Murder on the Answering Machine (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
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What happened on the fall night in 1998?
On a fall night in 1998, a woman walked into her kitchen after being out all day and tossed her keys onto the counter. She glanced over at her answering machine and saw there was a light blinking, which meant she had a message. She walked over and pressed the button and as the message played, at first it just sounded like static noise or maybe somebody breathing heavily into the receiver. And for a second, the woman thought maybe this was a prank call or maybe somebody had dialed her number by accident. But then right as she was about to turn off the message, she heard screaming and crying and then it all just went silent and the message ended. For a moment, the woman just stood there, shocked by what she had just heard.
She tried calling the number back who had left this message, but it went straight to voicemail. And so out of fear that this message she had gotten was the sound of someone actually being hurt, the woman picked up the phone and called 911. But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you come to the right podcast because that's all we do and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, please gift the follow button and all expenses paid vacation to a very special canyon, Bell's Canyon. Okay, let's get into today's story.
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On Saturday, November 14th, 1998, 35-year-old Sarah Raris and her best friend Laura scanned the racks at a local clothing store in Howard County, Maryland. Sarah wasn't really looking to buy any new clothes, but she was desperate to distract herself from the horrible day she was having, and she hoped shopping might help with that. This was one of the weekends that her estranged husband, Lorenzo, had custody of their one-year-old son, and Sarah hated every minute she was apart from her baby. Sarah and her husband were in the middle of a heated divorce and custody battle, and if she had her way, Lorenzo would actually never see their son again. Just then, Laura pointed out a shirt that she thought Sarah might actually like.
It would look great with Sarah's red hair, she said. Sarah forced a smile, but deep down she knew that this retail therapy was not having the desired effect. Sarah continued to walk around the store, but she just couldn't shake herself out of her bad mood. And this frustrated her because she'd always prided herself on being this really upbeat, positive person. In fact, up until about a year ago, Sarah's life had seemed almost perfect. She worked as a statistician for the National Security Agency, or NSA for short, helping solve a range of information security issues for multiple federal agencies. Sarah had always had a gift for mathematics, and so using her talent to help her country was like a dream job for her.
Also, at the time, she had begun writing her first novel, a murder mystery about a brilliant statistician who solves crimes. And she and her husband Lorenzo had bought this beautiful house in a suburban neighborhood that looked like something out of a painting. The streets were lined with manicured lawns and white picket fences. And perhaps most importantly for Sarah, she had become a mother. But soon after her baby was born, things at home had begun to fall apart. Lorenzo didn't seem to want anything to do with helping raise the child, so Sarah quickly felt like she was juggling this important government job with taking care of a newborn baby all on her own. Also, Sarah's family lived about a thousand miles away in Alabama, so they weren't able to help.
Luckily though, her mother-in-law, so Lorenzo's mom, had pitched in and began babysitting whenever she could and also helping Sarah with cooking and cleaning. But Sarah's mother-in-law worked full-time at a retirement home, so there was only so much she could do. And no matter how much Sarah begged Lorenzo for his help, he basically just refused.
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