In the middle of the night, strangers ripped Zara from her bed and told her she was going to a troubled teen wilderness therapy program. Little did she know, the troubled teen industry would prevent her from going home for over three years.

The Troubled Teen Industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that holds kids prisoner and may do more harm than good in their attempt to rehabilitate teens. Wilderness therapies expose teens to extreme physical conditions for months on end. Today we're going to hear stories from inside those programs, including Zara's.

You can support the podcast and hear more of Zara's story on our new Patreon 

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Have a heart pounding story you'd like to share on the podcast? Email [email protected]

Heart Starts Pounding is written and produced by Kaelyn Moore. Music by Artlist. 

Links for this episode:

Breaking Code Silence (donate and read more stories)

https://wjactv.com/news/local/new-ruling-could-lead-to-retrial-for-man-convicted-of-1993-murder-of-teen

https://wildernesstherapyinfo.tripod.com/id22.html

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/losing-erica-cynthia-clark-harvey-doesnt-want-anyone-elses-child-to-die-in-a-wilderness-therapy-program-6431310

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/when-wilderness-boot-camps-take-tough-love-too-far/375582/

https://wwaspsdeath.blogspot.com/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/elan-school

https://wwaspsdeath.blogspot.com/ 

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/life/health-wellness/2022/12/08/wilderness-therapy-troubled-teen-industry/9890694002/

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/practice/2021/5-facts-about-the-troubled-teen-industry/

https://bcsnetwork.org/category/our-stories/

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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Writer Jeff Topolski (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) joins us this week to answer the question: Was Natalia Grace Barnett a murderous woman parading as a child, or a victim of terrible adoptive parents?

In 2010, a 6-year-old girl named Natalia Grace was adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett. The Barnetts, as well as national headlines, would go on to portray Natalia as a disturbed con artist pretending to be a child. According to the Barnetts, she made their lives hell and repeatedly threatened to kill their children. In today's episode, we're going to break this whole story down, piece by piece, and examine all it's layers to figure out what was really going on. Buckle up because it's going to get even crazier than what the headlines were writing.  

Thank you so much to Jeff Topolski  for joining me today. You can follow the podcast on instagram @heartstartspounding. Have a heart pounding story you'd like to share on the podcast? Email [email protected] 

Links cited in this episode:

https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Mothers-Nurturing-Genius-Autism/dp/0812983564?asin=0812983564&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9884021/Russia-seeks-return-of-adopted-boy-in-US-after-brothers-death.html

https://nypost.com/2010/04/09/us-woman-put-adopted-russian-son-on-one-way-flight-alone-back-to-homeland/

https://www.insideedition.com/couple-who-hoped-to-adopt-ukrainian-orphan-shocked-people-think-shes-an-adult-posing-as-child-56997

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/local/lafayette/2022/02/20/kristine-michael-barnett-natalia-update/6802645001/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2019/09/18/michael-kristine-barnett-daughter-abandon-ukraine-adoption-dwarfism-prodigy/2364895001/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/crime/2019/09/27/kristine-and-michael-barnett-walked-a-small-crowd-of-reporters-and-news-cameras-on-their-to-their-in/3779458002/

​​https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7479061/Mom-claims-Ukrainian-daughter-9-adopted-really-22-year-old-dwarfism.html

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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This episode is about the supernatural things that happen around the time of someone's death, either leading up to it or right after. We read stories from people who experienced the unexplainable right when their loved one died and hear from two healthcare workers about a supernatural phenomenon that is common when someone is dying. 

You can follow Hospice Nurse Julie on tiktok @hospicenursejulie

Follow the podcast on instagram @heartstartspounding

Read more from u/spinyfever here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Thetruthishere/comments/102xoha/experiences_from_working_overnight_at_a_old_folks/

Have a scary story you'd like to share on the podcast? Email [email protected]

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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Pack a bag, today we're going to a spooky campground. In this episode, we hear two terrifying campground tales.

The first one is The Tale of The Solo Traveler- a tale of a girl who learns something may have been watching her while she camped.

And then we hear a tale from a listener of a time when their husband's intuition while camping may have saved them both.

Heart Starts Pounding is written/produced by Kaelyn Moore

Instagram: @heartstartspounding 

Have a heart pounding tale you'd like to share on the podcast? Email [email protected]

Music by Artlist 

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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On Christmas Eve, 1924, a devastating fire broke out at a schoolhouse in Babbs Switch. 36 people died in total, and every person who was at the schoolhouse that night was accounted for. Except for one person- 3-year-old Mary Edens. Her aunt remembered passing her out of a window to someone, but no one knew what happened to her afterward.

Until 30 years later, when a woman shows up at the Edens home claiming to be Mary. She's welcomed in with open arms, but is she really who she says she is? Something starts to feel off to people in the community....

Heart Starts Pounding is written and produced by Kaelyn Moore. Additional commentary by Leo, and music by Artlist.

Have a heart pounding story you'd like to share on the pod? Email [email protected]. And be sure to follow the podcast on instagram @heartstartspounding.

Happy Heart Pounding Holidays!!

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On Christmas Eve, 1945, a fire broke out in the Sodder family home destroying the entire house and taking five of the nine children with it. Shortly after the fire, and due to some VERY strange evidence, the father of the family started to believe that maybe the children were actually....kidnapped

In this episode, we'll deep dive into the night of the fire as well as the bizarre events that took place afterward to try and figure out just what happened to those children that fateful night. 

Heart Starts Pounding is written and produced by Kaelyn Moore, with additional commentary by Leo. Enjoy what you're hearing? Leave us a rating and follow the podcast on instagram @heartstartspounding. If you have a heart pounding story you'd like to share on the podcast, email [email protected].

sources:

https://seletyn.com/2019/11/08/fayco-history-the-sodder-children/

https://stacyhorn.com/2005/12/28/long-long-long-sodder-post/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-children-who-went-up-in-smoke-172429802/

https://www.npr.org/2005/12/23/5067563/mystery-of-missing-children-haunts-w-va-town

Happy Heart Pounding Holidays to all! 

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What if I told you there were a bunch of people in the Navy in Groton, Connecticut who believe their military homes are haunted? And that some of those people believe it's a result of the ancient and mysterious land they live on?

In this episode, we hear from Jack, a behavioral health tech in the Navy who feels something strange coming from the swamp by his house, called Gungywamp. Jack believes the ghost stories told on his base are maybe because of it. 

Have a heart pounding story you'd like to tell on the podcast? Email us at [email protected], and be sure to follow the podcast on instagram @heartstartspounding.

Hosted by Kaelyn Moore

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Have you ever wondered if the sound outside your door at night was really a ghost? In this Episode- Kaelyn hears from two listeners with chilling haunted house tales, and Leo gives a little bit of their take on it.

Have a heart pounding story you'd like to share on the podcast? email [email protected]. And follow the podcast on instagram @heartstartspounding. 

This episode will also be available on youtube! 

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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Amy Archer-Gilligan was one of America's first female serial killers, killing up to 60 of her patients with her "special" lemonade...

Make sure you're following the podcast on instagram @heartstartspounding. Have a heart-pounding story you'd like to share on the pod? Email [email protected]

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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