The Photo in the Meter: How a Fake Architect Stole Jean's Life

Fear that the person you love is real - until one tiny object proves otherwise. A four-by-six photograph sealed in a zip-lock bag, a blue-pen promise on the back, and a meter reader who was forty minutes late: how did one image unravel eight months of fiction and lead to a man in prison? What single overlooked detail explains how twelve women lost money they will never recover?

In this episode, we tell the story step by step: how Jean met "Glenn Simpson" on MatchPoint, how a relationship built over precise messages and verifiable-seeming details turned into repeated financial requests, and how the discovery of a photograph beside the gas meter forced events into the open. Could a photo in a meter reveal the method behind a romantic fraud?

Person: Jean Brooks
Date: September 9, 2019
Location: Garfield Terrace
Occupation: Fourth grade teacher (retired)
Amount requested: $4,500

- Jean printed and carried a specific four-inch-by-six photograph that was found in a zip-lock bag wedged between the gas meter and exterior siding.
- The photo's back had a handwritten message in blue pen: "I will come home to you, Jean. I promise this time."
- Jean was thirty-eight years old in spring 2018 and took early retirement that spring to care for her mother diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
- The first money request arrived in January 2019 for $4,500 to release building materials held in Lagos, Nigeria; Jean waited eleven days before transferring the funds.
- Over eight months, twelve women lost unrecoverable money in the same scheme, and by the end a man would be in prison.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Postcard That Bought a Man's Grief - $14,200 Stolen Love

Grief turned into leverage: a widower sent $14,200 to a man he’d never heard speak after a tenderly handwritten postcard arrived at his church, bought in an airport shop for $1.50. Who used borrowed photos, a forged backstory and a paper ledger to turn kindness into a con?

In this episode, we follow the timeline of how an online friendship moved from woodworking tips to personal emails, a postcard, and escalating payments, and ask how a routine act of decency became a coordinated fraud that cost a man his savings.

Person: Stanley Weber
Date: postcard arrived in the second week of August 2019
Location: Calvary Ridge Community Church
Amount: $14,200
Perpetrator: Eric Rogers (identified in evidence)

- A $1.50 Caribbean beach postcard was mailed to the church in August 2019 with a handwritten note signed "Daniel."
- Stanley Weber, age 62, had taught woodworking for 24 years and was a member of the church for 31 years.
- A Facebook account named Daniel Hartley befriended Stanley in February 2019 and moved to email by late March 2019.
- The stolen photographs used in the fake profile belonged to Frank Odom; a LinkedIn biography used belonged to James Parrish.
- Evidence at trial showed Eric Rogers kept a handwritten ledger listing Stanley and at least three pages of personal details, and had 17 unsent postcards in his rented room.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

He Pretended to Grieve - I Sent Him My Last $28,000

Grief turned into a con: a 26-year-old named Duane lost his mother and, within weeks, was talking to a man who claimed the same loss - a traveling healthcare contractor who asked for money and kept asking until $28,000 was gone. How did private chats, a found dry-bag, and a laminated photograph expose the scam?

In this episode, we follow the timeline from the discovery in the culvert to the months of chats on a grief forum, showing how trust built through precise empathy became a vector for repeated financial requests; could the man Duane trusted really be the person in the photo?

Person: Duane Fleming
Date: July 9, 2022
Location: culvert east of Kettner Lake, Shelby County
Topic: online grief support forum conversations and financial requests
Amount lost: $28,000

- The dry-bag found in the culvert contained 43 printed pages of chat transcripts, a prepaid debit card, and a laminated photograph.
- Duane Fleming was 26 years old and cared for a 15-year-old cat named Bessel who needed medication twice daily.
- Duane joined the StillHere forum in late March 2022; on March 27, 2022, Eric Murphy also joined the forum.
- The first money request was $300 in late May, which Duane sent and received back nine days later.
- In June, Murphy asked for $1,100 to cover a billing dispute related to his father's estate.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The River Card That Exposed a 9‑Year Romance Scam Kingpin

A greeting card sealed in a zip‑lock bag and tied with butcher's twine was pulled from a trotline in the Alcott River - dry despite the damp - with a blue ballpoint note signed "Forever, Kent." That single card led investigators from a riverbank to a nine‑year romance scam that extracted $81,400; who was Kent, and how did one card open a decade‑long deception?

In this episode, we follow the discovery at five twenty in the morning and trace how an online relationship that began on a dating platform for over‑forty adults turned into repeated requests for money tied to believable emergencies and logistical constraints. How did routine Wednesday calls, pixelated video excuses, and carefully constructed backstories produce $81,400 in transfers before anyone stopped them?

Person: Nicole Vogel
Location: Alcott River, Pinder County, Ohio
Date: discovery at five twenty in the morning on a Wednesday in June
Amount: $81,400
Platform: dating site for adults over forty

- The greeting card found on the third hook from the bank was sealed in a zip‑lock bag and knotted with butcher's twine.
- The handwritten message inside read in blue ballpoint: "The day I fly home to you is the day I become the man I was always meant to be. Forever, Kent."
- Nicole Vogel created a profile in February and began weekly calls with "Kent" by April, calling every Wednesday night at 11:15.
- The first wire transfer was $1,100 sent on a Tuesday morning in April after a customs fee claim from Accra.
- Over time the scheme totaled $81,400 and involved technical excuses for pixelated video and a contractor abroad narrative.

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This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Missing Wedding Ring That Exposed a Romance Scam on 42 Acres

A missing gold wedding ring tucked inside a ceramic planter in a hackberry tree set off a chain that led from a county surveyor's walk to a deed transfer of the very forty-two acres the deceased had farmed for decades-so how did a man’s ring, inscribed "E.D. to C.D., June nineteen sixty-one," end up hidden and the land moved out of his name while he was still alive?

In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events as recorded: the chance discovery, the caregiving relationship that grew into control, the sudden changes to legal documents and property, and the unexplained choices surrounding the ring and the deed-could the missing ring be the clue that reveals how the transfer happened?

Person: Carl Deering
Date: May 14 (surveyor discovery)
Location: Kettner Township, forty-two acres
Person: Debra Donnelly
Event: Deed gift transfer of the forty-two acres executed in Carl's lifetime

- On May 14, county surveyor Shannon Stewart found a ceramic planter in a hackberry tree containing four greeting cards, a funeral home prayer card, and a gold wedding ring.
- The ring inscription read "E.D. to C.D., June nineteen sixty-one" and belonged to Carl Deering, age 78, who had died six weeks earlier.
- Carl stopped wearing the ring by late February; neighbor Lou Birch noticed its absence during a visit where Carl appeared lucid and mobile.
- An attorney named Tom Vesper witnessed Carl sign a revised will that left the bulk of the estate to caregiver Debra Donnelly; Debra waited in the parking lot.
- Five weeks after the will, a deed recorded as a gift transferred the forty-two acres out of Carl’s name, notarized by John Fleming, a man linked to Debra and with knowledge of wills and deeds.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Boutonniere in the Basement: How "Bruce" Stole Her Heart and Savings

Fear and quiet betrayal: a white carnation boutonniere buried in a concrete septic chamber led to a digital paper trail across four states and the unraveling of a carefully constructed romance scam-how did a gift meant to prove love end up hidden underground?

In this episode, we tell the story of Debra Erickson, a 52-year-old medical billing coordinator whose CommonGround match called himself Bruce Mitchell, and how ordinary details-a boutonniere on the kitchen counter, a frozen video call, a reverse image search-became the clues that exposed a long con. What exactly did the digital trail reveal, and who was the man in the photos?

Person: Debra Erickson
Location: Thornfield Circle, Kellerton, Indiana
Date: April 2019 (discovery) and February-April 2019 (online contact)
Age: 52
Case: Online romance scam involving a false identity using a photo of Dennis Carver

- A concrete access cover weighing 62 pounds was lifted by septic inspector Judith Barnes at 7:40 AM on a Thursday in April 2019.
- The white carnation boutonniere was still wrapped in original florist paper and later kept in a glass of water on Debra’s kitchen counter for three weeks.
- Debra created a profile on CommonGround in February 2019 and matched with “Bruce Mitchell” 11 days after the profile went live.
- The profile photo used by “Bruce” matched an image found on 17 different websites and belonged to retired architect Dennis Carver from Spokane, Washington.
- Debra’s brother Gordon Bauer, age 58, began searching licensing databases and ran a reverse image search the Saturday after seeing a non-blinking frozen video image on Debra’s laptop.

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This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

Forty-Seven Minutes: How a Stranger Stole Angela Reed's Night

Fear that someone trusted could erase six hours of your life: Angela Reed, a 44-year-old nurse with a five-year morning routine, woke up hypothermic at Crestline Pond with no footprints to her and a locked gate unforced - yet phone records show a 47-minute call the night before. Who was the man in her church who sat four pews behind her, and what did he say for forty-seven minutes?

In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Angela's fixed routine and community role to the morning she was found, outline the phone call that became the central lead, and trace how a newcomer to the congregation embedded himself before that night. What happened during those missing six hours and on that forty-seven-minute call?

Person: Angela Reed
Age: 44
Location: Crestline Pond, Crestwood County
Event: 47-minute phone call the night before she was found
Status: Severe hypothermia with acute dissociation; toxicology negative

- Angela left her home on Fieldcrest Avenue at 6:00 a.m. daily and walked a fixed two-mile route for five years.
- She was found at 6:43 a.m. on March 14 lying palm-up on a snow-covered picnic table inside a locked recreation area closed since November.
- Her car was found on the shoulder of the county road 0.3 miles from Crestline Pond with the engine off and keys in her pocket.
- A full toxicology screen was negative and the emergency room physician documented acute dissociation with no physical harm recorded.
- Phone records show Glenn Tate called Angela’s phone on the night of March 13 and the call lasted forty-seven minutes.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

She Sent the Last Transfer Knowing: The Gina Rice Case

A calm, methodical scam turned on a nurse who taught triage - and she wired the first $600 without telling a soul. The con began on a veterans' forum in March 2018 and used versioned documents and intimate detail to defeat someone who was precisely the wrong target; how did Marcus Callahan convince Gina to keep sending money until her life began to unravel?

In this episode, we follow the timeline from the dry jacket on Crestfall Avenue to the sequence of transfers and the investigation that followed, describing how the relationship developed online, the payments that were made, and the signs friends and family later noticed - what pushed a careful, attentive nurse to send that last transfer?

Person: Gina Rice
Location: 414 Crestfall Avenue, Dunmore, Ohio
Date (first contact): March 2018
First transfer: $600 in June 2018
Investigator mentioned: Howard Berry

- The jacket hung on a mailbox post was dry despite freezing rain and eleven-degree temperatures.
- Warren Peterson, age 14, noticed the jacket at approximately 6:40 a.m. and left without knocking.
- Gina was 26 years old in spring 2017 when she signed the lease at 414 Crestfall Avenue.
- The first money transfer occurred in June 2018 and amounted to $600 routed through a payment app.
- The contact began on a veterans' support forum in March 2018 with a correspondent using the name Marcus Callahan.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

The Framing on Maplecrest: How a Fake Widow Took $31,400

Fear of being fooled stalks every lonely heart: a craftsman found a framed photo bolted to a fence post, a man who "loved instant coffee," and $31,400 gone from his bank account - how did a stranger turn small-town kindness into a six-figure theft?

In this episode, we follow the timeline from a single social message to repeated wire transfers and the discovery that the grieving widower was a fabrication; what patterns and details reveal how the con unfolded and who had already fallen for the same story?

Person: Howard Draper
Date: January 9, 2019
Location: Maplecrest Road, Elston Township
Amount: $31,400
Case: Romantic fraud involving alias "Ronald Kowalski"

- A framed photograph was bolted to a fence post at 4:17 AM on January 9, 2019.
- Howard received daily messages by July 2018 from a profile identifying as Ronald Kowalski, aged 47.
- The operation reused an obituary detail - "instant coffee" - taken from a different real woman's obituary.
- The first money request in October 2018 was $800, sent within two days of Howard's payday.
- A total of six transfers, each within 48 hours of payday, amounted to $31,400.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].

La voz en el frío: la mentira que robó su invierno y $40,000

Cold danger sits beside the familiar warmth of an online romance: a 22-year-old tutor in a small Indiana town lost $40,000 after more than sixty sessions with a man who said he worked in Singapore - and a single two-second change in his voice made her uneasy. How did months of real infrastructure, precise language and one uncanny vocal fracture turn into a financial disappearance?

In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the first profile to the last frozen porch, laying out the timeline of messages, calls, wires and the moment that didn’t sound right. What happened between the midnight call in October and the laptop found on the frost-covered steps?

Person: Kathleen Burns
Age: 22
Location: Dunmore Township, Indiana
Occupation: English as a Second Language tutor for ClearVoice Exchange
Amount lost: $40,000

- First wire: $8,000 sent in October to an account described as a temporary holding structure.
- Second wire: $6,000 sent in November labeled as a retainer for a legal firm in Singapore.
- Number of sessions: 60 to 80 video/audio sessions by the time they were counted.
- Temperature when the laptop was found: 21 degrees Fahrenheit with most surfaces frosted.
- Battery level on the abandoned laptop: 4 percent when discovered.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].