Jeans. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The location is very much in a section of DC,
where it would be a stupid idea to drive, but nevertheless,
I made the call and got in my car. I
picked up my friend and proceeded to navigate the busy
city streets. When my friend exclaimed pull over without questioning,
I pulled into the exit of a parking garage and
turned on my hazards. My friend jumps out of the
car and runs into the busy street and starts collecting
(11:23):
what I can only make out a small pieces of paper,
blowing through the traffic and pedestrians walking on the sidewalk.
When he gets back into the car, I'm able to
see that he is holding a wad of twenty dollars bills.
Oh loose, twenty dollars bills. We're blowing down this very
busy DC street and no one noticed except for my friend.
It was a real life money grabbing boothoo and he
(11:45):
was able to snatch about two hundred and forty dollars.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Holy shit, I know it's a dream come true. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
We argued about what cut I should receive from being
the getaway driver, and I could only convince him to
give me around four. I got bullshit on that she
should have gotten more.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
She definitely should have. And also it's just like, as
my friend used to say, you didn't pay for it,
give me half, like you just went outside and grabbed
some shit.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
So yeah, whatever, I'm not still bitter about.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That or anything.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Stay sexy and keep your eyes peeled for loose twenties
blowing down the street.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Sam, she her? Wait Sam, did they know why?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Like?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Did they figure that out? I can't imagine.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Maybe someone listening right now is talking about the time
they lost three hundred dollars in twenties in DC.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I like to imagine that like the US mint back
door blew open and a bunch of twenties flew off
the machine, freshly minted twenties out in the street. Uh okay,
I'll just start it, Hi, Georgia, Karen and MFM crew.
I know how much you guys love a good ghost
story and a found treasure story, So here's one rolled together.
(12:56):
About eight years ago, my wonderful mother passed away unexpectedly
from a heartdech She was at home alone at the time,
but managed to call nine one one. Unfortunately, she was
gone before the paramedics arrived. My sister and I grown
adults living in separate states, returned home to start the
gut wrenching process of planning her funeral. That's horrible, so sad,
so sad. After a day or two of being home,
(13:19):
our dad asked where her wedding rings that she wore
every day were, because he wanted to put them in
a safe spot. It hadn't occurred to us to ask
about the jewelry she was wearing when she was taken
to the hospital, so I called the appropriate people, assuming
I would just pick them up, except I was told
my mom wasn't wearing any jewelry when the paramedics arrived.
(13:39):
Apparently this is all very well documented, and no jewelry
or rings were with her at the time. My mom
loved jewelry, and this seemed very odd, but I chalked
it up to it being earlier in the morning when
she passed, and she hadn't gotten her full look together
for the day. L e WK. I love it. This
is when my sister and I both remember something odd. Now.
(14:01):
I don't know if this was a common held belief
by an older generation or just a strange family thing,
but our grandparents and assumingly our mom by association, were
convinced that if paramedics ever came to your house, you
needed to hide all of your valuables to prevent them from.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Being poor first responders, like just immediately not trusted.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I feel like I'm on everybody's side on this one,
where it's like it's just a funny thing, where it's
just like it could be any number.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Is that an Italian thing? Is it an immigrant thing?
Is it a certain part of town thing? Could be anything.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean, it could be a legit thing back in
the day that they actually stole shit.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So who the fuck knows? Yeah, back when fire departments
were private companies where it was just like five dudes
that would come into your house and do whatever they wanted. Sure,
and it must have been discussed multiple times during our
childhoods because we both remembered it, like Grandma, these good
people are here to help. No one's trying to take
your collection of glass ducks in the curio cabinet, And
(15:05):
who has the time or the right frame of mind
to hide things in an emergency anyway, Well, it turns
out my mom, Sharon, that's ho h. So my sister
and I discreetly start to look around the house on
this effed up treasure hunt, all while trying to not
let our dad figure out what we're doing. We go
through all the quickly accessible spots, some obvious like ringstands,
(15:26):
bedside tables, jewelry drawers, etc. And some not so obvious.
We find every piece of jewelry we knew about, and
lots of questionable but entertaining costume jewelry, but we cannot
find her wedding rings. I'm trying not to panic, jumping
between where the hell could she have put them? And
oh my god, my parents were right all along and
they are stolen, and how the fuck are we going
(15:48):
to tell our dad we can't find the rings. Now,
this is where the story gets good. We were maybe
four days in at the house and I'm trying to
take a nap in my teenage bedroom. I haven't slept
in days, and I'm in and a half awake, half
asleep trance when I see my mom in this dream vision,
whatever you want to call it. I see her standing
(16:09):
in front of the closet in her bedroom, looking at
me like she's making sure I'm paying attention. She shows
me her hands with her perfectly manicured red nails, and
then in parentheses. I did not inherit her skills it
self manicures, by the way, a fact that I'm still
very disappointed at. And then, with such vivid detail, she
holds the precious rings in her hands, goes to the
(16:32):
very back of the walking closet to a robe hidden
behind all of her clothes, and proceeds to put the
rings in the right hand pocket of the robe. I
wake up with a gas sit up straight in bed,
freaking out my husband, who is sitting next to me,
and bolt out of bed, saying I know where the
rings are. I run through the house to the opposite
(16:53):
side to her room, to the walking closet, and guess
what I find? In the In the very back, hidden
behind her clothes is the robe, exactly as I saw
it in my dream. And in the right hand pocket
of the robe are her wedding rings. Oh my fucking god,
I loved my funny, sweet mom so much.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Oh no, I loved my funny, sweet mom so much,
and I'm grateful that even in the afterlife, her organized
and thoughtful spirit made sure I found her hidden treasure.
I just can't get over her vision where her mom
is acting like her mom, being like look at me.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I need you to follow me on this thing what
I'm doing. Don't look at your phone right now. This
is important.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Later on, when the house was being sold and we
had to move everything out, I made sure to hang
on to that robe just in case. My husband and
I are often in the car eight plus hours a
week commuting and love your podcast. Thank you for helping
those long hours pass quickly. Stay sexy, and make sure
someone in your family knows your parents dining spots x
(18:02):
ex Jess. Oh my god, that's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Also, just that Jess got to have one last moment
with her mom. Yeah, yeah, that you always hope.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
For, right, Yeah, you're just not having to kind of
do it by yourself and be picturing it.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, but to actually like she came to me in
a dream and boss me around one last.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Time, and it gives you that like hope that there
is something more like after life. Yes, and their memory
is still with you and maybe they're a part of
them is with you too.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And you know that she's making you focus on what's important,
which is rings and valuables.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Juliillary Jewelry. Well, this one is like is that your
last one?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Is it? No, I think I wonder because.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
This is like, that was such a heart tugging when
I don't that'd be a good ender.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
But this isn't heart tugging at all. Well, it's my fault.
It was heart tugging because I just that was me
having a moment. So we can cut that part of
the Oh no, I loved any kidding.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
This one is not heart tucking and it's called reason
for the binocular ban of nineteen fourteen, mentioned in episode
three eighty four. Oh oh, Hi, all love the pod
and I thought i'd share this interesting old timey story
from London. In episode three eighty four, when telling the
story of Billy Carlton, Georgia mentioned that there was a
law in Britain in nineteen fourteen that forbid people from
(19:27):
buying binoculars. I can tell you why.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Oh nice.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
In nineteen fourteen, the First World War was just starting,
and it was the first war where the range of
the ballistics and weaponry had become so long that a
lot of the fighting was taking place from a really
far distance. I hadn't thought about that. That means that
one of the most important pieces of military equipment were
high quality binoculars, as they helped the soldiers hit their targets. Now,
(19:52):
at that time, the UK was suffering from a huge
shortage of glass. If you want to learn more about
why that was, you should read British journals Ed Conway's
book The Material World. That's also where I got this
story from. Germany, on the other hand, were the leaders
in making all sorts of advanced telescopes and binoculars, which
put them at a huge advantage. There were public campaigns
(20:14):
in the UK that not only stopped people from buying binoculars,
but also encouraged people to donate any that they had
to the military, including things like opera glasses. Apparently the
King and Queen donated some too. What makes the story
really interesting is that Britain actually sent a spy to
Switzerland to try and negotiate with the Germans to allow
Britain to buy binoculars from them, so basically trying to
(20:37):
buy equipment from Germany that would make it easier for
them to kill Germans.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
What's crazy is that Germany accept at the offer in
return for rubber for tires and engine fan belts. Because
the UK was controlling supply of rubber via its colonies.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Jesus, I mean Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That's dark men and their wars, fucking a and capitalism
and colonialism. H the exchange of goods never actually took
place because the UK managed to start producing glass domestically instead.
Really not sure what the moral of the story is here,
except for stay sexy and hold onto your opera binoculars.
You never know when they may become handy. Question Mark
(21:20):
Heidi she Her.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I loved it. Heidi was like in the midst of
what sounds like a fascinating book, and then it's like
she's listening to a true crime podcast and she's like,
I could tell you about this part.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I can help you with this world's collide. The book
sounds good again. It's called The Material World by Ed Conway.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, I love it. I also like the idea of
a soldier that's like shooting long distance and then holding
up opera glasses all fancy. Yeah, Okay, here's my last one.
The subject line is my Dad's adventure on the River. Hi, there,
Karen and Georgia. I refuse to believe that Stephen it's
(22:00):
no longer there, but proud of him for doing what
he needed to do. So I'm adding him into But really, hi,
everyone who works for MFM, thanks for making this fun
show that I've been listening to since its inception. I
recently listened to the Cruise Ship Near Death Experience and
I wanted to share my dad's My dad and his
dad used to take their boat out on the Missouri
(22:21):
River together to water ski back in the sixties. Wow. Nowadays,
water skiing usually requires more than two people, and for
good reason. When the skier falls, someone else is usually
in the boat and can alert the driver that Hey,
the skier's down, turn the boat around and go get them.
But on this particular day, it was just my dad
and his dad no spotter. Soque my dad falling, it
(22:42):
was inevitable. He was bound to fall. When he did,
he just had to chill in the water until his
dad figured out that he needed to turn around and
go back to get him. Sometimes it would take a
while for his dad to realize, meaning he'd be very
far away down the river and then think, oh, I
have to go back and get my kid. My dad
tried his best to yell at his dad, but the
boat motor was too loud and he watched his dad
(23:04):
just keep going down the river farther and farther until
he was almost out of sight. My dad figured he'd
be waiting a while, so he was just treading water
and enjoying nature, when all of a sudden, he heard
this show sucking sound and it's literally like so long
as c hhh e eow. But then it says kind
(23:27):
of like that annoying noise that someone makes when they're
trying to drink that last drop of drink out of
a straw. So he thought to himself, hmm, this is
probably not good. And then he looks over and realizes
that the noise is coming from a giant water vortex. Huh.
He tries his best to swim away from the noise,
but the current became too strong and he realized that
(23:50):
he was just going to get pulled down into the vortex.
My god. He looked for his dad again, but his
dad still hadn't turned around. Dude, every two seconds, turn
around you.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Just like, can we have a pre agreement that you're
not just gonna fuck off down the river.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Because I mean Jesus, okay. He didn't want to waste
precious energy yelling and waving for his dad since his
dad was too far away, to possibly see or hear him.
My dad has always struck me as a very calm
and collected guy, and I think that's the thing that
saved his life that day. Before he got too close
to the vortex, he took off his ski belt and
(24:26):
kicked off his skis. He just let the current from
the vortex suck him in. Imagine how fucking scary this
would be, and then he took a deep breath when
it pulled him down under the water. My dad is
a pretty smart guy, and he knew that the only
way out of the current would be to angle away
from it. So he tucked himself into a cannonball position,
and when his feet hit the floor of the river,
(24:48):
he sprang up from the bottom of the floor to
the surface of the water at an angle, pointing his
body upward and straight like a pencil, and then swam
away with all his might. I think he told me
that the river must have only been ten or fifteen
feet deep at this spot. Thankfully, once he reached the
surface and he popped his head out of the water,
(25:08):
he had made it far enough away from the vortex.
His dad had just happened to be waiting in the
boat close to the spot where my dad had materialized
and said to him, where the fuck did you go?
This story has always been one of my favorites to
listen to my dad tell because I never ceased to
be amazed at how he just accepted the situation, came
up with a plan, and stuck to it in order
(25:30):
to get out. I recall this story often when I'm
faced with a strange situation and remind myself that sometimes
you just have to accept what's going to happen to you,
but you don't have to accept that it's going to
hurt you. I think that's the reason that survivor stories
are so cool. There's this grit to those survivors, like
these were the cards they were dealt, but somehow they
figured out a way to change the game and win. Anyway,
(25:53):
Stay sexy and tell your dad when you get sucked
into a water vortex next time, for goodness sake. Megan, Oh, Like,
what a freak thing.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I mean, I'm not familiar with rivers, but that doesn't
sound like something that happens all the time.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
No, and you know it's super weird. The reason I
got excited when I started reading this email is because
I watched a TikTok the other day where it just
said at the top, watch till the end, and it
just looked like a very calm, still river with some
trees in it. Did you see that? One saw that?
And the trees just start going underwater totally, and then.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Something tech starts sucking everything down and around that is
that is the craziest video. And I bet it happens
more often and people have seen it, but they don't
survive it, so they can't talk about it, right, Yeah,
they can't report back.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, only if you're standing on the river bank, and
only if you have a phone ready. But in a
time before cell phones, it was just people going, Okay,
so I'm standing there and all of a sudden, all
the trees disappear. Yeah, on the other side of the
river bank. Yeah, and no one believes you. This happened
to me once in Hawaii where I was trying to
get of the ocean and I was mistiming it how
(27:04):
the waves were coming and I basically got yanked back
in and so it was really weird. It was like
the sand went out from under my I thought I
could kind of walk a riptide. Yeah, yes, so the
sand just falls away from under my feet. I get
pulled backwards, and I had the same thing where I
was just like, do not panic. Take it Like as
(27:25):
I was going, I was just like, take the biggest
breath you can get into a ball and understand that
you have to wait this out and it's probably not
going to be as quick as you want, so just
calm down.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, panicking is the worst possible thing you could do
in so many situations.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah, in those you have to go like help me,
lizard brain like that, you have to go into that
part of your brain where it's like, this is a
survival part of my brain where no talking, no yelling.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
No, there isn't like a TikTok how to about surviving
fucking nature? Tell us about write us in your freak
of nature survival stories please, or your parents or your grandparents,
we don't care whose they.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Are any or just if you've heard one.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
You love those right, Yeah, and thanks for listening and
hanging out with us for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
And sharing your stories.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
That was an excellent batch of stories. Definitely stay sexy
and don't get murdered. Gay Elvis, do you want a cookie?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
This has been an exactly right Production. Our senior producer
is Alejandra Keck. Our editor is Aristotle Osceveto. This episode
was mixed by Leona Squalacci. Emailing your hometowns to My
Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at my
Favorite Murder and on Twitter at my Fave Murder.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Goodbye,
Hosts And Creators
Georgia Hardstark
Karen Kilgariff
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