Murder in Illinois

Out of nowhere, Heather Bardeleben felt a jolt in her chest. She spends the next 12 hours in excruciating pain, suffering through what feels like a vice clamping down on her chest. Despite these alarming symptoms, doctors dismiss her condition as stress, anxiety…even acid reflux. It doesn’t take long for these symptoms to escalate - and Heather, only 48 years old, is faced with death.

We want to hear from you! Share your own medical mystery or tell us about the episode you connected with the most at [email protected].

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You can learn more about Dr. Sharonne Hayes and the Mayo Clinic Women’s Heart Clinic at www.mayoclinic.org. More information about support and education for women with heart disease can be found at WomenHeart: the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease at www.WomenHeart.org and about cardiovascular disease and research the American Heart Association at heart.org.

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Grace Sullivan was only 17 when she was hit by unexplained bouts of uncontrollable vomiting that would last for days, even weeks. Countless trips to the ER, tests with no conclusive results, and no clear indicator for the root cause. After 19 hospitalizations in the span of two years - Grace believed she may never get better…especially when it became clear that the thing causing these episodes was something she had become completely reliant on.

We want to hear from you! Share your own medical mystery or tell us about the episode you connected with the most at [email protected].

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You can learn more about Dr. Andrew Meltzer's work on CHS here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39985554/. If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, you can find resources at usa.gov/substance-abuse.

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Travis Bolt was a charismatic kid with an old soul…and a natural talent for music. When Travis turns eight years old, he begins to experience uncontrollable muscle movements that continue to escalate in intensity. He starts getting in trouble in school, injuring himself inadvertently, and faces years of medical trial treatments that create new health problems. All the while, Travis endures relentless bullying at school—not only from fellow students, but from teachers as well, the result of ignorance and a lack of understanding about his condition—until he stumbles upon an unconventional treatment that changes everything.

We want to hear from you! Share your own medical mystery or tell us about the episode you connected with the most at [email protected].

Travis's music was provided by Gravel Road Records and can be found on your favorite streaming platforms by searching Travis Bolt. His new album is called Burning Bridges.

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If you'd like to learn more about the Tourette's Association of America, you can find them at tourette.org. 

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Let's revisit one of our favorite episodes from Season 1. Zach was your average 11-year-old who loved pizza, sports, and going fishing with his Dad until an incident at a baseball game changed his life forever. As an illness quickly takes hold and wreaks havoc on his body, it’s a race against the clock to figure out what’s happening and save Zach’s life. All new medical mysteries are back next week!

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To find out more information on Sepsis, visit Sepsis.org.

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This is part two of Len Geiger’s story. The last we heard from Len, he was flying over the handlebars of his mountain bike only three months after receiving a miraculous lung transplant that had saved his life. 

We want to hear from you! Share your own medical mystery or tell us about the episode you connected with the most at [email protected].

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You can learn more about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency through the Alpha-1 Foundation at https://alpha1.org/ or alphaid.com where you can request a free Alpha-1 test kit.

If you want to learn more about life saving organ donations you can go to Donate Life America at https://donatelife.net/ or OrganDonor.gov. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, Murder in Illinois listeners! We're excited to share with you a sneak peek at iHeartPodcasts' latest release, What Happened to Her!

What Happened to Her: For four seasons, investigative reporter Melissa Jeltsen has told the stories of women whose lives — and deaths — were shaped by the failures of the systems meant to protect them. Now she's widening her lens, with new episodes every week. In What Happened to Her, Melissa takes on the stories that won't let her go. Women whose deaths were too quickly ruled suicides. Women no one believed. Cases everyone else called closed. Some weeks, a mystery unfolds across multiple episodes. In others, Melissa sits down with fellow investigative journalists and podcast hosts to go behind the scenes on the cases — and the women — they just couldn't shake.

Listen to What Happened to Her on the iHeartRadio App or wherever you get your podcasts!

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Len Geiger was a perfectly healthy, athletic young man with no signs of illness…but when Len enters his late twenties he starts falling ill with chronic chest infections. By age thirty - Len begins to experience breathlessness so debilitating he can barely walk across a parking lot. 10 years after the onset of symptoms, Len is dying from lungs that can no longer function due to a disease often overlooked in testing. 

We want to hear from you! Share your own medical mystery or tell us about the episode you connected with the most at [email protected].

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****** SPOILER ALERT BELOW ******

You can learn more about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency through the Alpha-1 Foundation at https://alpha1.org/ or alphaid.com where you can request a free Alpha-1 test kit.

If you want to learn more about life saving organ donations you can go to Donate Life America at https://donatelife.net/ or OrganDonor.gov.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brendon Paradis began to lose his vision out of nowhere. Doctors spend decades trying to stop the unexplained hemorrhaging in his retina with no success. Brendon has attempted to come to terms with his fate but when his son Keegan begins to show a more rapidly advancing version of this mystery condition, they reignite the search in a race against the clock to save Keegan’s vision.

We want to hear from you! Share your own medical mystery or tell us about the episode you connected with the most at [email protected].

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You can learn more about ROSAH and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at https://www.niaid.nih.gov/

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All new episodes full of medical mysteries are coming soon. Join host Lauren Bright Pacheco as we explore new stories in which patients become investigators, survivors become advocates, and exceptional doctors become heroes. Tune in for season 5 of Symptomatic, starting on September 22nd. 

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A decades-long true crime nightmare set in the shadowy woods of Putnam County, New York. Two wrongful convictions, a brutal predator hiding in plain sight, and a system that protected him for years—until a dogged pursuit uncovered the truth. Hosted by Rolling Stone’s Paul Solotaroff and Lava for Good CEO Jason Flom, The Devil You Know dives into the terrifying story of Howard Gombert, his victims, and the justice that has yet to come. But with his potential release looming in 2026, the question remains: will he hunt again?

Listen to The Devil’s Quarry here or on the iHeartRadio app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.