Murder on the Galapagos? Island Utopia Spirals into Death and Disappearances

there's this idea that if you just get far enough away from people life gets easier fewer opinions fewer problems it's the same fantasy every time start over somewhere clean quiet untouched paradise but that's not really how it works isolation doesn't make conflict go away it turns the volume up because when you're stuck with the same small group of people everything gets personal and nothing ever really blows over that's exactly what happened on floriana you a remote island where a few people tried to live in perfect isolation and quickly learned what happens when you can't get away from each other i'm harvey guillen and this is killer stories what comes to mind when i say the word galapagos maybe charles darwin and his finches or possibly some really old tortoises or a bunch of iguanas sunbathing on the rocks waves crashing down around them well whatever it is i'm assuming it's not half-baked utopian societies or murder mysteries but i'm here to change that let's begin the galapagos are off the coast of ecuador which is famously on the equator so all of the islands have a really tropical climate and there are a lot of them well over a hundred actually in fact but for the most part today's story takes place on one of them this one here floriana it's not one of the biggest islands but as you can see it's in the top ten and has a cool name that sounds like a pokemon so you know i choose you floriana and you know who else chose floriana dr friedrich ritter he's at the center of today's case i'm gonna call him fred i don't think he'll mind in june 1929 fred hasn't made it to floriana he's a doctor working in germany an unconventional woo-woo doctor you know the kind that believes you can cure illness with your mind you know the type fred is also married which is inconvenient for him because fred is having a serious affair with one of his patients a younger woman named door stroke as in when one door closes another door opens because yes fred's not the only married one door is two and ever since they've fallen in love they've dreamt of leaving their respective partners and doing something really crazy running away from all of the world's problems and starting a new life on a deserted island which may be some of the best things i've ever seen in my life life on a deserted island which maybe sounds like a fantasy that you shared with someone in your life that you love how romantic but the difference here is fred and door actually make it happen they say goodbye to their families their careers their homes most of their belongings and on the 4th of july they set sail for floriana a deserted island halfway across the world it's a long journey with a layover in ecuador before they take a tiny ferry to their destination and once that fairy disappears they are alone desperately alone but that's the point their vision is rooted in naturalist ideals they want to live in tranquil isolation in paradise to peacefully coexist to survive off the land grow their own food build their own shelter and say goodbye to the problems of the modern world which to be fair isn't doing so hot the stock market's about to crash in america and kick off the great depression the woman's war is about to break out in nigeria africa conflicts are escalating in asia between japan china and the soviet union in europe hitler's gaining more power by the day and another world war seems almost inevitable so yeah i understand fred and door wanting to get away we all do right now understand the beginning is exactly what you'd expect lots of exploring getting the lay of the land they build a shelter gardens plant the seeds they brought with them from germany fred and dora are vegetarians so meat literally isn't on the table but they do bring a donkey with them and they catch some chickens for eggs and they bask in what i call the honeymoon period spoiler it's short now every once in a while other people will show up to floriana like passing fishermen or scientists conducting research so there are opportunities for fred and door to communicate with the outside world they drop letters in a wooden barrel on the shore hoping visitors will take and deliver them it's a very old and slow system it was developed by whalers but it works and the letters fred and door sent back to their families in germany are how we know about early days in floriana like how fred and door end up at each other's throats most of their relationship problems stem from one simple fact surviving on an otherwise deserted island is back breaking work fred is 43 years old and door is in her late 20s but door has multiple sclerosis a chronic autoimmune disease that causes weakness fatigue and balance issues among other things her ms is the reason she went to dr fred in the first place so they wouldn't have met without it but on floridiana it means door struggles to keep up with the physical labor and fred's expectations around it see fred has this mantra paradise cannot be found it has to be created but to door it feels like he's really just saying there are no breaks in paradise babe and their inability to see eye to eye leads to a whole lot of tension made worse by the fact that there's no one around to crack a joke or act as a mediator which would be totally fine if it ended there but it doesn't one of the recipients or one of the sailors delivering the letters lives for drama honey because the letters get leaked to the tabloids i don't know if it's a slow news cycle or what but yeah fred and door's little adventure on floridiana makes a big splash in europe the stories are outrageous and salacious they're all about how an eccentric german doctor and his young hot mistress moved to an exotic faraway island to become nudists cavemen and i'm quoting that last part others call them the adam and eve of floridiana all in all the headlines go out of their way to make things sound as strange as possible which shouldn't affect fred and door at all i mean why would they care they're so far away from it all except there's one big problem the tabloids reveal their secret location and not everyone thinks fred and dorr are crazy for what they're doing some people think it's pretty cool enter some people a small nuclear family named the whitmers by august 1932 fred and dorr have been toughing it out on floridiana for more than three years by august 1932 fred and dorr have been toughing it out on floridiana for more than three years by august 1932 fred and dorr have been toughing it out on floridiana for more than three years by august 1932 fred and dorr have been toughing it out on floridiana for more than three years by august 1932 fred and dorr have been toughing it out on floridiana for more than three years and one day they see a boat but and one day they see a boat but and one day they see a boat but it doesn't look like the ones they're used it doesn't look like the ones they're used it doesn't look like the ones they're used to to to because it's not it's carrying a german because it's not it's carrying a german because it's not it's carrying a german family family family of three heinz and margaret of three heinz and margaret of three heinz and margaret whitmer and their 13 year old son whitmer and their 13 year old son whitmer and their 13 year old son yes there are now children on this island yes there are now children on this island yes there are now children on this island and yes they are here to stay and yes they are here to stay and yes they are here to stay and oh i forgot to mention margaret is and oh i forgot to mention margaret is and oh i forgot to mention margaret is pregnant pregnant pregnant now given ongoing tension you might think now given ongoing tension you might think now given ongoing tension you might think the whitmers would be a sight for sore the whitmers would be a sight for sore the whitmers would be a sight for sore eyes for fred and dorr you know finally eyes for fred and dorr you know finally eyes for fred and dorr you know finally a little company someone who can take a a little company someone who can take a a little company someone who can take a side during a fight but that's not the side during a fight but that's not the side during a fight but that's not the case case case quite the opposite life from floridiana quite the opposite life from floridiana quite the opposite life from floridiana has been has been has been hard enough as it is the last thing they hard enough as it is the last thing they hard enough as it is the last thing they want is three new mouths to feed want is three new mouths to feed want is three new mouths to feed washing ashore with another one on the washing ashore with another one on the washing ashore with another one on the way way way so no the whitmers don't receive a big so no the whitmers don't receive a big so no the whitmers don't receive a big warm welcome warm welcome warm welcome there is no celebration fred and door there is no celebration fred and door there is no celebration fred and door are basically like um yeah are basically like um yeah are basically like um yeah i guess you can have some seeds if you i guess you can have some seeds if you i guess you can have some seeds if you want but we're thinking you should probably live in that really great, great, great, great cave we found. It's like a two-hour hike away from here, so we'll be neighbors, but we'll just be very, very, very distant neighbors. So yeah, the tabloids jumped the gun a little on the whole cave thing. But the Whitmers actually do become cave people. And even though they both claim their own respective spaces, Fred and Doris still end up resenting the Whitmers. Because the family seems to have a lot of needs. They ask for a lot, like Fred's help delivering their newborn baby when it eventually comes. So to Fred, it becomes increasingly clear that the Whitmers came to the island expecting to be guests. Which is not the vibe Fred wants for his paradise. But Fred and Doris are still committed to their dream anyway. New guests, be damned. About two months after the Whitmers arrive, Fred and Doris look up and see a woman riding a donkey in their direction with two men walking beside her. The woman looks like she's in her 40s, and the men look like they work for her. She looks completely out of place in the wild. When she reaches Fred and Doris, she introduces herself as Baroness Eloise von Wagner-Bosquet from Paris. She extends her hand out to Dor, expecting it to be kissed. Which, understandably, makes Dor's blood boil. I mean, I get it. But who does this woman think she is? But wait! Then Baroness Eloise says she came to Floriana to build a hotel. For millionaires. This episode is brought to you by Togiatry. When your mental health is suffering, finding the right treatment can be overwhelming. Overwhelming. Here, Togiatry comes in. Togiatry is an online psychiatry practice with licensed psychiatrists who can evaluate, diagnose, and provide ongoing medication management when appropriate. They accept major insurers, can treat anxiety, ADHD, depression, and more. And you can schedule your first visit in days, not months. Go to togiatry.com slash killers and get matched in minutes. That's T-A-L-K-I-A-T-R-Y dot com slash killers. Togiatry.com slash killers. T-A-L-K-I-A-T-R-Y dot com slash killers. Hey, parents. How do you make smarter choices for your kid's college today? That's where Sally can help. With Sally, you can find scholarships, funding options, tools, and guidance all in one place. And if you need a loan, Sally has options for different families and different situations. College is only worth it if you do it right. So don't just help your kid go. Help them go smarter. Sally.com slash go parents. On any journey using Uber, it helps to know you're getting into the right car. PIN verification adds an extra step to make sure your ride is your ride. Before the trip begins, your app gives you a unique PIN. Just tell it to your driver, and they'll enter it in their app before the ride can start. Hey, what's your PIN? Mm-hmm. Two, five, three, eight. That way, you know you're in the right car taking the right trip, and your driver knows you're the right passenger. Make sure your ride is your ride with PIN verification from Uber. One more way Uber is putting safety at every turn. Learn more on this. The Uber app. This episode is brought to you by WSS. Every soccer fan has a moment when the obsession begins. Maybe it starts with a big match on TV. Maybe it's seeing someone pull on their team's jersey for the first time. That passion gets passed down. And WSS is where families can gear up for it together. From official soccer jerseys and gear to sportswear, sneakers, and more, WSS has the best value on everything your family needs. Shop now at your local WSS. Or online at allyourmagic.com. In October 1932, the island of Floriana and its strange experimental society gets a whole lot more crowded. There are now three camps of people. One, the idealistic nature people, Fred and Dor. Two, the wholesome family, the Whitmers. And three, the eccentric heiress, Baroness Eloise and her two male sidekicks. In total, there are seven adults, one 13-year-old, and a newborn baby on the way. Which should be manageable, right? I mean, they have an entire island to themselves. There's no shortage of space. But the problem is, Eloise. She has a personality that makes 66 square miles feel small. And what's worse is, she embodies everything Fred and Dor intentionally left behind when they came to Floriana. In the first place, ego, privilege, wealth, modernity. It's like fate is playing a cruel joke on them. The only silver lining is that the external drama kind of deflates some of the tension in their relationship. Nothing brings people together like a common enemy. In their very first conversation, Eloise tells Fred and Dor to run and fetch her tea. And she does this as she goes. And she takes a load off in their chairs that they brought themselves. When it comes to setting up camp, she chooses a spot right next to the Whitmer's. In an area the family had specifically carved out as their own. And then, then she goes and bathes in the spring they use for drinking. The list of complaints goes on and on. She demands that Fred and Dor share the limited supplies. She steals rice. That's meant for the Whitmers, a.k.a. to feed a pregnant woman in her third trimester. And she doesn't seem to care. She feels entitled to everything. Then there's the two men Eloise brought with her. And no one really knows their story. Eloise says they're her business partners. They're there to help her build the hotel. One's an engineer. The other's an architect. But they don't act like partners or equals. They carry her things for her. And generally attend to her needs. And there's a weird sexual undercurrent going on between them. All three of them. Fred and Dor assume there's something physical or romantic going on. But they could also just be reeling into things out of frustration and delirium. After all, their dreams are coming apart at the seams. They came to Floridiana to build a utopia. And now they're entertaining a real housewife. And that reality. A reality TV comparison is more accurate than you might think. Remember how Fred and Dor's letters attracted lots of press back home? That might be a part of what attracted the Baroness. At some point, Eloise starts writing her own letters back home. Using a pseudonym. And it's almost like she's impersonating her own Hollywood agent. The letters basically say the same thing. New starlet lands on Floridiana. Everyone pay attention. Which feels super weird. Super desperate. And also super confusing. Like, is she there to build a hotel or launch a career? Both? No one knows for sure. But they quickly find out she's more than just a walking magnet for drama. She's unstable. And maybe even dangerous. One day, two outside hunters arrive on the island. Like I said, it's totally normal. For ships to sometimes stop. It's never caused any problem before. But this time, Eloise is around. And she throws an absolute fit. After the two hunters shoot an animal, she starts screaming about how everything on this island belongs to her. She then takes one of her so-called business partners and chases the men down with loaded rifles. They end up catching the hunters, tearing their clothes off, and threatening to shoot them on the spot. Luckily, the hunters escape with their lives. But it's scary to witness. Fred and Dor are so disturbed after the encounter that they tell the governor of the Galapagos what happened. And there's an investigation into the matter. But that somehow ends up with Eloise officially securing four square miles to build her hotel, plus open access to the Whitmer's fresh water. To add insult to injury, the Baroness then starts calling herself the Empress of Floriana with a straight face. Now, how does she manage to do all of this? I don't know. But Eloise seems to have a lot of sway when it comes to men. She knows how to use and abuse them. Literally. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, it's time to formally introduce you to one of Floriana's residents. His name is Rudolph, and he is one of Eloise's business partners. Rudolph has been pretty quiet so far. But one day, he shows up at Fred and Dor's doorstep, hoping to talk. He looks completely ragged, exhausted, hopeless. It's bad. It's been about four months since he first arrived on the island, and he spills the tea. about everything that's been happening at the baroness's camp. Plus, he drops a bombshell about her past. Rudolph tells Fred and Dor that the baroness Eloise isn't a baroness at all. They first met in Paris, and at the time, she told him all kinds of wild stories about her past, about her life as a dancer, her time as a spy. None of it really made sense or added up, but Rudolph didn't mind because he was in love with her. And importantly, his love had nothing to do with her wealth or connections. As far as he could tell, she didn't have much of either. She did, however, have a husband. Rudolph and Eloise opened a small boutique in Paris behind her husband's back. They hired someone to work as a salesman, and that person was Robert, aka Eloise's other so-called business partner. Rudolph says that the three of them really did arrive in the Galapagos hoping to start a business, but things quickly spiraled out of control. Eloise pushed Rudolph away. Now she treats him like dirt under her shoe. She threatens him. She forces him to perform all the manual labor, to wait on her hand and foot, pour her water, remove her shoes, like he's a servant. All while Robert and her watch. And this goes on day and night without rest. He can't take it anymore. His hands are bruised and scabbed. He's a shell of the man he once was. But he doesn't know what to do. Eloise and Robert have guns. He's scared of what they'll do if he tries to leave. So he tells Fred and Dore he plans to endure the abuse until the next ship comes. Then he'll make his escape. Unfortunately for Rudolph, Mother Nature has other plans. After his confession, a terrible drought hits the Galapagos. In March 1934, temperatures skyrocket to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. Freshwater springs dry up. Animals drop dead. I'm talking rotting corpses littering the island. The smell of decay festering in the sun. It's bad. Things shift from Gilligan's Island to the back half of Lord of the Flies. It's a new level of survival mode for everyone. And they're more isolated than ever because ships aren't sailing by the island anymore. Which means there's no chances of getting extra supplies. And there's no opportunity to survive. And there's no opportunity for escape for Rudolph. Poor Rudolph. At some point, Fred and Dore start hearing cries coming from Eloise's camp in the middle of the night. And they don't know for sure, but they assume it's Rudolph getting beaten. They just don't do anything about it because they're afraid of getting hurt themselves. The good news is Fred and Dore aren't the only camp on the island. There's also that wholesome journey. And they're not the only camp on the island. And they're not the only family living in a cave. The Whitmers, who, by the way, are now four because their baby arrived last January. So the total count on the island is nine. The Whitmers are brave enough to stick their necks out for Rudolph. They're like, we won't stand for the abuse anymore. We don't care how Eloise reacts. Rudolph, you are coming to live with us. And Rudolph does live with them. It just doesn't last long. Eloise finds Rudolph and begs him, begs him to come back. And Rudolph eventually caves, which becomes a pattern. Rudolph always returns to the Whitmers, sometimes hours, sometimes days later, battered and exhausted. And Eloise always wins him back. It's a violent cycle that lasts all the way up until a particularly memorable night. Fred and Dore wake up to a scream echoing across the island. It's different from the cries they've heard before. Blood-curdling. It's so unnerving that Dore questions if it's real. She thinks she could be delirious from the heat, except Fred says he heard it too. And once again, they decide to keep to themselves. Don't investigate. Don't ask questions. A week passes before Fred and Dore see anyone else from the island, which isn't unusual. But they're a little surprised when their first visitors are Rudolph and Mom Whitmer, aka Margaret. Margaret almost never comes to Fred and Dore's camp. So it's strange that she showed up, but not nearly as strange as the story she tells. Out of the blue, she's like, oh, and by the way, thought you should know that Eloise and Rob, Robert left Floriana. Yeah, they sailed to Tahiti. Yeah, they changed their minds and they're probably going to build a hotel there instead. Some of their friends picked them up in a yacht. Really? A yacht? We're just going to ignore the blood-curdling scream? Fred and Dore don't buy it. Something shady is clearly going on with Margaret and Rudolph. They're not convinced Eloise is still alive, but let's put a pin on the fake baroness for a second. And talk about the population of Floriana. It's gone from 2 to 5 to 8 to 9, and now it's down to 7. For reasons that feel unbelievably suspicious. And we're still not done. Before the year's up, it'll drop again. With Share My Trip from Uber, you can send your live trip location to the ones who matter most. Like Dan and Hannah, who always love to share their lives. They always wait up to make sure their daughter gets back to her college dorm room. Or Tiffany, who's running late as usual, and her friends are tracking her trip to make sure she's actually on her way. Or Sam, who never goes anywhere without her roommate knowing exactly where she is. Some journeys are meant to be shared. Share your ride in real time with Share My Trip on Uber. 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Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. Why wait? Ask your doctor, visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com, or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. This episode is brought to you by Palmolive. Family time isn't just the big moment. It's weeknight dinners. Sitting around the table, everyone talking all at once. So when the plates are empty and the sink is full, use Palmolive Ultra. Palmolive's most powerful formula removes up to 99.9% of grease, leaving your dishes sparkling clean. And the new convenient pump makes cleaning even easier, so you can spend less time tackling dishes and more time together. Shop now at Palmolive.com. Eloise, the abusive fake baroness who nobody likes, and Robert, her former employee turned conspirator and probably lover, are gone. They left Floriana. They sailed to Tahiti on a friend's yacht after they decided they wanted to build a hotel somewhere else. Sure, their homestead and all their things are still there exactly as they left it, but that's because they left in a hurry. They'll be back for it. They put Rudolph in charge of the camp until then. That's all. According to Margaret Whitmer. If you have a hard time believing that story, you're not alone. Fred and Dore are listening to all this and their minds immediately jumped to that blood-curdling scream. They're thinking something bad must have happened to Eloise and Robert. First of all, Margaret's story sounds really rehearsed. Second of all, what do you mean a yacht? There hasn't been a ship in weeks and they somehow didn't see it. Third of all, why wouldn't Eloise and Robert bring anything with them? And if Rudolph is supposed to be protecting their stuff until they return, why is he peddling it? Yeah, Rudolph, who is suddenly much happier, basically hosts a yard sale with Eloise's things. And when Dore is like, uh, what happens when Eloise comes back? You want to know? You want to know what Rudolph said? Don't worry. There's no danger of that. Not anymore. Does that sound like a man who believes Eloise is with friends in Tahiti? Or does that sound like a man who thinks Eloise is six feet underground in an unmarked grave? Fred and Dor think the latter is more likely. But Fred and Dor also never liked Eloise, and they're still dealing with that drought. Food and water are hard to come by. They need the extra supplies, so they decide not to ask questions they don't want answers to. It's Lord of the Flies. The conch shell is broken. Pillage and move on. Weeks pass before rain finally falls again on Floriana. It returns in April, and life gets a little easier. But the first boat to arrive on the island doesn't come until July. And by that point, Eloise and Robert have been gone for months. Which poses a problem, because the boat is carrying a reporter who came all the way from Sweden to meet the Empress of Floriana. Dun, dun, dun! Can you imagine being that reporter? It's a shame they didn't have cell phones. A text would have saved him a lot of trouble. Eloise, not here. Don't get on that boat. So hot. By the way. I look good with bangs. Ah, smiley face. Tongue out. Anyways, don't book your trip. The reporter gets the same far-fetched story Margaret told Fred and Dor, which he thinks is weird. But he can't really do anything about it. So he and his ship's captain prepare to leave. And when Rudolph asks if he can come with, the captain agrees. He says he'll take Rudolph as far as Santa Cruz. He can hop on a different ship from there. So Rudolph will finally get to his ship. Now, as happy as they are for Rudolph, Fred and Dor are kind of sad about him leaving. He's one of the few people they formed a connection with. So they decide to have one final lunch together before he sets sail. And this is where things go from murder mystery suspicious to eerie, almost otherworldly suspicious. At some point, Rudolph apparently stops eating and tells Dor that he's afraid. He doesn't know why, but he's worried about his trip back home, of getting on board the ship with that reporter. And Dor says she feels that too. There's something weird in the air. But they both put their feelings aside, say their goodbyes, and pretty soon, there's just six residents left in Floriana. Fred, Dor, and the Whitmers. By November, that number turns to five. After that terrible drought, Fred and Dor's crops never really recover properly. So their hunger gets to the point where they sacrifice their vegetarian values and eat their chickens. And, is it an ironic, Fred eats meat once and he dies from a violent case of food poisoning one day later. Yes, Fred dies. And it apparently happened really fast. But wait, I'm not done. Around this same time, two decomposing bodies wash ashore on an island 60 miles north of Floriana. And I know what you're thinking. It's Eloise and Robert. Well, I thought the same thing, but nope, it's not. It's Rudolph. And the captain who was taking him to San Francisco. him to Santa Cruz. So I guess when Rudolph said he was afraid to get on the ship, he was right to be concerned. Did he know he was going to die? Did he hold back from telling Dor everything he knew? Maybe, maybe not. But the reporter who left with them made it back to Sweden. So whatever happened, happened after he got dropped off. It's just one more mystery that brings our final character to Floriana. His name is Captain Hancock, and he wants to get to the bottom of what's really going on on the island. Hancock is a sea captain who's been to Floriana before. He stopped there on his travels, taking an interest in the residents, and a few months ago, he got a strange letter from Fred. Fred had written it after. Eloise and Robert went missing. He alluded to there being a lot of mystery and intrigue on the island. But Fred didn't mention any specifics. Fred just said he'd fill him in next time he'd come to visit. Then Hancock got a call about two bodies washing ashore. So he arrives to Floriana with a lot of questions. But he can't ask Fred, he can't ask Rudolph, he can't ask Eloise or Robert, and they're lies the biggest obstacle to actually solving any part of this bizarre mystery. Aside from personal letters written while they were on the island, we only have the accounts of the survivors, meaning Dor and the Whitmers. The vast majority of the story I just told comes almost exclusively from their accounts, which means you have to question everything about Eloise and Robert, Rudolph and the Whitmers, and about Fred. Did he really die from food poisoning? And if he did, why didn't Dor get sick? They ate the same chicken. Maybe when Fred wrote that letter to Captain Hancock about mystery and intrigue on Floriana, he was talking about more than two people. You know how Dor suspected that the Whitmers might have had a hand in Eloise's and Robert's disappearance, aka murdered them? Well, that suspicion goes both ways. The Whitmers don't trust Dor when it comes to Fred's death. Dor claims she shared a heartfelt moment with Fred on his deathbed, but Margaret Whitmer's account says the complete opposite. She remembers Fred using the letter to Fred. I curse you with my last dying breath. So, hmm, yeah, me thinks that Fred and Dor's relationship problems never went away. And maybe food poisoning was just a case of good ol' regular poisoning. I wish I had the answers. Unfortunately for us, the detective on the case, Captain Hancock, isn't really a detective at all. He's just an eccentric rich guy who made it big in the oil business. He liked to sail and thought the hippies living in Floriana were kind of interesting, but he doesn't solve anything. He assumes Rudolph and the captain who washed ashore died in a storm at sea. He takes Dor's word that Fred died of food poisoning. He doesn't really weigh in on the others, and no official investigations ever take place. So, we're left with a bunch of loose ends. Eloise and Robert never reappear, in Tahiti or elsewhere. And the Whitmers never change their story about the yacht that took them away. But shortly after Hancock's visit, Dor moves back to Germany. The Whitmers become the only residents of the island, and the rest never leave. Instead, no joke, they start a hotel on the island, like the Baroness was planning. And it's still there, to this day. You can't make this stuff up, folks. You can't make it up. At the beginning of the story, we talked about the fantasy of paradise. The idea that if you just get far enough away from people, everything gets quieter, easier. Floriana was supposed to be that place. A clean slate. A garden of Eden. But paradise doesn't fall because of snakes or forbidden fruit. It falls because people don't stop being people. And for a moment, paradise really did exist on Floriana. Long enough for everyone to imagine someone else was the problem. So maybe the question isn't, On any journey using Uber, it helps to know you're getting into the right car. Mm-hmm, 2538. the tools you need to check projects off your list shop labor day savings at the home depot and gear up for fall projects with the right tools to keep your projects moving close your eyes exhale feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today well i'm letting go of the worry that i wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class i got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS oh my gosh they're so fast and breathe oh sorry i almost couldn't breathe when i saw the discount they gave me on my first order oh sorry namaste visit 1-800-CONTACTS.com today to save on your first order 1-800-CONTACTS what went wrong on the island but whether people were ever meant for paradise at all thanks for tuning in to killer stories a spotify podcast you new episodes release on mondays if you like today's story and want to learn more we drop some of our favorite sources in the episode description until next time i'm harvey dn stay safe out there