Every Town Has A Dark Side - BEST of 2025

Are you ready to dive into the unknown? Join me, Peyton Moreland, on Into the Dark, the true crime podcast from Ono Media with a hint of horror and mystery. Each week, I dive into a different case, breaking down the facts, and pondering the age-old question, "Why do people do what they do?" Now sometimes the answer isn't so clear, and that's why I'll also explore conspiracy theories, hauntings, and all things spooky. From the Green River Killer to the Mothman Incident, we will unravel all of the questions that keep us up at night. So don't miss out, subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Into The Dark, where true crime meets the eerie unknown. Today, we're wrapping up 2025 in style, and sharing with you three of our favorite stories from the year. On top of that, we have three exclusive tales coming straight from our Patreon exclusive Patrons Vault. There's a little something new for everybody, I wishin' you all the best in the new year out there. Now, here's the darkest side of every town, 2025. Number six, mysteries of the Grand Canyon. Every town has a dark side. But what if I told you that the Grand Canyon, in addition to being one of the seven natural wonders of the world, was also the side of a disproportional amount of unexplained disappearances. Over 1100 people have vanished here since 2018, and that's the highest in any area of the whole United States. And on top of that, well really that's just the beginning. As beneath its towering cliffs, there appears to be secrets here that have been actively buried for centuries. Things like hidden tunnels, ancient artifacts that don't belong, and even evidence of advanced lost civilizations. So what's this all about, and are these things connected? And what else would be hiding right now along all those restricted areas of the Grand Canyon? Hey guys, it's Andrew, and thanks for tuning into this week's episode of every town. We have a pretty good dive here for all those interested in thinking outside the box. And most of us don't think of the Grand Canyon as a place that could even be riddled with secrets because it's right there for anybody to visit. And you can take photos, videos, even fly over it. But the reality is that 90% of the Grand Canyon traffic is concentrated on the south end, which means the majority of this place is totally off limits. In an area that covers just about 2,000 square miles, well that's a lot of places people have never seen. Or have they? And that's exactly why so many of them I never heard from again. The Grand Canyon is a natural wonder that's been shaped over millions of years, and its beauty has fascinated us for centuries, and for some time it was a free for all in terms of being able to be explored. And there was no national park designation, so in the wild west days for example, if you wanted to, you could wander into whatever cave, cliff, or crevash you could find. But just around the time that we began getting more sophisticated with our exploring capabilities, well wouldn't you know it, it was time to shut all that down. It was in 1908 when President Teddy Roosevelt was making the moves to declare the area off limits to mining and logging operations. And after that was established, they could then cut the general public off to wherever they saw fit, and seeing these restrictions on the horizon, a flurry of adventurous people set out to explore the area before it was too late. And one of those individuals was a man named GE Kincaid, who at the imminent closure of the canyon decided to seize the last opportunity to explore its darkest corners and search of precious minerals. Instead though, he actually ended up triggering one of the most intriguing mysteries in all of modern history. The riding out the Colorado River in a small wooden boat, Kincaid navigated between the majestic cliffs until he was about 40 miles from the Tover crystal canyon, that's when he noticed strange markings on a rock formation above. And these were high up the cliff, so he couldn't tell what they were exactly, driven by curiosity he'd docked the boat and began climbing. After a strenuous ascent, he then discovered a series of steps carved into the sandstone, hidden beneath desert shrubs and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. These steps let him do a cavernous entrance, only it wasn't a totally natural formation. Now this one, I've been formed by the hand of somebody, hard and straight edges, created a large doorway. Kincaid lit his lantern and entered the cave where what he found to fight all logic, and the walls were covered with inscriptions that didn't resemble any known language in North America. Instead, the symbols looked a lot like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, only a bit different. As he moved forward, the passage stretched so far he couldn't tell where it ended, and there were other doorways that led to other halls and rooms. There was some sort of large underground complex, built by what could have only been an advance to civilization. As Kincaid looked around, he documented everything he was finding. The main tunnel was approximately 12 feet wide and tapered towards the ends. Along the sides, passages branched off, leading to rooms carved with geometric precision. And some rooms were as large as a regular living room, but others measured much bigger, and 30 by 40 square feet. The entrance ways were curved, not straight angles, and the walls were ventilated with circular openings carefully drilled. Inside some of the rooms Kincaid found shelves filled with glazed ceramic jars, many of which still contained seeds in them. He also found copper tools, and described a workshop with remnants of charcoal and slag, evidence that the ancient residents practiced metal smelting. For the most astonishing discovery was a large room that Kincaid described as a crypt. There among stone shelves carved into the rock, he found dozens of mummies, each inside its own rocky casing. On the lower levels, the jars were more rudimentary, while those on the upper levels featured more elaborate designs, suggesting a sort of cultural evolution over time, and how long had this culture been there, and how long would it take to create such a large structure, and how far did it really go? Overwhelmed, Kincaid needed help, and this was going to change the entire world in all the history books ever written. Descending artifacts and notes to the Smithsonian Institute, he requested financial and logistical support. Within weeks, Professor SA Jordan arrived with a team of 40 scientists and workers, and everybody was excited to see what else they could uncover. With more resources, the expedition confirmed that the tunnels converged into a central chamber, and there, they found a giant statue. The figure, sitting with its legs crossed, was holding lotus flowers in both hands, resembling more modern depictions of Buddha. However, the researchers couldn't definitively identify the culture behind the statue, this was something totally different from anything we knew about. And people were not supposed to have even stepped foot in North America until about 15,000 years ago, and those that did were primitive, and supposedly it stayed that way until Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and over the past 500 years, we built the America we know, and this site would prove that all of that was completely wrong. The team nicknamed the site the Citadel. As they explored further, they discovered barracks, grained storage facilities, temples and workshops. Whoever lived here, they were making tools and weapons out of copper, bronze, and a gray metal they couldn't identify, and possibly platinum. They also found stone tablets engraved with hieroglyphs, the translation of which remained a mystery. And the mummies, all male, reinforced the theory that this section of the complex was military barracks, no women children were discovered raising questions about the actual function of the place, despite the lack of answers the team concluded that this law civilization was highly advanced with knowledge of agriculture, metallurgy and architecture. The discovery sparked controversy to say the least, as it suggested the existence of an advanced civilization in North America long before what conventional archaeology accepted and the similarities to Egyptian and Tibetan cultures were undeniable but how could that be? Unfortunately, we weren't able to find out, or at least us common folk have not been privy to the findings. The story here took a dark turn when the Smithsonian, after receiving the reports allegedly denied funding the expedition or even receiving artifacts from Kincai at all together. This fuel conspiracy theory that exists today about a cover up to protect traditional historical narratives. It made Kincai look like a crackpot, guy who made up the story entirely and maybe that's what he did. But also, maybe the power is to be in this country didn't want this sort of information getting out to the masses, knowledge as they say is power, and if we had to change the entire timeline of world history based on this finding, what would that do to the world in terms of our beliefs? Religions could be questioned, scientific and archaeological authorities could not be trusted, and that's a big problem if you want to stay in control. And today, there are no official records of Kincai's findings. Over access to many areas of the Grand Canyon are restricted, even speculation about forbidden zones that may hold more secrets. Some believe the complex could be the key to uncovering lost connections between ancient civilizations while others see Kincai's story as nothing but a fabricated tale meant to get attention. Tell them what is off limits exactly and why. Well, they're called the forbidden zones and perhaps you've heard the name mentioned as it's become synonymous with the Grand Canyon. Kincai's, for example, are forbidden zones, which by the way, of the more than 1,000 they've documented in the park, only 325 have properly been mapped and explored, so who even knows what's in the others? This name, though, isn't official. It's not like the park itself calls places that don't want you to go forbidden zones, not just what they've evolved into being called in popular culture. Something the most notable of these places are the Hopi salt mines, and these are located at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers, and this area is sacred to the Hopi and other indigenous tribes because the salt extracted here is used in religious ceremonies dating back hundreds of years, so access to these mines is restricted. The Anasazi Bridge constructed with pine logs and located over 300 feet above the Colorado River. This is believed to have been used by the ancestral indigenous cultures as a pathway across the canyon. However, access anywhere around this area is prohibited due to the instability of the Redwall limestone. A furnace flat is a site that dates back to 1050-1100 AD. It contains a masonry room with a hearth of ventilation duct and numerous artifacts. Excavations have uncovered stone tools here and decorated ceramic fragments in the areas close to the public to protect its integrity, as human traffic could damage the delicate structures. Now, this goes on and there's the Maricopa Point area which is a sanctuary for rare plants. The Orphan mine was used for uranium extraction until 1969, and this site is closed to the public due to persistent radiation. Another forbidden place is the Bass Asbestos mine, closed due to the health risk associated with Asbestos. And then there's the infamous Egyptian cave as well, that can cave found. So published in 1909 in the Arizona Gazette claim that an expedition discovered this cave with Egyptian mummies and artifacts in the Grand Canyon, and while the story has been, as we mentioned, quote unquote, debunked, "The area where this cave was supposedly found is totally restricted." The bottom line is there are a lot of forbidden zones you can't go to, a lot of different reasons why, and some of you may think that that all makes sense, but many feel like it's a bit of an overreach that maybe there's more to the story. I'm still though, just because a sign tells you not to go somewhere doesn't mean that everybody listens. And there are a lot of images online of people blatantly ignoring them and stories of crossing a boundary, only to be met by blackhawk helicopters coming swooping in to warn of imminent danger if you don't turn back. Well, obviously we don't know how many of these stories are real, but one thing we do know for sure is that the number of disappearances in this place has increased over time and they're only getting more frequent. Is there a connection to these canyon's deep secrets and the strange vanishings? Well, it's very possible. It's vanished without a trace. It's been six months since the San Antonio man went missing at the Grand Canyon. Drake Cramer's family says he loved nature. And Drake Cramer was a 21-year-old geology student at the University of Texas, and so by all accounts he was excited to take a visit to the Grand Canyon to check it out with his own two eyes. On January 31st, he registered in at the Bright Angel Lodge located on the south rim of the park, the following day, February 1st, 2015, he checked out, and that was the last time anyone saw him again. By February 2nd, with still no word, which was unlike him, his family reported him missing. At that point the National Park Service launched a search and rescue operation, where authorities conducted ground and aerial searches, including the use of K-19s and technical explorations and hard-to-reach areas. Despite these efforts though, no trace of drapes ever been found. And his story does certainly sound strange, I mean how could a young guy like that just disappear out of the blue? It's not like a lot of time had passed, he literally could only have gotten so far. The only way really he could have vanished in such a way is if perhaps he didn't want to be found. And as it turns out, that might be the case. And part of the reason why his family was so quick to call for help was because on the day he went missing, he sent a text back to his family members who one that felt very ominous. "His last text to his father was cryptic, saying he needed to be back with mother earth and set his soul free." If this were the sad case, then maybe he made his way into a very secluded, even off limits part of the park on purpose. Maybe one of those unexplored caves, and he did the unthinkable. It's hard to know for sure, but it could make sense why no trace of him has ever been found. While Drake's story might not be all that mysterious, others are not so clearly cut and dry. Now, search and rescue teams take to the skies as the hunt for the Missing River Guide Morgan Heimer continues in the Grand Canyon. Morgan Heimer, 22-year-old river guy, disappeared on June 2, 2015. "8 p.m. on June 2, our park dispatched to see the satellite call, satellite phone call, from a commercial river trip, and that trip reported that one of their guides had been missing." "At the time, Heimer was an experienced guide, bringing a group of tourists down the river on a fairly routine trip, and this one lasted a few days, so it would make a lot of stops and camp out at night, and one day, he got separated from the group, and by the time anyone realized, well, that was it. He was gone." "It was too late that he needed to do any sort of searching, so we did aerial searches yesterday with the helicopter, and today, we have three ground teams searching, as well as one team on the river." But no trace of them was ever discovered. The case of Floyd Roberts is another deeply unsettling one. In June of 2016, the 52-year-old separated from his group during a hike on the remote Shivitz Plateau in the western side of the Grand Canyon. During a descent, Roberts fell behind as companions just a little bit. it, something that happens from time to time, but shouldn't be a big deal. Need catch up while they waited. Only he never came. And so they doubled back to get him, but by then Florida was gone. On Saturday afternoon, the National Park Service received a call from a member of Robert's backpacking group that he was missing. The search and rescue effort for Robert's was one of the largest in the park's history. Well, it makes his case particularly strange is that these guys were in a remote area. In other words, nobody else was around. He would think there would be some sign of him being there over the course of several days no matter what happened, and yet there was nothing. The area where Robert's went missing is rugged and covered in thick brush, and it takes several hours for rangers to get in and out, add in the extreme temperatures and searchers know they are in a race against the clock. Some theorized that Robert succumbed to the harsh conditions and his remains were hidden somehow by the unforgiving terrain, but others believe he could have encountered someone, or really something that led to the whole mysterious disappearance. A more recent case involves 66-year-old Martha Overholzer. At the tower, a search underway in the Grand Canyon National Park for a woman who went missing from Mather Point on the South Rim last week, 66-year-old Martha Overholzer was last. Witnesses reported that she seemed to be enjoying the view before walking west from Mather Point, possibly towards the bright angel lodge or hermit's rest. However, when she did not return an immediate search was initiated. Specialized teams scoured the area for days using drones and mapping technology, but found no trace of her whereabouts. Her disappearance raises serious questions about how somebody could vanish without a trace in such a heavily traffic tourist area. And there are many, many more stories just like this, and people who are here one minute and gone the next. Nobody ever finding a shred of evidence as to where they went or what happened. It does seem to be a bit odd, there's no question. And so the many strange theories people have as to what's going on is understandable. And there are those who will say it has something to do with the ancient civilization that can cade found that's been covered up. But the land itself is alive in a way that we don't understand, which is why they built there in the first place. In this land or the spirits or the civilization that still lives there in these forbidden zones has something to do with all these people going missing. And the same vein as this idea is the one that has had park rangers noticing something peculiar in recent years. And people who, after taking stones, fossils or even fragments of plants from the park, going on to experiencing a series of unfortunate events in their lives. And these stories vary, but many claim that those who take souvenirs from the canyon feel as though they are being followed by bad luck or suffer an explicable accident. This phenomenon has become so common that some tourists, moved by the belief that the objects they removed or cursed, have returned them to the park, often accompanied by letters apologizing for taking something and now feel as brought to misfortune. Then again, maybe all that's made up by the park rangers themselves in order to deter people from taking things from the canyon, which they strongly urge against. The only history that we know is the one we go discover on our own time. The one that's presented to us is not history, it's all lies. Mothers will say that our government, in an effort to keep the ancient secrets under wraps, has a heavy presence in the canyon that we cannot see, maybe even occupy some of the caves that are decked out in modern tech and tech beyond modern perhaps, like another area 51. Then there are those who look for a more grounded explanation, and those who think that yeah, the canyon is huge and rocky and very hot and dangerous. But if you go messing around there then anything can happen, all bets are off. The very reason people are not found is because this place is so dangerous and cavernous and big, which people forget because of its beauty. The Grand Canyon is absolutely stunning and amazing and it's hard to know what the truth is about this place. It is magical, not necessarily in the ways we talked about, just in that if you see it for yourself it forces you to drop your jaw on. It makes the mind wonder and within all that fantastical stories can be created to help explain those feelings. The canyon does have secrets, it's been around for millions of years and has seen all sorts of things in its lifetime and so when you look down into it you can get a true sense of that and want to know everything that it does. It will make people hike further than they normally would just to see what's around the bend and I can get you in trouble. It's one of the seven natural wonders because it makes you wonder, and likely that's why there's so much mystery surrounding it. And then again, if there were proof of some ancient civilization here, I wouldn't put it past our overlords to keep that secret at all costs. Number five, the disappearance of Mike Williams. The 31-year-old Mike Williams left his Tallahassee home before dawn on December 16th of 2000 and towing his boat to Lake Seminole. He was headed out on an early morning hunting trip. A devoted husband, father and successful real estate appraiser and Mike had built a life most people would envy. But that day he vanished without a trace and the years that followed his disappearance would unfold into one of Florida's most twisted murder cases riddled with deception, betrayal and a deadly love triangle. When Mike failed to return home that evening, his wife Denise reported a missing within hours a search party descended upon Lake Seminole. His truck was found parked near a remote boat launch, his empty boat was floating nearby. Authorities assumed the worst that Mike had fallen into the lake and drowned, likely being consumed by alligators. Mike Williams disappeared while on a hunting trip in 2000. His wife Denise led a massive search for him. Then community members concluded an alligator had killed him. It was the easiest explanation, one that authorities accepted without much hesitation, but it was one glaring problem. Lake Seminole had seen nearly 80 drowning cases before Mike and in every single instance, a body had eventually been recovered. Mike was the only one that had ever simply vanished. Still the search for his body was called off and six months later investigators suddenly discovered a pair of waiters, a hunting jacket and a flashlight floating in the lake. Inside the jacket was a hunting license, bearing Mike's name and it seemed like a confirmation that he had died in the water, soon after that Denise petitioned to have him legally declared dead. And with little pushback the court approved it, allowing Denise to cash in on his whopping 1.5 million dollar life insurance policy. And five years after that she married a man named Brian Winchester, the very same man who just so happened to have sold Mike that policy just months before he disappeared. And while Denise had moved on, Mike's mother Cheryl refused to accept the alligator theory. And she wrote letters every single day at a Florida's governor pleading for the case to be reopened. She used to write letters to the governor over 2000 and they included her notes about the case. And if she heard somebody say anything about Mike, she would put it in a letter and send it to the governor. She got no response. Lobby law enforcement appeared on news segments and pushed investigators to take a closer look. Our persistence paid off in 2004 when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reopened the case. And that's when the cracks in the story started to show. Forensic experts determine that alligators do not eat during the winter months and so if Mike had drowned in December, it was unlikely it had been consumed. Then there was the issue of the recovered hunting gear. And despite being in the water for six months, well none of it showed signs of prolonged exposure. No algae, no wear and tear. It was almost as if it had been planted. So for over a decade's suspicion swirl, but there was never enough hard evidence to make an arrest. Though that all changed in 2020. 2016 when Denise filed for divorce from Bryan. He said Bryan didn't take it too well, and so one morning as Denise left for work, he climbed in the backseat of her car arm with a gun, and he held her at gunpoint threatening to kill her and let himself. She managed to talk him down, and he was not arrested and was facing 20 years for the kidnapping, but investigators wondered why he had such an intense reaction to her seeking a divorce. I mean, this was pretty extreme. With all the evidence and Mike Williams' case, they figured it was probably because he was scared that once broken up, well she might reveal the truth, and so they pushed on him. He was slowly starting to crack, and when they told him that they would give him immunity and exchange for the truth, Bryan told police that Mike had in fact never drowned, he had been murdered. According to him, he and Denise had been having an affair, and together they devised a plan to get rid of Mike once and for all, and of course cash in on his life insurance. The original idea was to stage a boating accident, but when that failed, Bryan took matters into his own hands. He had at first tried to push him under the water that morning, but when Mike managed to free himself, Bryan just shot him in the face. He then loaded up the body into his truck and drove to a remote area and buried him. For 17 years, Denise had maintained her innocence, but Bryan's confession turned the tide. Mike's remains were finally located in October of 2017, buried near Tallahassee with a gun shot wound to the head. In 2018, Denise was arrested for first-degree murder, conspiracy, and accessory after the fact. A widow in Tallahassee is now charged with conspiring to murder her husband. 17 years ago, Denise Williams claimed her husband, Mike, disappeared while duck hunting. His body was found last year buried near a dead end road. She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, and a shocking turn of events and appeals court later overturned her murder conviction, but she'll still serve 30 years for conspiracy. You know, the older I get, the more I catch myself thinking I should probably go to the doctor more often. Not for anything dramatic, just the everyday stuff that creeps up on you. The sleep never feels deep enough. At shoulder, it feels a little out of whack, or at the stress of the builds after long editing nights. But the problem's always the same, actually finding the right doctor. Someone who takes my insurance is nearby with an opening that is in six weeks out. That's where Zock-Dock comes in. Zock-Dock is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality, in-network doctors, and click to instantly book an appointment. You can filter by specialty, insurance, location, or patient ratings. And when you find the right one, you can literally click and book right there. It usually happens fast, often within 24 to 72 hours, sometimes even same day. That's helped me stop putting things off and actually take care of the stuff I used to ignore, so yeah, I use it and you should too. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments, and go to zock.com/every10 to find an instantly book a top-rated doctor today. At zocdoc.com/everytown, zock.com/everytown. Number four, I-5 killer. A former NFL player with a chiseled jawline in the mind of a monster, turned interstate five along the west coast into his personal root of terror. In a woodfield, where we'll go on to become known as the I-5 killer, was linked to more than 44 murders in morbid assault when it was all said and done, in a blood-soaked spree that spanned across 900 miles. And perhaps, what's most disturbing about it all, is that the majority of his crimes he committed were within just a few short months of one another. Armed with a gun, duct tape, and an insatiable thirst for violence, he went hard and fast, leaving a trail of death in motels, stores, and even homes. And his criminal record is so insane that even today, decades later, it remains one of the most disturbing that we've ever seen. Hey guys, it's Andrew and thanks for tuning in to another episode of Every Town. But today we're checking out a story about a serial killer, who for reasons unknown has sort of flown under the radar for a lot of true crime buffs. It's interesting because part of why he was able to be so prolific, is because Randall had an athletic background and was a good-looking guy, which many experts think allowed him to get in close to his victims and gain their trust. And so you have to wonder, well maybe we've overlooked him for that exact same reason. We'll make no mistake about it and this guy is going to blow your mind. So let's head on out west to Oregon and check out how Randall Woodfield became the infamous i5 killer. The Woodfield was born the day after Christmas back in 1950 and raised it a nice middle-class family home in Salem, Oregon. From an early age, you displayed some serious athletic abilities, excelling in any sport that he took on. Though the one he gravitated to the most was football, and so by the time he was in high school, he was an absolute star on the field. He wasn't the biggest guy out there at 6 foot 1 and 185 pounds, but he was fast, as a stand-out wide receiver on the Newport High School team of his status, man, and very popular among his peers. And so overall, he appeared to be a disciplined and successful young man. A leg up, so to speak, on the competition of life. Because of his abilities, Randall went on and earned himself a full scholarship to attend Oregon State University, where he continued to excel in pigskin. And was there that the coach encouraged him to keep on pursuing the sport, because if he did, then he had a real chance of going pro. Up to this point, you'd have to agree that Woodfield personified every American kid's dream. But talented and charismatic young man, ready to conquer the sports world. And he really had it all right in front of him, and he just had to reach out and grab it. But instead, he chose a different path entirely. One, at first, might have seemed like just a couple of bad choices as a result of being young and dumb, but they were actually warning signs of something deep-seated and much darker. The first thing that happened was Randall was arrested when he lost control of his temper and trashed his ex-girlfriend's apartment. About a year later, then got arrested again. Only this time it was for indecent exposure one night, a lot on the town in Washington. Ben, he got in trouble for it again in Oregon, so he liked to show what he was made of both on and off the field. Instead of taking these incidents seriously, the university and sports authorities downplayed it all. As Talon on the field kept him in the good graces of coaches and fans, we're willing to overlook his legal troubles, and that also helped him from facing harsher consequences in court. And this wasn't just some weird guy off the street, Randall was a star. This pattern of leniency toward his behavior then laid the groundwork for him to continue exploring darker impulses. A word in the NFL was getting around about Randall's odd behavior which dropped his draft stock a bit, but still in 1974 he was able to get an offer from the Green Bay Packers. They got him in the 17th round and he was the 428th pick overall, so he was going to have to prove himself a camp. He signed a contract, however his time with the team was short-lived, because soon after joining new accusations of inappropriate behavior off the field began to surface, although his mix with his past issues had the team deciding he was more of a liability than he was worth, so Randall was released before he could ever even play in an official game. This rejection was a devastating blow for Woodfield. After all those years of hard work to make it as a pro athlete, he was unable to stay on the straight and narrow and to cost him his career. Now without the structure that football had provided, perhaps the only thing actually keeping him together, Randall found himself lost and resentful. It was at this point that his disturbing behavior began to escalate. and take on a much more violent turn. (gentle music) (upbeat music) When following his exit from the NFL, Randall returned to Oregon and served in a new direction. However, instead of focusing on rebuilding his life, he began to display more severe signs of instability. His need to dominate and humiliate others turned into an obsession. Several women all across Portland began reporting some disturbing crimes. They spoke of a man who would approach them at night, branching a knife, before forcing them into alleyways and making them perform lute ax to them. When he was satisfied, he would then rob them of their purses and wallets and take off in the night. Meanwhile, by day, Randall continued playing sports in local leagues, trying to cling to the athletic image that wants to find him. However, friends and acquaintances began to notice that something was off about him, but if you suspected the level of violence, he was about to unleash. Eventually, there were so many reports coming in from women that the police needed to put a stop to it as fast as possible, and so they set up a sting operation. And they sent out a few female officers dressed in civilian clothing, and had them walk the streets at night with some expensive looking purses. And when you know it, Randall just couldn't stay away. He was caught red handed in the act and arrested. And down at the station, they worked him over, and eventually he confessed to the crimes, but cried about how none of it was his fault. He blamed his poor impulse control on his steroid abuse, claiming he had to take them in order to compete with the other players and domestic them up big time. That is certainly possible as steroids can change your person's aggression levels. It's also possible that from all those hits he took on the field growing up, we'll give him CTE, which again, it had been a factor in his poor decisions. But still though, neither of those are good enough excuses to harm and humiliate random women. Booked and sent to trial, Woodfield received a 10-year sentence. But still he had a little glimmer of that athlete, still in him, was able to get himself out in just four years. And so it was 1979 at this point. And now Randall was gonna go for the long ball with his deviant activities. There was no turning back for him, no starting a fresh life over. He was going to commit to this and see it through to the end. Over those four years in prison, Woodfield had a lot of time to think, and one of the things he thought about most was women from his past. And he would play out fantasies in his mind where his life took a different path. One where he became a football superstar and all the ladies loved him. He also had time to write, and so one person he reached out to was Cherry Ayers. And when he had grown up with and known since the second grade. And she sort of took pity on Randi's situation, so from time to time, she'd write him back as well. And in the Chris Fall Air on October 9th of 1980, Randi decided to pay her a visit. Only she didn't know he was coming. He went to her apartment in downtown Portland. When she opened the door, he forced her into the bedroom. One thing Woodfield learned in prison was that, he maybe could have avoided jail time, had these women not told the police about him. The only way to do that, well, would be to get rid of them forever. Once he had finished assaulting Cherry, bludgeoned her and stabbed her several times in the neck. Her body would be found right there in the bedroom by her fiance, just two days later. A little more than a month after that, Woodfield would strike again. And this time it was also with a woman he had known in the past. On Thanksgiving morning, as a way to show how grateful he was feeling, Randi went over to 22-year-old Darcy Fix's house. And Darcy had dated one of Randi's close friends back in college, and he always had a thing for her. When he got there though, it was a man with her, Douglas Altig. While Randi had planned on having his way with Darcy, this new character in the mix certainly put a damper on his mood. And so Randi just bound them up with duct tape and grabbed Darcy's revolver and used it to shoot them both execution style. One thing he can't say about Woodfield is that he lacked commitment. And from this moment on, he became prolific in the crimes he pulled off. On December 9th, he took that revolver and used it to rob a Vancouver Washington gas station while wearing a fake beard. Just four days later, he targeted an ice cream parlor in Eugene. And then, the very next day, robbed a drive-in restaurant in Albany. Often he put tape over the bridge of his nose, which really hides what people look like. -Early resembling the nasal strips worn by football players, another attempt to further disguise himself. On December 21st, disguised yet again with a false beard, he cornered a waitress in a Seattle restaurant, forcing her into the bathroom at gunpoint and making her perform a degrading act. The news spread fast by January of '81. The media dubbed this elusive criminal the I-5 bandit. -W Woodfield's victims spam the I-5 corridor from Washington all the way down to California. And today, we-- -This stretch of road goes from California to Washington State. They provided Randall with the perfect mobility to carry out his crimes. On January 8th, he hit the same Vancouver gas station that he'd robbed just a few weeks prior. Only this time, he took it a step further by forcing a female attendant to expose her breasts while she emptied out the cash register. And the string of robberies continued from there. January 11th in Eugene, January 12th in Sutherland, where his shot wounded a grocery store clerk. But then things changed up and took an even darker turn just two days later. On January 14th, Woodfield broke into a home where two young sisters, only eight and ten years old were living. When he did to them, it's almost too horrific to put into words. He ordered them to undress and then assault them. And days later on January 18th, he stormed into an office building in Salem, where he assaulted two women, Sherry Hall and Beth Wilman. After he was finished, he shot them both, killing Hall instantly. Erachiously, Wilmaud survived, despite Randy thinking she was dead. And she was able to help provide authorities with a detailed sketch of who they were looking for. The Woodfield Rampage continued with robberies in Eugene, Medford, and Grant's Pass on January 26th and 29th. In Grant's Pass, he also attacked two women, a clerk and a customer before fleeing. And on February 3rd, the bodies of Donna Eckert, who was 37, and her 14-year-old daughter, Janelle, were discovered in their home in Mountain Gate, California. And they were found lying together in bed, both shot multiple times. And tragically forensic evidence revealed that Janelle had also been assaulted. The following day, an eerily similar crime occurred in Eureka, with Woodfield robbing an Ashland Oregon motel later that night, and he just kept going. By February 9th, he struck again, this time in Corvallis. He robbed a fabric store, assaulting both the clerk and a customer before vanishing in the night. A spree of terror escalated further on February 12th, when robberies connected to the I-5 Bandit took place in Vancouver, Olympia, and Bellevue, Washington, all in a single day. And these crimes included three assaults. Woodfield, for whatever reason, seemed untouchable, but his arrogance knew no bounds. On Valentine's Day of '81, he planned a party at Portland's Marriott Hotel, inviting old friends from college. Yet nobody showed up. Seathing, and perhaps humiliated, he left the hotel and drove to the beaverton home of 18-year-old Julie Wright. Woodfield had met her while working as a balancer at a Portland bar called the Fawcett. At around 2 a.m. on February 15th, he arrived at Julie's home. Investigators believed the two shared a glass of wine would feel brutally turned on her. He had his way with her and then he shot her in the head. Evidence at the scene revealed the chilling final moments of Julie's life, a package of instant coffees at abandoned on the counter, and the kettle on the stove had been left boiling until it ran dry. The authorities urgently needed to get things under control, and for weeks the news coverage was intense, issuing warnings about a serial killer on the loose who was striking and an alarmingly fast pace. The impact of his crimes were devastating. Store owners began closing early and many women avoided traveling alone. Sales of self-defense weapons surged in affected towns, while police intensified, patrols me the highway. The name at this point of the i5 bandit had now morphed into the i5 killer. This nickname fueled public paranoia and added pressure on authorities to finally capture them. A police had recovered matching shell casings at multiple crime scenes officially linking those cases together, and has led to a coordinated effort among law enforcement agencies across several states to get involved, which helped increase resources on the case. Randall eventually made some critical mistakes during his final attacks. On one occasion he was seen fleeing the scene in a vehicle described by witnesses, and this information allowed police to identify the car model and trace ownership records, bringing them closer to the killer. With his name out in the open, they were able to connect him to several of the victims as people he had known which further tightened the news. With his face plastered everywhere, witnesses began calling in, and from there was just a matter of time before police grabbed him. Finally, on March 5th, he was brought in in question. During that interrogation he displayed a cold and distant attitude, denying any involvement in the crimes over the evidence against him was overwhelming. Police presented physical evidence, including bullet casings, DNA samples, and witness testimonies, all proving his guilt. Woodfield's trial was one of the most high profile cases of its time, due in large part to the sheer number of victims in such a short amount of time. Prosecutors presented a solid case, and beyond just the forensic proof, they detailed how Randall perfectly matched the profile of the killer. His well-groomed appearance and background as an athlete were used to illustrate how he had manipulated his victims, gaining their trust in many cases before attacking them. The defense tried to argue that the evidence was circumstantial and that Randall was just being framed because of his criminal past, and that the police just needed to pin the crimes on somebody. However, the jury remained unconvinced. After a long trial, Randall was found guilty on multiple counts of murder, assault, and robbery. It was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now prosecutors have decided not to press charges against Woodfield in his four additional murders because he's already serving a life sentence. If he is ever eligible for parole, more NOMA counties district attorney says he will reconsider that decision. Following that conviction, Woodfield was transferred to a maximum security prison where he remains to this day at the age of 74. His life behind bars has been marked by isolation and social rejection. He's never admitted guilt and, as such, has never shown any sort of remorse for his actions. Interestingly, Woodfield's case is not the only one that has terrorized the highway stretching along the west coast of the US. This road has been the setting for multiple brutal crimes, many of which have left indelible scars on the collective memory. Among these cases is that of Roger Kib, known as the I-5 Strangler, whose killing spree spread fear throughout the region during the 1970s and 80s. In Kib, primarily targeted young women who were traveling alone. His M.O. involved offering assistance to stranded motorists or luring vulnerable victims with deceptive promises. Once he had the munderers control, they subjected them to torture before ending their lives through strangulation. He is responsible for having at least eight victims for sure, though there are probably more. Another shocking case is that of Randy Stephen Kraft, known as the Freeway Killer. When he used the I-5 as a route to transport and dispose of his victims' bodies, he operated during the 1970s and 80s primarily targeting young men. And Kraft stood out for his high level of organization, keeping a detailed record of his crimes and what became known as his scorecard. His capture resulted from a routine traffic stop during which police found a dead person in his passenger seat. The evidence collected in his vehicle included photographs and keepsakes from his crimes, and it was sufficient enough to convict him of 16 murders. However, it is suspected that the real number of victims exceeds 50. In the cases of Kib Kraft and of course Woodfield as a whole, remind us that the highways we use daily to get to and from our jobs are much more than we typically give them credit for. They have a long and storied history and we share them with the worst criminals our society has ever seen. And so the next time you're stuck in a traffic jam and just take a look around, chances are you've driven right next to a killer before and will likely do it again and maybe it's happening right at this very moment. Number three, whispers beneath the bridge. In January of 1997, 18-year-old Brian Nissenfeld was just beginning to adjust to life at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. A freshman from New Jersey studying architecture, Brian wasn't the type to seek the spotlight. He wasn't into parties or other campus events. He preferred solitude, often retreating to the water's edge beneath the mount-hope bridge to read, think and listen to music. But whatever piece Brian found there would be shattered just weeks into a second semester. In January 31, shortly after midnight, Brian received a disturbing phone call from someone he once considered a friend. The voice on the other end wasn't just angry, it was threatening. The caller, a former student himself, told Brian he was going to "get him" warning that he still had access to the campus and that he was serious. That man on the other end of the call was Josh Cohen. These two were once closed friends and possibly more than that, but for some reason the relationship between the pair had suddenly gone cold. Some would later claim they'd had a secret romantic connection. If that's true, it ended badly and now one of them was lashing out. Rattled, Brian immediately called his father Steve, asking for him to come and get him. Brian wanted out of there, he was freaked out, but it was in the middle of the night and Steve caught off guard and unsure of how serious the threat was, told his son to report it to campus security. And Brian did that and the university's response was simple and dismissive. They told him to just change his phone number. The six days later on February 6th, Brian walked out of class and vanished, just like that. No red flags whatsoever went up. In fact, it wasn't until February 12th, a full week after Brian disappeared, but his parents were even informed. The Steve drove to campus immediately when he found his eerie. Brian's Roman touched, clothes folded, books stacked. It looked like he had stepped out for a minute and just never came back. And then came a phone call. Brian's mother Mary Ann received a strange and brief message from the female, claiming that she worked at the school. As she said that the family needed a dig further and that administrators were withholding information about the case. But before Mary Ann could ask any questions, the lady hung up and the call was never traced. Six months would pass without answers, and then on Labor Day weekend a woman with her daughter were taking a stroll along Hog Island Beach close to the school when they spotted a sneaker washed up on shore. Inside that shoe was part of a human foot. Nearby, investigators also recovered a portion of a shim bone. In terms of a body, well that's all they found, but DNA confirmed it belonged to young Brian. I realized there was like a white, very shiny white, almost plastic walking smooth surface. and around it like a flashy substance so I knew right at that point that there was a foot inside the shoe. Police leaned toward two theories as an official explanation. Either Brian had jumped from the mount-hope bridge or he had accidentally fallen into the water while wandering the shore near his favorite thinking spot. But Brian's family wasn't buying any of it. Yes, the architecture program was demanding but nothing pointed to a complete sort of breakdown. And Brian had been actively engaging with family and trying to solve the problem he had with Josh reaching out for help just a week before he vanished. So what about him? This is the same man who had threatened Brian and was the last known person who had had any serious conflict with him. When police snooped around there were rumblings from campus that perhaps Brian was going to speak about their romance. Something Josh definitely didn't want him to do. It was he desperate enough to kill the kid. We'll probably never know for sure. Police never charged Josh Cohen with anything related to Brian's death. They stand firm that they don't believe he was involved. Brian's family has never stopped believing he was. The case of Brian Nissenfeld remains open currently though there are no suspects and still no official cause of death. There's fragments of a young man off behind on a beach and a lot of speculation. Number two, Antarctica's lost world. They say Antarctica is empty just ice snow and silence but that's a lie because right now beneath miles of frozen stillness something is moving. Over 5,000 people are stationed at the bottom of the world right now. Not tourists and not thrill seekers. We're talking scientists, engineers, families. Entire community is quietly building something permanent. Structures that don't look like research stations. They look like cities and that's just what they let you see. Because here's the part nobody talks about. If we're capable of building civilizations out there now. What was here before? Antarctica is the last frontier. It holds our imagination. Old maps that said here be monsters. The last remaining territory on the planet that could have such a designation is Antarctica. Something seems to be going on on this mysterious continent at the South Pole and it has been theorized by a number of people that Antarctica is some kind of alien base. The deeper you dig in Antarctica's history the stranger it gets. When you put it all together like we will today. One interesting and possibly terrifying idea emerges. We weren't the first and whoever came before us never left. Hey guys it's Andrew and welcome back to another episode of Every Town Where Today. We're head into the coldest most secretive place on earth and what we've uncovered might just rewrite everything we thought we knew about human history. This is the forbidden history of Antarctica. Have you ever heard of McMurdo station? If not no worries most people haven but on any given day this place is home to about a thousand people. It might not sound like a whole lot compared to most places but when you consider that this spot is in Antarctica well that's a pretty respectable number. During the summers down there that number grows to about 1500. McMurdo is a fully functioning city complete with dormitories labs medical facilities a fire station library even recreational clubs. The process is 8 million gallons of fuel every year and it operates three ice runways for planes to come in and out of and as its own harbor. This place has been running continuously since 1955 which means 70 years of permanent human presence in Antarctica and McMurdo isn't alone. If you keep heading south all the way to the very bottom of the planet you'll find another station amongst in the sky. It's perched right at the geographic south pole or compasses spin uselessly and the sun disappears from months and the summer around 150 people are there and in winter maybe 50 stay behind. Imagine being one of them locked in with no way in or out on the world above moves on you don't leave you just wait and further out there's Vostok a Russian station built in one of the coldest places Earth has ever recorded minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit that kind of cold is hard to imagine because well nobody's ever truly felt it. If he did say plop down naked in those temperatures the pain on your skin would be instant would feel like fire but would actually be a cold burn the moisture in your eyes nose and mouth while that would flash freeze. Frostbite will begin in less than 30 seconds and the air you breathe in would be so cold it would damage your lungs and cause them to shut down. But still people work there though they are wearing proper protection and they drill through miles of ice to study an ancient lake sealed off from millions of years the deeper they go the more it feels like they're digging into another planet. And then there's Esperanza bass this one's different it's not just scientists and specialists there are families here kids of school radio station even a chapel 11 babies have been born there since 1978 real lives real homes all in Antarctica zoom out for a second and the scale gets wild because most people believe that Antarctica is a desolate uninhabitable peace of land but that's not the case and that's important to remember for what we're about to get into. I mean there are more than 70 stations across the continent operated by over 30 countries and the warmer months around 5,000 people live there across the whole of Antarctica these aren't just isolated dots on a map they're connected by air routes satellite comps supply chains and you're looking at an invisible infrastructure that's been quietly growing for decades a network of outposts stitched across a frozen desert bigger than the US and Mexico combined and barely anybody talks about it which leads us to one very interesting question if this many people are living and working there building flying digging raising families and what else could be happening there that we don't know about and who else could possibly be living there and those exact questions take us back to 1929 when it germined the a legend named Gustaf disment was doing some routine archival work in Istanbul and nothing unusual just cataloging old documents in the top catapult palace library until he stumbled across something that would haunt cartographers to this very day the Perry Reese map drawn in 1513 by an Ottoman admiral this wasn't just a beautifully preserved antique this thing showed the entire coastline of Antarctica with detail which is insane because that's a full 300 years before Antarctica was supposedly discovered and 1513 is 21 years after Columbus discovered America until then Europeans didn't even know what the Americas were they thought they landed in Asia back then it was also common knowledge that the earth was flat officially Antarctica wasn't discovered until 1820 yet here was a map drawn on gazelle skin showing geographical features of a continent no one knew existed at the time so how's that possible well Perry Reese was a naval admiral practical man who documented his sources meticulously he inscribed right on the map that he used 20 different source maps including charts from Christopher Columbus charts that are now mysteriously lost by the way but he also had access to geographical knowledge that were told didn't exist at the time which means previous map makers had somehow explored Antarctica now the argument by some as to why this land mass shows up on older maps is not because it was actually found but because it wasn't supposed to be Antarctica it was actually meant to represent terror Australis a theoretical continent that ancient Greeks believed had to exist in order to balance the earth's way every map from that era shows of this imaginary Southern land, except Perry Reese's map showed details that matched the real Antarctica with disturbing accuracy. So when scholars tried to dismiss this as coincidence, they ran into some problems. I mean, the map showed geographical features that wouldn't be officially discovered until the 20th century. Coastal information to detail to be made by chance. The Charles Habgood spent years analyzing this map, and others like it. His conclusion was that someone had mapped Antarctica somehow when it was ice-free. Someone had been there before, and someone had surveyed that continent with precision and matched modern techniques. Then that knowledge had been passed down through ancient sources until it reached Perry Reese. So pick your poison. On the one side, you have the official conventional explanation which requires you to believe in an extraordinary series of coincidences. The Perry Reese just guessed, and nailed the outline of the continent by chance. The alternative requires you to believe that someone was in Antarctica long before we've been told by the history books. And if you believe that, isn't it possible that people have been visiting that land for a long time, possibly living there too? And if so, well, where? (upbeat music) (crickets chirping) In 2016, satellite images started circulating on the internet. The ones you've probably seen at some point. And they were pictures from Antarctica, showing something that frankly shouldn't exist. Perfect pyramids. Not pyramid-shaped rocks and not natural formations that vaguely resemble pyramid. Structures with four distinct faces, precise angles, and proportions that matched human-made pyramids found across the globe. Recently, there have been a number of reports of pyramids, huge, great pyramids in Antarctica. They jut out of the ice and snow. And they look perfect just like those in Egypt. But they dwarf those in Egypt, likely great pyramids. The largest one here measured 1.2 miles across at its base and rose over 3,937 feet high. The coordinates are publicly available, 79-58 south and 81-57 west. Now, admittedly, if that's a pyramid, that's huge. And the great pyramid of Giza for comparison was about 755 feet at the base and rises 480 feet. But still, the official explanation came quickly, too quickly. These were none of ticks, they said. Natural rock formations carved by glacial erosion over millions of years. The result of ice moving in different directions, creating angular peaks through freeze-thaw cycles and natural weathering. Dr. Eric Ringnell from NASA explained it like this. And these formations occur when glacial surks converge on a central point, and carving the rock into pyramidal shapes. Natural process, so nothing to see here. But if you look closer, and you should, because it's crazy, you can see that these formations display a level of geometric precision that approaches with human architects achieve. One has a perfectly square base that is two kilometers square in each direction. There are multiple structures showing similar characteristics across different parts of the continent. Yelsworth Mountains, where these formations are located, contain 13,000 meters of folded rock strata formed roughly 150 million years ago. The area shows evidence of massive geological forces and contains fossils from when Antarctica was a warm habitable continent. But it also contains these structures that make even scientists acknowledge why people might question their origins. - Is it possible, therefore, that our ancestors did actually reach the Antarctic continent, and perhaps even settled there? - A man-made pyramid beneath the Antarctic ice, if such an incredible motion is true, then it naturally begs some questions. How was such a massive structure built on Antarctica? When was it done? And by whom? - In a world where we know ancient civilizations built massive stone pyramids on every inhabited continent, we're supposed to just believe that nature happened to create perfect pyramid shaped replicas on the one continent where no one is supposed to have lived. And yet, as a reminder, people do live there, many of them right now. Now, what if we've always lived there, or at least some form of humans? Well, that might not be in the textbooks, it's definitely mentioned in many other books. And this civilization is called a garta. A garta is the name given to a legendary highly advanced civilizations that exist beneath the Earth's surface, accessible through openings at the poles. It's a meat-thus that predates the internet, satellite imaging, or even modern science fiction. And yet, it paints a picture of a world as detailed and immersive as any today. The story begins in 1873 with Louise Jacaliot, a French colonial judge stationed in India. He claimed to have accessed ancient Sanskrit texts that spoke of a hidden capital beneath the Earth, a lost city brimming with advanced technology in ancient wisdom. But it wasn't until Alexandra St. Eves, a French mystic and political thinker entered the picture that a garta began something much more unsettling. (gentle music) In 1886, St. Eves published Michonne de linden Europe, where he described a garta as a real place. An underground kingdom hidden beneath the Himalayas, ruled by beings of immense intelligence and power. He claimed to have learned all of this from a mysterious figure named Prince Hardij Sharif. Hoo, taught him an unknown language, butanian, supposedly spoken by the subterranean race. According to St. Eves, a garta was a society far ahead of ours. It's people who had gas lighting, railways, even air travel, centuries before such technologies appeared on the surface. And their libraries were carved into stone, preserving the forgotten knowledge of ancient worlds. They had their own religion, a sovereign government, and a technology base that made surface civilization look primitive by comparison. But then St. Eves tried to erase everything. Shortly after its publication, he became terrified of what he had revealed. He attempted to destroy every copy of the book, all 200 additions, making it so rare that it wasn't republished until after his death in 1910. And what exactly had he uncovered that drove him to silence? Why the sudden fear? And more importantly, how did a story about a secret world beneath the Himalayas end up tied to the frozen edge of Antarctica? Well, that part begins with Admiral Richard E. Berg, a real American naval officer and explorer who led five major expeditions to Antarctica. And his achievements are well documented. And in the 1970s, a strange story surfaced, a secret diary, allegedly written by Bird himself, detailing a mysterious flight over the South Pole in February of 1947. This story is said to come from his diary's knots. His published account of the trip, but something he held back and then later was suppressed by government authorities that found it frightening. In this diary, which has never been authenticated, Bird supposedly describes flying beyond the pole and into an impossible place. Admiral Bird heard there was an entrance to the center of the earth through the South Pole and he took planes into the South under the South Pole. And when he did that, he discovered that as he flew over the pole, suddenly he's looking at things that shouldn't be there. I mean, it was temperate. He has squadron flew under the earth, into the earth, that turns into this lush and green area and he can't even believe his eyes, but that's just the beginning of his extraordinary story. He tells how all of a sudden he starts to see a shimmering rainbow city that's made a crystal. - Even more bizarre with the beings he encountered. [BLANK_AUDIO] airplane is taken control of when he suddenly sees these flying disc-shaped objects around them that lead him to the ground. Whereupon, he's escorted into a cavernous type of an area where he meets a being he refers to as the master in his diary. The master tells him that they're highly disappointed in what humans are doing with nuclear weapons and how they've recently destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and they really are concerned about what is going on on the surface of the planet. The bird polar research center has repeatedly stated that there is no record of such a flight and no such diary and yet a legend persists. And something the US government covered up whatever bird saw, which let's face it, if he did see that, they most certainly would. Others believe he really did enter a garta, not through the Himalayas, but via hidden gateway in Antarctica. Whatever the truth is, the story is refused to die and it's become part of a deeper mythology. One where lost civilizations, forbidden knowledge and polar secrets all converge beneath miles of ice. Maybe it's just a story, or maybe a garta never needed to be found, because it's always been watching from below. Now if that all sounds too outlandish for you to believe I get it, it's a pretty fantastical story, but interesting nonetheless. But something that is very interesting and very real about Antarctica, is that this place has always had an issue with transparency, and why is that? That's the question, no one seems willing to answer. Every single path in this investigation seems to hit the same wall, a lack of transparency wrapped in a layer of official protocol. With the deeper we dug through obscure documents, buried policies and decades of international agreements, we uncovered something super interesting that makes you wonder if there really is something to the whole of Gartistory. It's something that governs everything about the world's most mysterious continent, and it's called the Antarctic Treaty System. On paper, it's just a diplomatic agreement, 58 nations pledging peaceful cooperation on the coldest, harshest continent on earth, but in practice it's a sweeping control mechanism, a geopolitical firewall that regulates every aspect of human activity across Antarctica. At first glance the treaty promotes openness, and mandates scientific transparency, requires all research data to be publicly shared, and allows for unrestricted inspections. Every activity is banned, except for logistical support, Antarctica is officially designated a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science, but look closer. There are 75 Antarctic specially protected areas, and entry into any of them requires a special permit. Meaning permanently prohibited, waste disposal is tightly regulated, every activity, even walking on certain stretches of ice requires a formal environmental impact assessment. While tourism is technically allowed it's heavily restricted, just 122,000 visitors last season, all traveling through approved operators under strict monitoring, so no, you can't just go wandering around there. What this creates is a system where access is controlled, filtered, and documented. True independent exploration is nearly impossible, everything is surveilled. Every move is accounted for, and it's a level of oversight that suggests there guarding more than just glaciers and penguins. At the center of the United States operations here is Operation Deep Freeze, a long-standing military logistical program that manages everything from transportation to infrastructure. They fly to planes, fuel stations, and move the supplies, but are not allowed to set up combat operations or permanent military bases. Their role isn't to fight wars, it's to keep a tie lid on what happens down there. Yes data is shared, inspections take place, but when it comes to physically getting to Antarctica, it's a different story. Access is buried underneath bureaucratic red tape, limited to approved personnel on approved missions, all following pre-approved research agendas. And the justification for all of it, always the same. Environmental protection, scientific preservation, safeguarding Antarctica for future generations. And here's the deeper layer. An environmental narrative serves another purpose too. It reinforces the belief that Antarctica has been frozen and inhabitable for millions of years, a place where no ancient civilization could possibly have existed. Because if people start questioning that narrative, they start thinking someone might have lived there long before us, then the entire framework of secrecy begins to crack. But the restrictions aren't just physical, they're psychological. It's not just about keeping people out, it's about making sure no one ever thinks there's anything worth going in for. The science tells us the continent has been frozen for millions of years, making human habitation impossible throughout the entire span of human evolution. Icecore data extending 800,000 years shows continuous glacial conditions. The last time Antarctica was habitable was 35 million years ago, long before humans existed. This creates an insurmountable chronological problem if you want to believe people live there. Humans evolved 350,000 years ago, give or take, and Antarctica became uninhabitable 35 million years ago, so the math doesn't work for ancient civilizations. The study after study seems to say the same thing, it's been locked in glacial conditions that entire time, no warm periods, no window for human life. Throughout that entire stretch CO2 levels stay between 180 and 300 parts per million, too loud to allow ice-free conditions, aiming during the warmest interglacial periods Antarctica stayed frozen, the science sounds solid, airtight, and definitive. The science has been wrong before, and big ideas have collapsed when one unexpected discovery changed everything, the way this particular narrative is delivered so certain and so absolute it almost feels like a defense, as if questioning it would open a door to something much bigger than just climate records. Of course you can't deny the archaeology seems to back it up, no artifacts older than the early 1800s have ever been found here, no ancient structures for sure, nothing man-made beneath the ice, and it's not for lack of trying, from more than 65 years researchers from dozens of countries have studied the continent up close, and all that time they say they found nothing. But here's the thing, absence of evidence isn't the same as evidence of absence, Antarctica as a reminder is bigger than the U.S. and Mexico combined, and it's buried under more than one and a half miles of solid ice. So how much of it has actually been seen? Importantly, who is doing the looking and what exactly were they looking for? This climate narrative is reinforced by another argument, even if Antarctica was just habitable enough in the past, survival there would have been impossible for any ancient civilization. Where Antarctic research stations highlight just how difficult survival would be, in current facilities, despite advanced technology-faced temperatures reaching minus 100 degrees, and polar nights last 4 months, Hurricane Force wins exceed 125 miles per hour regularly, extreme isolation requires year-long supply deliveries. McMurdo station alone costs millions of dollars annually and requires 8 million gallons of fuel just for basic operations. Now imagine trying to do all that without fossil fuels, without global supply chains, without antibiotics, modern building materials, or machines to move everything through ice and storms. The idea that a pre-industrial society could have made it here sounds impossible, unless they had something we don't. Some kind of energy source we haven't discovered, or maybe one we've forgotten. Maybe those old stories about underground civilizations aren't as far fetched. as they sound, if they veered off of our technological path and found one that's entirely different. Top Antarctic researchers unanimously reject the idea of any sort of hidden past, and fair enough to wild pill to swallow. Dr. Peter Nath calls such theories outright fiction. Professor Eric Rignot offers scientific explanations for every anomaly people point to. Professor Tina Van De Flurt confirms that no geological or climatological data supports habitable conditions during any era of human existence. So the verdict from science is clear in the case is closed. No credible evidence, no ancient cities, no lost civilizations. Still, this might just be one of those places that doesn't give up its secrets easily. The ice preserves everything, but reveals almost nothing. Unless you know exactly where to look and have the means to get there. Some believe there's hidden evidence buried beneath that ice. The challenge is everything we know about human history. And maybe not just traces of survival, but proof of something more. Technologies we've forgotten, the cultures we've never imagined, civilizations that learn to live in a world we now call unlivable. Or maybe not, maybe science is right. Maybe Antarctica has always been exactly what it appears to be, a vast frozen desert, home only to snow, wind, and microscopic life clinging to the edges of survival. But with all we've seen, the ancient maps, the perfect geometric formations, the tightly controlled access, the stories that refuse to die. Can we really say that without a doubt, we know the whole truth. And Antarctica, everything is locked beneath layers of silence and snow and anything could be possible. Whatever the truth is, it's still down there, waiting for someone brave enough, or foolish enough to dig it up. Number one, what does it feel like? Oldton was last seen leaving a friend's house about 6.15 p.m. Wednesday night. She was on foot, but she never arrived at her home just four blocks away. Elizabeth Olton was nine years old, sweet and shy. He was a fourth grader in St. Martin's, Missouri. The 15-year-old Alyssa Boston-Manny lived just four houses down from the Olden family. She was a teen who generally kept to herself, intelligent, artistic, but also deeply disturbed. Her online profile is hinted at a darkness bubbling just beneath the surface, one that became obvious after the fact, and one, she listed her hobbies as cutting and killing people. But it was all just meant to be funny. After all, edgy teenage girls say edgy teenage things, right? As it turns out, Alyssa wasn't joking. On October 21st of 2009, Elizabeth was lured out of her home by Alyssa's younger sister, who had been coaxed into inviting her over to play. Wasn't unusual, I mean the girls knew each other, but when Alyssa showed up that evening, Alyssa was waiting. She led the nine-year-old into the woods behind their homes. A place Alyssa knew well. While a place where a week earlier, she had dug a grave. When they reached the spot, without hesitation, Alyssa attacked her. She strangled Elizabeth. It was no match for the older girl. Then stabbed her eight times in the chest before slitting her throat. It was a fast and frenzy to attack, and when it was over, when the life had drained from the little girl's body. But she buried her in the shallow hole and covered it up with sticks and leaves. Alyssa's family reported her missing that same night. The search was immediate, and everybody joined in, but Alyssa went to a church dance. As the investigation ramped up, the police of course looked at who she was last with. She went to play at the neighbors, so they were individually looked into. They then found the post online, Alyssa's fascination with death. They then asked around, heard she had dug some holes in the woods. And later investigators would search her bedroom. And inside there, a diary entry scribbled in black ink that said, "I just fucking killed someone. I strangled them and slipped their throat and stabbed them. Now they're dead." I don't know how to feel ATM. It was amazing. As soon as you get over the "Oh my god, I can't do this feeling." It's pretty enjoyable. I'm kind of nervous and shaky though right now. Okay, I gotta go to church now, LOL. That entry will become one of the most disturbing pieces of evidence ever read in a Missouri courtroom. The crime shocked the nation, not just because of the brutality, but because of the motive. And there wasn't one, other than the fact that Alyssa just wanted to know what it felt like to kill. And she admitted all that. Mental-held professionals who evaluated her testified that Alyssa had been battling major depressive episodes and at borderline personality disorder. As she'd attempted to die in the past, she was raised by her grandparents because her mother struggled with addiction and her father was in prison. Still, none of that explained away the deliberate planning and the sheer callousness of what she did. In court, Alyssa initially pleaded not guilty to first degree murder, but in 2012 she took a plea deal, admitting guilt to second degree murder in armed criminal action. It was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of conditional release, plus 30 years for the weapons charge, and that's important. In 2024, Alyssa appeared before the parole board for the first time. This was made possible by Senate Bill 26, a law intended to offer juvenile offenders earlier parole opportunities. But the bill had a loophole when it barred first degree murderers, but not those convicted of second degree. Alyssa, who had been offered the lesser charge, got in under the wire. As she was denied bail that time, but will be eligible again in 2029. If she behaved, she might qualify for a good time and shave off up to 15% of her sentence. Even with that, her earliest realistic release would be 2059 at the age of 65, because of that weapons charge mentioned. Alyssa is currently incarcerated at Chilacoth Correctional Center. She is by all accounts of model inmate. But no matter how well she behaves now, there's no one doing what she did, no justification and no redemption arc. So there was the darkest side of every town for 2025. I hope y'all enjoyed it. If you want more from our exclusive vault, we'll go check us out on Patreon, links are down below. You don't need to become a member, you can just dig into whichever vault you think looks good to you. Remember to come on back next week for another episode filled with scary, strange and mysterious stories, because you never know. Maybe your town will be next. [Music]