The State of Perfect Balance: A True Crime Podcast

When we hear the story of a life that has been taken, we can feel empathy and share in the family’s grief in a small way, but can never really know what that experience is like. Early this year, we spent several hours with Becki Reiser of Dover, Ohio, who generously spoke about that experience in detail. It’s a story of a child who is loved and for whom there are many hopes for their life. It’s a story of faith, of horror, and of forgiveness. It’s a first hand account of loss, and it’s a story not to be missed.

It really doesn’t matter whether the desire to lend a hand to a young person in need comes from. Maybe it’s a sense of duty. Maybe it’s rooted in your faith or belief system. Maybe you just want to pay it forward. Foster families, and we know successful ones, are a vital, loving part of the societal puzzle. 
But we also know of those who are less successful. Any time a young person is introduced into a family bringing a difficult past, with possible unknown issues, with understandable neediness— the potential for things to go awry is certainly there.

This story looks at several people whose lives intersected on a stretch of interstate highway late one night in 1986. Two of them just happened to arrive at a certain place in space and time at just the right moment. Or, more properly, just the wrong moment.

You’ve probably known a couple who just can’t seem to make things stick, you know? They’re together, they’re apart, they make up, they split up, and all the while, they seem to generally get along. They seem like a good match, but there’s something… some important piece of the puzzle, that’s missing or that they can’t get a good grip on. Eventually, they split up for keeps, often amicably, and friends and family are left scratching their heads.

On the face of it, Circleville is just another quiet, sleepy, Ohio town, but if this podcast has taught you anything, it’s that…not all small towns are safe. In 1976 someone started a terror campaign against the residents of Circleville. And this is their story.

Learning about relationships, and how that all works, is a part of becoming an adult. It’s an experience that is common to all of us, and though it may be difficult, most of us emerge with no greater harm than a temporarily broken heart, and we get on with our lives.
Jodi Blankenship was ready to move her boyfriend into that “used to know” category after three years together. She was young, talented, set to aggressively chase her dreams, and date other people. And this is her story.

Troy Lee Temar was a big fish in the little pond that is Deer Park. He was a well-liked, all American guy. But what happened when he crossed paths with a particular femme fatale, would change the lives of not only his family, but the community of Deer Park forever.

The passing of time is a serious enemy in finding a missing person, and in solving a murder case. 
A body is discovered, the crime scene is sifted carefully, evidence gathered, theories formed, suspects identified. Grieving families want answers. The community wants answers. Law enforcement wants answers. But if the answers don’t turn up pretty quickly, the case can grow cold, leaving everyone unsatisfied.

Striking out at the beginning of a college education marks many firsts for late teens. It’s the beginning of independence, and likely the first extended period away from family and a familiar home environment. Its the beginning of true responsibility for your own life. It marks the start of the sobering reality of necessary debt. Along with these newfound freedoms comes an adjustment to the consequences of those freedoms. And sometimes the consequences are deadly.