MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
Murder on the Answering Machine (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
09 Dec 2024
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 saw the light on her answering machine blinking, so she checked the message. At first, it just sounded like static noise, or maybe someone was breathing heavy. And she figured it was either a prank call or someone had just accidentally dialed her number. But then she heard screaming and crying and then it just went silent, and the message ended. For a moment, the woman just stood there, shocked. She tried calling the number back who had left the message, but it went straight to voicemail. Out of fear that this message she had been left potentially just captured the sound of someone being badly hurt, the woman called 911.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Full Episode
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.
Lamont Jones is shattered when his cousin dies just weeks after entering prison. The official report says natural causes, but bruises and missing teeth tell a different story. Wondery presents Death County PA, a chilling true story of corruption and cover-ups. Follow Death County PA on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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.
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