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Part 4 Teddy Franks Missing in Middletown, Ohio

39m 29s

Part 4 Teddy Franks Missing in Middletown, Ohio

This podcast episode covers the disappearance of Teddy Franks from Middletown, Ohio, on August 31, 1987. The host introduces key players: Teddy, his ex-wife Penny Mosley, best friend Doug Reynolds, and family members. On the night of August 30, Teddy argued with Penny about drinking and her pregnancy, which Teddy suspected was with Doug’s child. He left their home in Hamilton, Ohio, and went to his mother’s house in Middletown. Doug claimed he drove Teddy to sister Renee’s apartment but later changed his story, saying Teddy drove himself. At Renee’s, Teddy hid under his car from Penny and her mother, then went inside to drink beer and watch MTV. Around 12:30 a.m., Teddy ran out of cigarettes and went with Renee to a gas station. Penny and her mother confronted them, and Teddy fled on foot, leaving his wallet and keys. A truck driver reported seeing men running, but police ignored it. Teddy’s mother later said in an interview that Teddy came onto a porch, implying he was chased, but this was dismissed. A former girlfriend, Terry Back, said Teddy called her at 1 a.m., begging for help because Penny’s brothers were chasing him, but she couldn’t go. Police failed to file a proper missing person report until September 9, and no search was conducted initially. Doug’s story conflicts with others, and Scott Gibson accused Doug of lying. The host highlights questionable behavior, such as Penny and her mother searching for Teddy that night but not later, and the police’s lack of concern. The case remains unsolved, with suspicions about Penny’s brothers and Doug’s involvement.

Transcription

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Welcome to Two of a Crime, the podcast where we shine a light on unsolved murders and missing person cases. Host it and create it by Ann and Megan, a mother daughter duo who will, in each episode, dig into the mysteries that deserve answers. Join us as we explore the facts, the theories, and the questions that still remain. Hello everybody, welcome back to Two of a Crime podcast. I want to make you aware that Two of a Crime podcast covers some cases that are not suitable for young listeners. So, listener discretion is always advised. Before we get into this part four of Teddy Frank's missing in Middletown, Ohio, to make things easier for everyone listening, I am going to tell you the key players names in this story so I won't have to keep repeating the last names or what the relations are. Two Teddy Frank's. Penny Mosley is Teddy's now ex-wife, but was his wife at the time of his disappearance. Doug Reynolds was Teddy's best friend at the time of his disappearance. Teddy's mother is Dorothy, but I am going to refer to her as the mother. Michelle Frank's, Jodie Frank's, and Renee Frank's are Teddy's sisters. Renee Frank's is the sister he was with the night he disappeared. There is another sister, Becky Frank's, but she has not spoken on what happened when Teddy went missing. She has stayed silent, so I will not be making any reference to her at all. And Joe Frank's is Teddy's brother. Now, I want to say that if you have not listened to part one, part two, or part three, I recommend you do that before listening to part four, but you will get a lot of information from part four. I would like to ask all of you that are listening now and have been following the disappearance of Teddy Frank's. Please give us some comments on this part four. You can comment on Spotify or you can go to our Facebook page to of a crime podcast and comment there or send us a message. You can also email me at [email protected] and that is spelled out T-W-O-O-F-A-C-R-I-M-E. We would really like to hear your thoughts on Teddy's disappearance or anything that you have a thought or even information on would be great. We want to go over the key points in the disappearance of Teddy from Middletown, Ohio on August 31, 1987. And the reason we are using that date is because it was Labor Day weekend when he went missing. It all started on Saturday, August 30th, but keep in mind that he went missing after midnight. So it would have to be in the early morning hours of August 31st, actually. Now, these key points have come from multiple interviews with Michelle Franks, three interviews with Doug Reynolds and Penny Mosley, an interview with Tim Hester who was Renee's husband. There are a few friends that have come forward with information and one family member that has asked to remain anonymous has given me some information. This family member has been willing to talk about the disappearance and even though she was just a small child when it happened, she has some memories of conversations that she overheard and remembers. I was also able to obtain an interview that was done with Michelle, Jody and Renee as well as their mother. The interview was done in 2017 prior to Renee and their mother's passing. So I was never able to speak with Renee or the mother. So I have not been able to speak with them, but I have been able to listen to them tell the story as they knew it. Let's talk about the situation between Teddy and Penny at the time on Saturday, August 30th. Penny said that Teddy was acting very strange and that day he had been drinking. He wanted to take their car to go to the store to get some ballona for his lunch sandwiches and he also wanted to take their daughter with them, according to Penny. Penny absolutely refused to let him take her of course because he had been drinking. They argued about this and she did not want him to drive. Period. Now it has also been said by several people that they were arguing about Penny's pregnancy at the time. Teddy had a suspicion that Doug Reynolds was the father. I'm going to come back to that topic in a bit. So hold that thought about Penny and Doug. After they argued, Teddy left their home in Hamilton, Ohio and he went to his mother's house, which was located in Middletown, Ohio. Doug said that Teddy talked to him there and he wanted Doug to go out drinking with him. Now I got to say that I do not think Teddy asked Doug to go out drinking. I think Teddy confronted Doug about Penny that night in front of Teddy's mother's house. Now this is just my opinion. So anyway, Doug said that he had been out drinking the night before and he didn't want to go out drinking with Teddy. So then Doug told us that he drove Teddy to Renee's apartment and he drove Teddy there because there were strong gas fumes coming up in Teddy's car and Doug told him you can't drive that car like that. Doug said he watched Teddy walk across the parking lot to go into Renee's apartment. But that apparently did not happen guys because Doug then changed his story within five minutes of our conversation and told us that he did not drive Teddy over to Renee's. But he did watch Teddy drive down the street and take a right turn, which would have been in the direction of Renee's apartment. And that was the last time Doug saw or talked to Teddy. Now let's stop right there for a minute. Why did Doug tell us two different stories? Anybody have an answer to that on for me? I mean two different stories within five minutes. So now at this point of that evening of August 30th, 1987, Teddy is at Renee's apartment complex in the parking lot. It has been said that he was working on his car there and it has also been said by Renee that he was hiding under his car. He was hiding from Penny because Penny and her mother were driving around looking for Teddy. So Teddy makes himself known to Renee that he is hiding under his car and Renee tells him come in the apartment and the time progresses. So Renee, her husband Tim Hester and Teddy are all sitting around drinking beer and watching MTV videos on the television. They were watching The Band. Do y'all remember that group? The band? I do. I'm that old. Now according to Tim Hester, Renee's husband, in an interview, he told me that there was another man at the apartment and that this man went to the store with Renee and Teddy. So it gets to be around 12 30 a.m. or so and Teddy has run out of cigarettes. He tells Renee to go with him to sit co or gas America, whichever it was named at that time in 1987. I've not been able to get a clarification on what it was named then. It was on the corner of Roosevelt and Jackson Lane, which is approximately three minutes from Renee's apartment. Teddy and Renee walk to his car in the parking lot and wouldn't you know Penny and her mother were in the parking lot waiting on Teddy. Renee says at that point, Penny, her mother and Teddy all get into a heated argument. Now, I feel that they were certainly waiting to have some sort of a confrontation with him. Why else would you be waiting in an apartment parking lot at 12 30 a.m. for someone who left your home hours ago? Confentation of some kind for sure. This is what makes me believe that Penny may have been pregnant with Doug's baby because this was an important enough confrontation that she is out at that hour of the night and has a mother out with her searching for Teddy. Now hold this thought. It was important enough for Penny and her mother to search for Teddy that night for the confrontation. But why was it not important enough for Penny and her mother to get together and search for Teddy like that in all hours of the night and days after he went missing? I find that very questionable and this confrontation was something big. This was not just a hate's time for you to come home confrontation. So Teddy tells Renee to get in the car and drive. Renee tells him I can't drive. I don't have a license right now. Teddy insists that she drives. So she does. Now in the interview with Renee, Michelle, Jodie and their mother, Renee never once makes mention of Daring Day being with her and Teddy that night. But again, Renee's husband Tim Hester says that Daring Day was with him. So I am not so sure that he actually was with them or not. He is now deceased. So I did not have an opportunity to speak with Daring Day and ask that question. So they pull into the gas station parking lot and Renee parks Teddy's blue station wagon at one of the gas pumps. At that moment Teddy jumps out of the car and according to Renee leaves behind his wallet and keys to the car and he runs. He runs behind the gas station. At this time Penny and her mother pull into the gas station in a small black GMC pickup truck. It looks just like one of the old Chevy S10s, but it's the GMC model. So I'm sure y'all know what I'm talking about. They are circling the parking lot, flipping Renee the middle finger and shouting to her to fuck off. Renee says that then Renee says that she gives the keys to the car to Daryl and tells him to keep them until the police leave. Now from what I understand, from the interview that Renee did. Darryl is one of Teddy's friends, and he worked third shift at the gas station. Why Darryl is outside of the gas station at this point? For her to give him the keys is unclear to me, and she never elaborated on that. So now at some point, the police have in fact shown up to question Renee about driving the car, and she tells them that she did not drive the car and didn't have the keys to it. She proceeds to tell them that her brother was driving it, and he ran off. She doesn't know where he ran to. She tells them that he ran off because he, his wife, and mother-in-law just got into an argument in her apartment parking lot. Now at this time, Penny and her mother have left the gas station parking lot once they saw the police arrive. Through all the stories that I've been told, it is believed that Penny and her mother called the police to report that Renee was driving the car with no license, but this story was a bit unclear. I think there could be some substance to it because why would the police just randomly pull in the gas station to confront Renee about driving the car? Well, in the interview, one of the interviews with Penny, I asked her the question. I said, "Penny, did you call the police on Renee?" "No," she said. "Okay." "Did your mother call the police on Renee?" "No," she said. "I said, "Are you sure your mother didn't call the police on Renee because the police showed up?" That's odd. She finally admitted to me. She was honest. She said, "Yes, my mother called the police." So that became very clear. At the same time, the police were there questioning Renee, a truck driver pulls in the gas station because he sees the police car there at approximately 12.45 AM. And he reports to the police that he saw a couple guys running up the road behind the gas station. They were running up Jackson Lane. He wanted to let the police know what direction they went because he thought the gas station had been robbed. The police were not concerned with that at all because the gas station had not been robbed. And they were not concerned that Teddy had run off either. So the police left and Renee stayed at the gas station until the sun came up, hoping that Teddy would come back, but he didn't. I'm not sure why Renee did not just go home because she lived so close and Teddy could run to her house in a matter of minutes. And why she did not go to her apartment to see if he ran there is very unclear to me. And she doesn't elaborate on that. So she said she went into the store. She went to the store to celebrate and got the keys from Darryl. I want to add here that while Darryl is a friend of Teddy's, according to Michelle and Renee, he has not been cooperative in speaking with us about the night Teddy disappeared. I have reached out to him and his brother two times and I've received no response. So Renee pulled Teddy's car behind the gas station, started searching the apartment complex behind the gas station. The apartment complex is located to the right behind the gas station and on the left of that is Cassana's pizza, which is still there to this day. They got great pizza, go get you some. As well as checking the dumpsters and yelling his name trying to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. So here's where the story gets strange. In the interview with the three sisters and the mother, Teddy's mother states, I know what happened. I'll tell you what happened. These are Teddy's mother's words exactly from the interview. I'll tell you what he done. He come up on the porch and when he got on the porch, they come running up on the road or something because they wasn't in that car with him. Okay, I would love to know who they are. Why were they running? Why was Teddy running? Was Teddy being chased? And what car is she talking about? Doug's maybe. And better yet, what was Doug doing during all of this? Because he told us that he was sleeping in his car the night Teddy disappeared in front of Teddy's mother's house. Why? Did you know that something was gonna be going on with Teddy? Were you a lookout? Were you waiting for Teddy to come home because he had already confronted you earlier about Penny's pregnancy? At that point, the conversation shifted quickly and the mother did not make another comment about him on the porch that night in the interview. And it shifted because she was cut off by Jodie telling her that that's not what happened, Mom. But the tone in the mother's voice and the certainty with what she was saying and how she was saying it was very clear to me. And I am someone that never got to meet her and I've never heard her speak until now in that interview. She saw something that night, guys. There was substance to what she was saying. Now here's something else to take into consideration. Per Michelle Franks, Renee's apartment was three minutes away from the gas station and Teddy's mom's house was approximately three minutes away from the gas station. These two locations though were in opposite directions but he could have been to either one very quickly in either direction. So where did he go? And how did he disappear so quickly? I think we all know by now that there is someone out there or maybe a few people that does know the answer to that question. Wouldn't you agree? So let's go to this information that I was able to get. And in an interview with his previous girlfriend, Terry back. She told me that the night he went missing, he called her. She said the call came in close to 1 a.m. She said that it was Teddy on the phone and he was begging her to come pick him up. And he told her that Penny's brothers were chasing him and he was scared. He told Terry back that. She told her mother and her mother would not let her leave in her car to get him because it was so late. Well, Terry was only 16 at the time so rightly so. Her mother did not want her daughter out on the roads that late at night. She said that Teddy then dropped the phone which he was clearly at a pay phone. Because in 1987, that was the only way we had to make a call. There were no cell phones guys. She said she could hear the phone bang down against the pole when he dropped it. And she assumed he ran off. This was the last time Terry back would hear or even see Teddy Franks again. So here's a little side note to that. Wouldn't you know that directly behind the gas station that he ran from is an old red pay phone that still stands there today. I actually have a picture of it that I have posted on our TikTok and Facebook pages. I have questioned Penny several times. She is adamant that her brothers were not there at the gas station that night. And these two family members of Penny's, the still brothers, also will not speak to me about the night Teddy disappeared. I have reached out to them several times. Can you know what I've gotten? Crickets. The reason they are suspected by some of the people in this story is because Teddy told his mother, Renee, and Michelle on several occasions that they would make the comment to him. If he ever hurt their sister, they knew how to get rid of him. This is based on them working for their father's concrete company. But in interviewing Penny and Doug, they have told me that this is incorrect. The father owned a drywall company. I asked the name of the company Penny, nor Doug remembers the name of her father's drywall company. And Doug said he worked for it also. That is odd to me because I can remember my father's company name from 1987. I'm curious if there is anyone out there listening who may remember whether Penny's father owned a concrete company or drywall business, or at least the name of it. Penny's made name was Stills. You're welcome to comment or email me if you have any information about that. I would love to know. Now let's talk about Doug a bit more that night of August 30th, going into the 31st when Teddy went missing. Doug has said that he slept in his car in front of Teddy's mom's house. He also said that another friend Scott Gibson was at the house also because he was dating Teddy's sister, Jodie. Doug said that Scott would come outside and sit in the car with him and then go back inside the house with Jodie. He said Scott did this several times throughout the night. The question I have here is in the interview with the sisters and mother. This is never mentioned by Jodie that Scott was there or that he was going in and out of the house to sit in a car with Doug. It would seem to me that Jodie would have mentioned that in the interview. So in a recent social media post that was between Doug Reynolds and Scott Gibson, Scott calls Doug out for lying on the other three parts of this podcast about that night and what happened. And I'm presuming there are other things there. Okay, so now we are on Sunday, August 31st, 1987. And Teddy has not been seen or heard from. Then a week goes by until Teddy's mother and Penny go to the police station together to file a missing persons report because there still has been no sightings of Teddy or contact from him. Now I need you to please understand that based on what everyone has told me, Teddy was a mom as boy. And I don't mean that in a bad way. He did not go a day without calling his mother or going over to his mother's house. They were very close. Michelle, Doug and Penny have all confirmed that to me. So why no contact from him? So at the police station, Teddy's mother asked to speak with an officer there that was at one time her son-in-law. This officer was married to her second husband's daughter. This officer told her that he was too busy to come out and talk with her, but he would get back to her. her. He never got back to her. Ever. For God's sakes, people, this officer was part of that family and new Teddy, but he had no concern that Teddy was missing. Why? That right there for me is very questionable. What do you think about that? So here we are. No missing person's report was allowed to be filed, except for an unofficial one. Remember I said unofficial report. This is what the authorities have told Michelle Franks recently that they can see in their computer currently that an unofficial report was filed on September 9, 1987, but they cannot see what was written on the report or who the officer or officers were that took the report. I don't know about y'all, but I find this not only unacceptable, but very questionable. Something doesn't sound right with that response. Now let's take a look at the fact that it's September 9 and since August 31, no one, not friends, not family, and not the authorities, no one was searching for Teddy Franks. Are you kidding me? Am I the only one other than Michelle Franks that finds this not only questionable but a complete failure to Teddy? So I asked about this and he was honest with me and said that they all thought he would just come back. Then I took this question a bit further and asked Penny and if this was something Teddy did from time to time, you know, just disappear and not contact anyone for a few days. Their answer to me, both of them answered no. Point blank, no. That would have been the biggest red flag for me and all the friends to be out searching for Teddy. Don't you agree with that? So not too much later in this time frame, a letter is placed in Teddy's mother's mailbox. It is handwritten with no return address, no stamp because it was not sent through the US Postal Service. It was just put in her mailbox. This letter was supposedly from Teddy Franks telling his mother that he needed some time away and he would be in contact with her soon. Teddy's mother knew that letter was not from Teddy. It was not Teddy's handwriting and she knew that Teddy would not write a letter. He would call her. So she was telling some of the family members at the house about the letter and it just so happened that Doug Reynolds was there. Isn't that strange? Doug was there. He wasn't sitting in his car in front of the house. He was in the actual house at that time. Hmm. Teddy's mother said that she knew that the letter was not from Teddy and she was going to take it to the police. When she said this, Doug got upset and he immediately jumped up and admitted to her that he wrote that letter. He wrote it because he did not want her to worry about Teddy. This just basically pissed Teddy's mother off and rightly so. Why would anybody do something like that? Why were you and all Teddy's other buddies not out searching for him this whole time? Why were none of these people trying to find Teddy? Teddy could have been laying in the ditch somewhere or possibly in the Miami River. And why were you at Teddy's mother's house so much after he went missing, not sitting outside of your car, but you were in the house. If you had been searching for him, you may have found him. I'm just curious if anybody ever gave that a thought that again makes absolutely no sense to me at all. When Teddy went missing, Penny his wife at the time immediately moved in with Teddy's mother for approximately three months and Penny tried to help his mother by going on several occasions to the police station to try to get someone to look into Teddy's disappearance. Wait a minute. This may be why Doug was at Teddy's mother's house so much after Teddy went missing. Penny, she was pregnant with that baby and whose baby was it? I wonder what are your thoughts on it? Penny told me in an interview while she was staying there, Teddy's brother Joe, who was only 15 at the time, took Penny outside and told her not to worry about Teddy. He said he knew where Teddy was and that he would be home soon. He told her that if she told anyone what he said, he would deny it and say that she was a liar. So honestly, in my opinion, Penny did the right thing here and she went straight to Teddy's mother and told her what Joe said and Joe did exactly what he said he would do. He told Teddy's mother that Penny was lying. Now, I have to tell you that I questioned Michelle Frank's about this after Penny told me this in an interview. Michelle was a bit taken back by this and she made some calls to some family members which will remain unnamed that did apparently speak with Joe about this and it was told to me by Michelle that the answer to her was that he did admit that he said this to Penny because he hated her. So this was supposedly a spiteful thing Joe said to her and did. But unfortunately, this backfired on Joe because their mother got upset and called the police on Joe and it was told to Michelle that Joe was taken to the police station and questioned over his comments to Penny. But this is where I have red flags flying all over the place from these family members that relayed this to Michelle. Why would the police take Joe to the police station to question him about his comment? If there was not a missing person's report filed, only an unofficial one. What did the police give two shits about what he said to Penny when no one including the police were even searching for Teddy? This is another part that I would love to hear y'all's comments or feedback on. I really would. I want to now step back into the time frame right after Teddy went missing. Let's take a look at about a three month period. Renee said in the interview that she drove Teddy's blue station wagon back to her apartment from the gas station. She parked it in the apartment parking lot and it sat there for some time. She said that someone came and busted all the windows out of it. I wonder why that was done and who would have done that. Penny in an interview, in an interview with me said that the car sat there and it was finally towed away. But she didn't know where it was towed to or whatever may have happened to it. So let's take a look at this. You are a missing man's wife with a baby and a baby on the way. You have moved in with his mother immediately after he goes missing and you don't go get the only car that you and he owned. Why? The car was parked at Renee's and the mother's house was only six minutes from Renee's apartment parking lot. This makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Now according to Doug and Penny, it was six months after Teddy went missing. Guess what? Doug and Penny moved in together as a couple and they stayed together for almost four years. They didn't waste any time there. Guys did they say no time was wasted at all. I guess Teddy was real easy to get over and apparently Teddy and Doug were not the friends that Teddy thought they were or that Doug has portrayed that they were because I can't ask Teddy what he thinks of that because he's missing. Still. So with this being said, I asked Doug point blank in an interview, do you think Penny, her mother or her brothers had anything to do with Teddy's disappearance or do you suspect anything at all? This was Doug's answer to me. I never noticed anything different from the brothers, Penny or their mother. Although Eugene did at some point after Penny and I got together, he got mad at me for getting into an altercation with Penny and he chased me with a shotgun. He chased me to Teddy's mother's house. I ran in the backyard and into the back door and Teddy's mom witnessed Eugene in her front yard with a shotgun waving it and hollering for me to come out. So here we are at a complete standstill and the years would tick on with no contact from Teddy. No remains through the years found that were identified as Teddy Franks. But Michelle Franks would continue through the years to ask questions and contact many agencies, including the FBI. She was told by the FBI that they would need a case number, meaning an official missing persons report case number. Well, in 2017, she got in touch with a private investigator who went to great lengths for Michelle and the family to finally get the police to allow an official missing persons report to be filed. So listen to what I am going to say. The official missing persons report, the one that would have a detective on the case and investigating what happened to Teddy or where he is or even where his remains are did not get filed for 30 years after Teddy went missing. Again, are you kidding me? 30 years. Red damn flags flying everywhere when Michelle told me this. That is such an injustice to Teddy Franks. Michelle has told me that there have been several messages sent between her and Doug over the past and what really sticks out in these messages is one message. Doug tells Michelle he has nothing to do with where her brother is now. That's the message. So maybe he did not word that so well, but it does make he stand back and reread it a few times thinking, "What the hell does that mean? What exactly does that mean?" So let's now take a look at this. We have Doug and Penny who after Michelle basically calling them out on social media and messaging with Doug, they decide that they will finally after almost 38 years, 38 years, take a lie detector test. They go in and meet with the detective that is on Teddy's official missing persons case and each separately take a lie detector test about when Teddy disappeared. Well, Penny passed with flying colors. This is what was told to me by Penny and Doug. Doug though took his test and there was deception on the test. The deception was as to whether he wrote the letter to Teddy's mother. This also was told to me by Penny and Doug. Now I have to say that Doug is still denying that he wrote the letter, but in an interview I had with Penny and Doug. This is great. Penny calls Doug out on this. She told Doug and I that after he wrote the letter, she was asked about it by Jody. Again, one of Teddy's sisters and Penny told her the truth then that Doug wrote the letter. Penny even went as far as doing a three-way call between her, Jody, and Doug. So she could prove to Jody that Doug did in fact write the letter. When she got Doug on the phone, she did not tell him that Jody was on the phone listening. Penny then asked him, "Why did you write that letter?" Doug replied, "I don't know why I did it." So Doug is pretty much busted here and it is very clear that he did in fact write that letter to Teddy's mother. Why? Why would anyone in their right mind do something like that? Was he trying to cover something up? I don't understand that. Now I'm going to sidestep a little here and talk about some information that came in anonymously. This information is from someone very close to the situation. Since this person wanted to stay anonymous, we are going to call this person Lola. Lola has memories of hearing talks about Teddy. Talks that involve people in the family and in laws saying that Teddy was chased from the gas station by the still brothers. She was also told that Penny's father did operate a concrete business. She remembered that everyone said that Teddy was a good guy and would never walk away from his children. So one or two years after Teddy went missing, Renee and her husband Tim started getting strange phone calls. Someone was on the phone saying that they were Teddy and crying. They couldn't clearly make out whether this voice was a woman or a man, but it was very faint. But it was clear enough they could hear what was being said, but they did know in fact that it was not Teddy's voice. This person would beg to come home and cry. Tim would play along and tell the person to let him know where they were and he would come get them, but they never gave in, but they never gave any information just crying and begging and then they would hang up. These calls went on for about a year and then they stopped. So who was that? We already know that Doug wrote the famous letter that was from Teddy. Did he make these calls? Did Penny? Did Penny's mom? Did one of her brothers make these calls? Or was it someone completely different than them? Because it clearly was not Teddy Franks. Michelle was able to get Teddy's DNA placed in codis, which is a national database managed by the FBI. The DNA was collected from his brother Joe, sister Renee and Teddy's mother. This was again after 30 years of Teddy missing. There was a hit on his DNA in Florida at one point and the detective from Middletown, Ohio contacted Michelle to tell her there was a hit and Michelle, of course, was elated with joy as well as overcome with grief. But unfortunately the detective would call her back telling her that it was a mistake and it was not a match for Teddy Franks. What a terrible mistake to have been made, but haven't the authorities already failed Teddy for 30 years? So I guess it's expected. Now going on 38 years actually on August 31st of 2025. Since Teddy's disappearance, his driver's license has never been renewed. There has never been a license issued not even in another state. His social security number has never been used for anything. Not employment, not taxes, not bank accounts, not credit cards. Absolutely nothing. When Teddy went missing, or I think we could say also, when Teddy was abducted almost 38 years ago, that was the end of all life for Teddy Franks. Michelle Franks has told me that she has publicly accused Penny and Doug through the years. She has even gone on local news stations with her sister Renee to tell Teddy story and made many accusations. So I want to close this podcast with some words from Teddy Franks. I feel like in all the research I have done on this and all the people I have spoken to, that I now know Teddy. He would also be the same age as me, 58 years old. So in 1987, he and I were doing similar things in life. We graduated high school the same year, 1985. Although the schools were in different states, different places, it was the same time frame. It was the 80s. This is what I think Teddy Franks would have to say to everyone today if he was here. On August 31, 1987, I went missing, or I was abducted. A few of you have that answer. I had friends and family that I cared about, especially my daughter and my wife, Penny. But I found out that I may have possibly been betrayed by my best friend and my wife. Thank you both for that. Is that why Penny and her mother were out after midnight searching for me with my baby in the truck? You should have been home in bed. They had to prove a point though. I wondered why Doug was sleeping in the street in front of my mother's house. This didn't make sense to me because he always came into my mom's house. He was like a part of my family. And I bet if you ask him that question, he would tell you that he always was there for gatherings and cookouts. There was no need to sleep in the car in the street that night. Where were you Doug? When I ran up on the porch while being chased, like my mother said, I wasn't in the car with them. How could my daughters have been told that I just walked away from them? When you all know, this is not something I would have done. I say my daughters, but the other baby. Oh, how I hope she was mine and not Doug's seems strange to me that they got together in a relationship only six months after I disappeared. Not all my friends and family that did not look for me. No one looked for me except my mother, my precious mother tried and no one would help her. She died not really knowing what happened to me. Oh, but she is with me now and she knows was I that bad of a friend to you that you could not take the time to search for me. I had nine friends I could count on my hands. None of you look for me. I would have immediately started looking for you. I would not have given up until I found you. Michelle, my sister, you have searched for me and contacted every agency over the years. You pushed to have a missing persons report filed after 30 years on my behalf. Peanut, you didn't and you haven't given up on me. Thank you. To those of you who did what you did to me and with me and you know who you are, you can't lie forever and some things can't be covered up forever. The truth is going to come out so everybody get ready. Well, thank you so much for listening to part four. I hope that some of the facts that we pointed out here brings a bell for somebody out there. I hope that you guys will please give us comments, messages, email me, anything you got would help. We desperately want to find Teddy Franks and bring him home to his family and especially his sister, Michelle Franks. Thank you again for listening. We'll be back soon.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Teddy Franks disappeared from Middletown, Ohio, on August 31, 1987, after a series of confrontations and strange events.
  2. Key players include Teddy, his ex-wife Penny Mosley, best friend Doug Reynolds, and sisters Renee, Michelle, and Jodie Franks.
  3. On the night of his disappearance, Teddy argued with Penny about drinking and pregnancy suspicions, then went to his mother’s and sister Renee’s homes.
  4. Doug Reynolds gave conflicting stories about driving Teddy to Renee’s apartment, raising suspicion.
  5. Teddy ran from a gas station after an argument with Penny and her mother, leaving behind his wallet and keys.
  6. Teddy’s mother claimed he came onto a porch, implying he was chased, but this was cut off in an interview.
  7. A former girlfriend, Terry Back, said Teddy called her at 1 a.m., begging for a ride because Penny’s brothers were chasing him, but she couldn’t help.
  8. Police failed to file a proper missing person report until September 9, 1987, and no search was conducted initially.
  9. Doug Reynolds and Scott Gibson’s accounts conflict, with Scott calling Doug out for lying on social media.

Summary:

This podcast episode covers the disappearance of Teddy Franks from Middletown, Ohio, on August 31, 1987. The host introduces key players: Teddy, his ex-wife Penny Mosley, best friend Doug Reynolds, and family members. On the night of August 30, Teddy argued with Penny about drinking and her pregnancy, which Teddy suspected was with Doug’s child.

He left their home in Hamilton, Ohio, and went to his mother’s house in Middletown. Doug claimed he drove Teddy to sister Renee’s apartment but later changed his story, saying Teddy drove himself. At Renee’s, Teddy hid under his car from Penny and her mother, then went inside to drink beer and watch MTV.

, Teddy ran out of cigarettes and went with Renee to a gas station. Penny and her mother confronted them, and Teddy fled on foot, leaving his wallet and keys. A truck driver reported seeing men running, but police ignored it.

Teddy’s mother later said in an interview that Teddy came onto a porch, implying he was chased, but this was dismissed. , begging for help because Penny’s brothers were chasing him, but she couldn’t go. Police failed to file a proper missing person report until September 9, and no search was conducted initially.

Doug’s story conflicts with others, and Scott Gibson accused Doug of lying. The host highlights questionable behavior, such as Penny and her mother searching for Teddy that night but not later, and the police’s lack of concern. The case remains unsolved, with suspicions about Penny’s brothers and Doug’s involvement.

FAQs

It is a podcast hosted by Ann and Megan that investigates unsolved murders and missing person cases, exploring facts, theories, and unanswered questions.

Key people include Teddy Franks, his ex-wife Penny Mosley, best friend Doug Reynolds, mother Dorothy, sisters Michelle, Jodie, Renee, and brother Joe. Renee was with him the night he vanished.

Teddy disappeared from Middletown, Ohio, in the early morning hours of August 31, 1987, after last being seen at a gas station on Roosevelt and Jackson Lane.

Teddy argued with his wife Penny, then went to his sister Renee's apartment. Later, at a gas station, he ran off after a confrontation with Penny and her mother, leaving his wallet and car keys behind.

Yes, his ex-girlfriend Terry said he called her around 1 a.m., begging for a ride and claiming Penny's brothers were chasing him. The call ended abruptly, and he was never seen again.

An unofficial report was filed on September 9, 1987, but no official report was allowed. The police officer who was a family member did not follow up, and no search was conducted initially.

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