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There are couples who seem to have all "The Things." Successful careers, a family they’ve lovingly created, social connections, important charity work--the kind of people who do good things for the right reasons and leave behind a positive legacy of well remembered contributions, the kind we tend to admire and remember fondly as a community. When tragedy strikes such a family, it almost seems especially hard to grasp. Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert were just such a couple. And this is their story.

After Christmas of 2016, Shannon didn’t check in with her family. What would happen next is the stuff of nightmares...

The most dangerous times in a woman’s life are when she is in the company of men. That may seem like a dramatic overstatement, but if you think about it, it’s true. This is the story of a young woman named Angel.

America has a self-created mental health crisis, and state and federal prisons are dominated by populations of the mentally ill, where resources are few and treatment is non existent. Our story involves a family struggling to deal with a very sick young man, culminating one Halloween night when people asked the question: Is this a sick prank, or something much, much worse?

You don't know anything about the people who live next door.

When we think of a crime committed by someone who is truly, demonstrably, certifiably insane, an image of such a person may come to mind. We imagine someone who has seen lengthy periods of institutionalization, in cells designed for their own, and their caregivers, protection against violence. You may imagine straight jackets and electric shock therapy--this is not that case.

When a child commits a murder, and the victim’s surviving family members rightfully want the killer to be punished, the age of a youthful perpetrator can automatically dial down how severe that punishment is, because we, as a society, don’t hold children to the same standard of accountability as adults. Then there’s the general public squeamishness about sending a kid to death row or life in prison. It just doesn’t feel right, and seems like compounding the tragedy.

When you hear of a home invasion, the words likely conjure a scenario in which one or more people enter a home forcibly, seeking to rob the inhabitants and perhaps relieve them of their lives. And you’d be right. Such home invasions are rare, rare enough that when something like that appears to have occurred, law enforcement is generally suspicious of the story from the get-go. But there are violent home invasions bent on robbery and murder, and then there are invasions of a home’s peaceful space by increments, in which a guest is invited willingly, but they bring unwelcome others and others, and still others, until a home is invaded by a horde of unknown and hostile squatters.   Either scenario can be dangerous...

Join us for part two of this amazing story about love, loss, and forgiveness, as we sit down with Mrs. Reiser while she talks about her beautiful and talented daughter, Liz.

When we hear the story of a life that has been taken, we can feel empathy and share in the family’s grief in a small way, but can never really know what that experience is like. Early this year, we spent several hours with Becki Reiser of Dover, Ohio, who generously spoke about that experience in detail. It’s a story of a child who is loved and for whom there are many hopes for their life. It’s a story of faith, of horror, and of forgiveness. It’s a first hand account of loss, and it’s a story not to be missed.

It really doesn’t matter whether the desire to lend a hand to a young person in need comes from. Maybe it’s a sense of duty. Maybe it’s rooted in your faith or belief system. Maybe you just want to pay it forward. Foster families, and we know successful ones, are a vital, loving part of the societal puzzle.  But we also know of those who are less successful. Any time a young person is introduced into a family bringing a difficult past, with possible unknown issues, with understandable neediness— the potential for things to go awry is certainly there.

This story looks at several people whose lives intersected on a stretch of interstate highway late one night in 1986. Two of them just happened to arrive at a certain place in space and time at just the right moment. Or, more properly, just the wrong moment.

You’ve probably known a couple who just can’t seem to make things stick, you know? They’re together, they’re apart, they make up, they split up, and all the while, they seem to generally get along. They seem like a good match, but there’s something… some important piece of the puzzle, that’s missing or that they can’t get a good grip on. Eventually, they split up for keeps, often amicably, and friends and family are left scratching their heads.

On the face of it, Circleville is just another quiet, sleepy, Ohio town, but if this podcast has taught you anything, it’s that…not all small towns are safe. In 1976 someone started a terror campaign against the residents of Circleville. And this is their story.

Learning about relationships, and how that all works, is a part of becoming an adult. It’s an experience that is common to all of us, and though it may be difficult, most of us emerge with no greater harm than a temporarily broken heart, and we get on with our lives. Jodi Blankenship was ready to move her boyfriend into that “used to know” category after three years together. She was young, talented, set to aggressively chase her dreams, and date other people. And this is her story.

Troy Lee Temar was a big fish in the little pond that is Deer Park. He was a well-liked, all American guy. But what happened when he crossed paths with a particular femme fatale, would change the lives of not only his family, but the community of Deer Park forever.

The passing of time is a serious enemy in finding a missing person, and in solving a murder case.  A body is discovered, the crime scene is sifted carefully, evidence gathered, theories formed, suspects identified. Grieving families want answers. The community wants answers. Law enforcement wants answers. But if the answers don’t turn up pretty quickly, the case can grow cold, leaving everyone unsatisfied.

Striking out at the beginning of a college education marks many firsts for late teens. It’s the beginning of independence, and likely the first extended period away from family and a familiar home environment. Its the beginning of true responsibility for your own life. It marks the start of the sobering reality of necessary debt. Along with these newfound freedoms comes an adjustment to the consequences of those freedoms. And sometimes the consequences are deadly.

In a calm and sparsely populated corner of southeastern Ohio, newlyweds Stacey and Todd Holston are starting out their lives together in a tiny mobile home. On an October day much like any other, a trusted relative brings husband, wife, son, stepson, and mother and father in law together in that small trailer, and shatters a young family’s promising future forever.