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Late Pizza Deliveries That Felt Like Setups · Scary Stories Hub

0:05
Speaker 1: This story is inspired from a true incident which happened
0:08
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia when a thief stole a shop vacuum filled
0:11
Speaker 1: with hornets. More about the incident after the story. My
0:16
Speaker 1: neighbor Harold had a knack for borrowing things and never
0:19
Speaker 1: returning them. It started with small items garden shears, a broom,
0:25
Speaker 1: an old hatchet, and escalated over the years to more
0:28
Speaker 1: personal belongings like a pressure washer and even some of
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Speaker 1: my daughter's toys. No matter what I did, Harold always
0:37
Speaker 1: slipped out of responsibility, claiming he'd found the items or
0:41
Speaker 1: insisting that he had every intention of giving them back.
0:45
Speaker 1: Time and time again, I was left shaking my head
0:47
Speaker 1: in frustration. I lived on the outskirts of her quiet town,
0:52
Speaker 1: and my house was right next to Harold's. It was
0:55
Speaker 1: an older neighborhood marked by winding roads and spacious lawns.
1:00
Speaker 1: Most people there were friendly, except Harold. He kept to himself,
1:05
Speaker 1: that is, unless he wanted something. My friend and co
1:09
Speaker 1: worker Carla often joked that he had the eyes of
1:11
Speaker 1: a raven, swooping down to pick out shiny trinkets whenever
1:15
Speaker 1: he pleased. One afternoon, after I discovered my mail had
1:20
Speaker 1: been tampered with. I had a conversation with Carla in
1:23
Speaker 1: my kitchen. She was leaning against the counter, sipping coffee,
1:27
Speaker 1: and I could see the anger in her eyes on
1:29
Speaker 1: my behalf. I can't believe he's done it again, she said,
1:35
Speaker 1: setting her mug down with a thud. It's like he
1:38
Speaker 1: thinks nobody can touch him, I sighed, rubbing my temples.
1:42
Speaker 1: He's so sly about it. He always does it when
1:45
Speaker 1: I'm not home, and if I say anything, he just
1:48
Speaker 1: denies it. Carla narrowed her eyes. You need to teach
1:52
Speaker 1: him a lesson. She wasn't the first person to tell
1:54
Speaker 1: me that, but she was the first whose words let
1:57
Speaker 1: a spark in me. Be right, I replied, staring off
2:02
Speaker 1: into space. It was around this time that I ended
2:05
Speaker 1: up with the nest of European hornets in my attic.
2:09
Speaker 1: The sight had terrified me, huge menacing insects buzzing around
2:13
Speaker 1: in a growing high. I called an exterminator, and after
2:19
Speaker 1: the job was done, I was left with a vacuum
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Speaker 1: canister full of very angry, albeit momentarily sedated hornets. Carla
2:28
Speaker 1: visited me while the exterminator was finishing, standing a few
2:31
Speaker 1: feet away for safety. You'd better be careful with that,
2:36
Speaker 1: she said, pointing at the shop back the exterminator had
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Speaker 1: handed me. I'd take them far away to dispose of them.
2:45
Speaker 1: Later that evening, I devised my plan. I cleaned out
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Speaker 1: my old shop vacuum and carefully transferred the hornets into it.
2:53
Speaker 1: They were still sluggish from the chemicals, but I knew
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Speaker 1: they wouldn't stay that way forever. As I sealed the vacuum,
3:00
Speaker 1: I laughed under my breath, imagining Harold's face when he
3:03
Speaker 1: got more than he bargained for. I kept the shop
3:07
Speaker 1: back at the edge of my garage for a couple
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Speaker 1: of days, knowing Harold's sticky fingers would start itching the
3:12
Speaker 1: moment he saw something new or expensive looking left unattended.
3:19
Speaker 1: Sure enough, I noticed muddy footprints by my garage door
3:22
Speaker 1: in the second night. He was testing the waters, seeing
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Speaker 1: if I was oblivious or careless. If only he knew,
3:31
Speaker 1: then I made my move. I placed the vacuum, my
3:35
Speaker 1: gift and plain sight by the trash bins, right by
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Speaker 1: the sidewalk. It was nighttime, nearly midnight when I snuck
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Speaker 1: over and placed it near Harold's driveway instead of my own.
3:47
Speaker 1: I hovered in the shadows, my heart pounding with anticipation.
3:52
Speaker 1: For a moment, I questioned if I was going too far,
3:56
Speaker 1: but Harold made my life miserable for years. I was
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Speaker 1: done turning the other cheek. I didn't have to wait long.
4:04
Speaker 1: Around one am, I heard a rustle near the bins.
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Speaker 1: I peeked out my window and saw Harold's silhouette hunched
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Speaker 1: over as he inspected the vacuum. The faint glow of
4:15
Speaker 1: a street lamp revealed his expression one of greedy delight.
4:20
Speaker 1: He grabbed the handle and walked back to a shed,
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Speaker 1: making minimal noise. It was almost impressive how stealthy he was.
4:30
Speaker 1: The next morning, I acted as though everything was normal.
4:34
Speaker 1: I worked from home that day, answering calls and sending
4:37
Speaker 1: emails around me, I heard a commotion coming from Harold's backyard.
4:43
Speaker 1: I rushed to my window, peering through a gap in
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Speaker 1: the curtains. What I saw made my heart race with
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Speaker 1: a perverse satisfaction. He stumbled onto the grass, yelling in
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Speaker 1: the pain smacking in his face and arms as the
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Speaker 1: enraged insects stung and repeated, a small part of me
5:02
Speaker 1: wanted to run over and help, But then I thought
5:05
Speaker 1: of all the lies he told me, all the times
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Speaker 1: he'd stolen without a shred of remorse. My better sense
5:11
Speaker 1: went out, though. I grabbed my phone and downed nine
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Speaker 1: one one, feigning ignorance to protect my own skin. When
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Speaker 1: the police in paramedics arrived, I observed from my porch
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Speaker 1: molding my face into an expression of shock and concern.
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Speaker 1: I had to make sure no suspicion fell on me,
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Speaker 1: so I did what any concerned neighbor would do. I
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Speaker 1: rushed over, pretending I had no clue. What was happening?
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Speaker 1: What on earth happened? I asked, in a trembling voice.
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Speaker 1: I saw Harold lying on a gurney, his face swollen
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Speaker 1: and blotchy, eyes barely open. An officer whose name tag
5:53
Speaker 1: read Officer Brooks, turned to me. He got into a
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Speaker 1: nest of hornets somehow, and then he paused, noticing I
6:01
Speaker 1: was looking at the old shop back spilled on the lawn,
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Speaker 1: with angry insects still buzzing around it. Do you know
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Speaker 1: anything about that vacuum, he asked. I shook my hat.
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Speaker 1: I didn't even know he had one. Was that in
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Speaker 1: his shed? It appears, so, Officer Brooks said, glancing at
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Speaker 1: Harold's groaning form. He's in rough shake. He'll be fine
6:23
Speaker 1: in a couple of days, but those stings are going
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Speaker 1: to hurt. I looked back at the vacuum, feigning surprise.
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Speaker 1: I used to have one just like that, but someone
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Speaker 1: stole it from me. The officer's eyebrows rose stole it. Yes,
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Speaker 1: I actually wanted to report it. I noticed and went
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Speaker 1: missing from my garage a while back. I thought maybe
6:47
Speaker 1: I'd misplaced it, but I'm pretty sure it was stolen. Now.
6:50
Speaker 1: I forced a shakey laugh, as though I was both
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Speaker 1: embarrassed and angered by my carelessness. I'm glad you're here, Officer,
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Speaker 1: because I was actually going to file a report this afternoon.
7:01
Speaker 1: It's probably nothing, but this might be a coincidence, or
7:05
Speaker 1: it might be something bigger. You never know, he nodded,
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Speaker 1: we'll certainly look into it. Well, that's Carold how he
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Speaker 1: came across the vacuum once he's in better shape. Later
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Speaker 1: that day, Carla came over, barely containing her grin. When
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Speaker 1: I told her the story. We had a tense moment, though,
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Speaker 1: as I confessed how I might have gone too far.
7:26
Speaker 1: She shrugged nonchalantly. You gave him a taste of his
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Speaker 1: own medicine, she said. Carla and I celebrated quietly that evening,
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Speaker 1: sipping on wine in my living room. In September twenty
7:38
Speaker 1: twenty three, in the Frankfort section of northeast Philadelphia, a
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Speaker 1: thief unwittingly stole a shop vacuum filled with hornets, setting
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Speaker 1: the stage for an unexpected and painful surprise. The vacuum
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Speaker 1: belonged to Don Schump, owner of the Philadelphia Bee Company,
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Speaker 1: who had just completed a European hornet removal job. He
7:59
Speaker 1: left the shop back in the bed of his truck,
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Speaker 1: but before he could safely handle the agitated insects, it
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Speaker 1: was stolen. Unaware of its dangerous contents, the thieforist opening
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Speaker 1: the lid, potentially unleashing hundreds of furious hornets. Reflecting on
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Speaker 1: the situation, Shamp remarked, better they trickle out slowly than
8:20
Speaker 1: all at once. The story is inspired from a true
8:29
Speaker 1: incident which happened in the year two thousand and six
8:32
Speaker 1: in Florida. More details about it after the story. I
8:36
Speaker 1: moved to a nice suburb outside of San Diego. Right away,
8:41
Speaker 1: I became friends with my new neighbor, Cindy. She was
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Speaker 1: a wonderful woman, always smiling. Cindy always checked in on
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Speaker 1: me and invited me over to her place when she
8:51
Speaker 1: thought I needed company. The more I got to know her,
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Speaker 1: the more I liked her. She came from a rich family,
8:59
Speaker 1: but she gave a way most of her money to charities.
9:02
Speaker 1: She spent several days a week volunteering at soup kitchens
9:05
Speaker 1: and doing community projects. She'd often go out to sketchy
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Speaker 1: areas in the city just to help out. I worried
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Speaker 1: about her sometimes. She was a small, dainty person, and
9:17
Speaker 1: I was scared that people would take advantage of her
9:19
Speaker 1: trusting nature. I worried about her sometimes. One day I
9:25
Speaker 1: noticed a man dressed in a black hoodie walking on
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Speaker 1: her street. He kept his head down. I was watering
9:31
Speaker 1: the front yard at the time, so I got a
9:33
Speaker 1: good look at him. I couldn't see his face, though.
9:36
Speaker 1: I didn't want to come across as a Karen, so
9:38
Speaker 1: I didn't ask him what he was doing in her neighborhood. Still,
9:43
Speaker 1: I got a bad feeling from him. At first, he
9:46
Speaker 1: was walking normally, but then he started to limp, and
9:50
Speaker 1: it was obviously fake. I saw him limp towards Cindy's
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Speaker 1: front door. I walked to the edge of my yard,
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Speaker 1: hiding behind the hedges, but close enough to hear their conversation.
10:01
Speaker 1: Cindy opened the door and asked if she could help him.
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Speaker 1: I hurt my leg. Can I come inside and use
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Speaker 1: your phone? No, Cindy answered. For a second, I breathed
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Speaker 1: a sigh of relief. Cindy was smart enough to see
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Speaker 1: through this man's act. Then my heart dropped. You look
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Speaker 1: really hurt, sir. Let me get my coat and I'll
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Speaker 1: drive you to the hospital myself. She disappeared back in
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Speaker 1: her house, but came out two seconds later wearing a
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Speaker 1: thick fur coat. She led the man to her car
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Speaker 1: and they both got inside. I had to do something.
10:36
Speaker 1: I ran to the car just as she was starting
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Speaker 1: the ignition.
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Speaker 2: Cindy, what are you doing?
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Speaker 1: Oh, we're just heading to the hospital. This man needs
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Speaker 1: my help. Don't worry about me. I tried to convince
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Speaker 1: her to stop, but she wouldn't listen. She backed out
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Speaker 1: of the driveway from the passenger seat. The man in
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Speaker 1: the hoodie looked me dead in the eyes. He was smiling.
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Speaker 1: I was scared for her. I knew that man was dangerous.
11:02
Speaker 1: I could feel it in my bones. I waited in
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Speaker 1: my house for the longest time, looking out the window,
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Speaker 1: praying that Cindy would come back. She never did. After
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Speaker 1: a while, I called the hospital to ask if someone
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Speaker 1: had come in with a wounded leg, but because I
11:19
Speaker 1: didn't have the man's name, the nurse wouldn't give me
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Speaker 1: any information. I tried to explain the situation to her,
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Speaker 1: but she kept telling me that patient information was confidential.
11:29
Speaker 1: That night, Cindy's car finally came back. I was in
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Speaker 1: the kitchen at the time, so I didn't see a
11:35
Speaker 1: park I could hear it, though. I ran out my
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Speaker 1: front door and saw the car in her driveway. I
11:42
Speaker 1: didn't see Cindy, but I saw a man walking very
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Speaker 1: fast down the sidewalk. He was wearing Cindy's fur coat.
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Speaker 1: If I called the police, the man would be long
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Speaker 1: gone by the time they arrived. I knew it was dangerous,
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Speaker 1: but I ran after him.
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Speaker 2: Wait, please stop.
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Speaker 1: The man heard me and stopped. He waited for me
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Speaker 1: to reach him. Can I help you? Where's Cindy, ma'am?
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Speaker 1: I have no idea who you're talking about. I'm just
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Speaker 1: going for a walk. You can join me if you want.
12:17
Speaker 1: He started walking away from me. He rounded the corner
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Speaker 1: into the park next to our street. I wanted to
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Speaker 1: follow after, but I wasn't brave enough. I let him go.
12:30
Speaker 1: Then I ran back to my house and called nine
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Speaker 1: one one.
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Speaker 3: I tried to.
12:34
Speaker 1: Explain everything that happened, but I was pretty frantic. I
12:38
Speaker 1: don't think they understood me. By the time an officer
12:41
Speaker 1: came to my house to take my statement, had calmed
12:44
Speaker 1: down enough to explain myself clearly. I described the fur
12:47
Speaker 1: coat and gave my best description of the man, but
12:50
Speaker 1: it was difficult. Even though I'd seen him face to face,
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Speaker 1: he didn't have any defining characteristics. The officer seemed sympathetic.
13:00
Speaker 1: She took a bunch of notes and assured me that
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Speaker 1: they do their best to find Cindy. The next day,
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Speaker 1: Cindy was declared missing. Some officers dusted her car for fingerprints,
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Speaker 1: but they didn't find anything. I was losing hope that
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Speaker 1: she'd ever be found. Then a few days later, I
13:20
Speaker 1: saw the same man in the same fur coat walking
13:23
Speaker 1: in front of my house. Why was he back? Was
13:26
Speaker 1: he just messing with me? He stopped right outside my
13:30
Speaker 1: window and looked in. Who are you?
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Speaker 3: What do you want?
13:35
Speaker 1: He tapped the glass, smiled at me, and then left.
13:39
Speaker 1: I called the police again, but it seemed like they
13:42
Speaker 1: didn't believe me. The officer said it didn't make sense
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Speaker 1: for someone to kidnap my neighbor and then come back
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Speaker 1: for no reason, and honestly, she was right, it didn't
13:53
Speaker 1: make sense, but that's what happened. For the next few nights,
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Speaker 1: I couldn't sleep, I couldn't stop thinking about poor Cindy,
14:04
Speaker 1: what had happened to her. Then one day I went
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Speaker 1: downstairs with a really weird feeling. I didn't know why.
14:14
Speaker 1: I looked around my house, but nothing looked different. Then
14:21
Speaker 1: I noticed something hanging on the coat racked next to
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Speaker 1: my front door. It was Cindy's fur coat. Terrified, had
14:28
Speaker 1: checked all my doors, but there was no sign that
14:31
Speaker 1: anyone had broken in. I called the police one last time,
14:35
Speaker 1: but the officer seemed extremely frustrated. She basically accused me
14:39
Speaker 1: of making stuff up, claiming that I was interfering with
14:42
Speaker 1: their investigation. It's been days now, I live in constant
14:47
Speaker 1: fear that the man will come back. I changed my
14:50
Speaker 1: locks and added a new security system, but I still
14:53
Speaker 1: don't have any answers. And Cindy is still missing. On
14:58
Speaker 1: January twenty fourth, two thousand, twenty four year old Jennifer
15:02
Speaker 1: Kessey vanished from her Florida condo. She last spoke to
15:05
Speaker 1: her boyfriend Allen the night before when she missed work.
15:09
Speaker 1: Her family found her condo intact, but her phone, purse,
15:12
Speaker 1: and keys were missing. Two days later, her car was
15:16
Speaker 1: discovered at a nearby complex, but when detectives opened the
15:20
Speaker 1: trunk of the car, Jennifer wasn't there. Eventually, surveillance showed
15:25
Speaker 1: an unidentified figure parking it, their face obscured by a
15:29
Speaker 1: fence post. Jennifer had felt uneasy around some workers at
15:32
Speaker 1: her building. A housekeeper identified a suspect China, but he
15:37
Speaker 1: passed a polygraph test. In November twenty nineteen, local police
15:42
Speaker 1: came out with a dive team to search the lake
15:44
Speaker 1: where an eye witness said the piece of carpet was dumped.
15:47
Speaker 1: The team spent two days searching, but they didn't find anything.
15:52
Speaker 1: Michael Touretta says that there were ten construction workers and
15:55
Speaker 1: one of them might have abducted her. The story is
16:05
Speaker 1: based on a true incident which happened in the year
16:07
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen in Florida. A woman's prank took a wrong
16:11
Speaker 1: turn and got her arrest. It more about the incident
16:14
Speaker 1: after the story. My name is Nancy Morrison and I
16:19
Speaker 1: was the mastermind behind one of the most disastrous and
16:22
Speaker 1: now infamous pre wedding shoots in recent history. When I
16:26
Speaker 1: first dreamt up the idea, it seemed perfect, romantic, and
16:31
Speaker 1: most importantly cinematic. In truth, it was inspired by the
16:35
Speaker 1: scene in Spider Man No Way Home where Tom Holland
16:37
Speaker 1: rescues Zendea from criminals. I thought it would be the
16:41
Speaker 1: ultimate omash to my favorite film and something that John
16:44
Speaker 1: and I could laugh about for years to come. Whenever
16:47
Speaker 1: I joked about wanting a Bollywood style dance routine at
16:50
Speaker 1: her wedding, he'd grimace and say, Nancy, I'll do anything
16:54
Speaker 1: you want, but please keep the theatrics to a minimum.
16:58
Speaker 1: But my love for film and drama ran deep. I
17:02
Speaker 1: was convinced a pre wedding photoshoot that mimic the heart
17:04
Speaker 1: stopping hero rescues damsel moment could add a unique flare.
17:09
Speaker 1: My best friend, an unofficial wedding planner, Dominic, was the
17:12
Speaker 1: only person who knew about my plan. We spent weeks
17:15
Speaker 1: organizing the details, choosing a restaurant where I'd be attacked,
17:19
Speaker 1: and hiring two out of work actors to pose his robbers.
17:22
Speaker 1: Timing everything so that John's arrival would coincide with my
17:25
Speaker 1: frantic phone call for help. I told Dominic I wanted
17:30
Speaker 1: to be realistic, but not dangerous, just enough adrenaline to
17:34
Speaker 1: trigger John's protective instincts. He smirked, leaning back in his chair. Sure,
17:40
Speaker 1: but you better pray he doesn't freeze up Nancy. Last
17:43
Speaker 1: thing we need is him panicking and doing something stupid.
17:46
Speaker 1: I waved away his concerns. John might not like acting,
17:50
Speaker 1: but he's a good man. I'm sure if he thinks
17:52
Speaker 1: him in danger, he'll swoop in like a superhero. When
17:55
Speaker 1: the day came, I was a bundle of nerves. Restaurant
18:00
Speaker 1: had been prepped. The manager gave us permission, so long
18:03
Speaker 1: as we promise not to disrupt the other customers too much.
18:07
Speaker 1: Our hired actors, Toby and Martin, were outside waiting for
18:11
Speaker 1: Dominic to give the signal. Everything was supposed to unfold seamlessly.
18:16
Speaker 1: John was home, believing I was out with Dominic picking
18:19
Speaker 1: flowers for the wedding. At precisely six pm, I would
18:23
Speaker 1: call them on a cell phone, fading panic. John, there
18:27
Speaker 1: are these men. They're threatening me.
18:29
Speaker 2: Please come to Rossy's Bestraw on Maple Street.
18:32
Speaker 3: Hurry.
18:33
Speaker 1: Then John would dash to the rescue. Someone would discreetly
18:36
Speaker 1: film the whole thing, and we'd have a thrilling clip
18:38
Speaker 1: to show off at a reception. It was a flawless plan.
18:43
Speaker 1: Inside the restaurant, I sat at a corner table, my
18:46
Speaker 1: stomach churning. I glanced at the clock five point fifty
18:50
Speaker 1: eight pm. I signaled Dominic, who then texted Toby and
18:54
Speaker 1: Martin to get ready for a moment. I almost lost
18:57
Speaker 1: my nerve. Some thing fell off. Maybe it was the
19:03
Speaker 1: hush in the restaurant or the suspicious glances from a
19:06
Speaker 1: few patrons who recognized the two rough looking men lurking outside.
19:11
Speaker 1: But I ignored the gut feeling and proceeded with the script.
19:15
Speaker 1: At exactly six pm, I dialed John's number. My voice shook,
19:20
Speaker 1: partially from genuine anxiety. John, there are these men. They're
19:25
Speaker 1: harassing me for my purse. Oh God, I'm scared. Please
19:29
Speaker 1: can you come to Rossi's Pistro now?
19:32
Speaker 2: He stammered, what Nazi? Stay calm, I'll be there as
19:36
Speaker 2: soon as I can okay.
19:38
Speaker 1: Then he hung up. My heart was pounding. I wiped
19:41
Speaker 1: sweat off my brow and gave Dominic a quick nod.
19:45
Speaker 1: That was a signal. Toby and Martin burst inside, wearing
19:49
Speaker 1: black ski masks and brandishing toy guns that look chillingly real.
19:53
Speaker 1: Their first lines were straight from a second rate crime show.
19:56
Speaker 2: Martin yelled, give us your purse, lady, well boy, you allow.
20:05
Speaker 1: A few other diners gasped in shock, clearly unaware this
20:08
Speaker 1: was all staged. Dominic was across the room filming with
20:12
Speaker 1: his phone, discreetly trying not to laugh at Martin's over
20:15
Speaker 1: the top bravado. Toby grabbed me by the arm, pressing
20:18
Speaker 1: the fake gun into my side. The manager, seeing real
20:21
Speaker 1: fear on the faces of his customers, rushed forward and shouted, hey,
20:26
Speaker 1: let her go. Toby snapped at him to back off,
20:29
Speaker 1: maintaining the illusion. More than a few patrons flat, overturning
20:33
Speaker 1: chairs and sending plates crashed into the floor. In the
20:36
Speaker 1: midst of the chaos, I expected John to burst in, breathless,
20:41
Speaker 1: maybe a little terrified, but determined to help. Instead, time
20:46
Speaker 1: stretched on five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen. By then, Toby
20:53
Speaker 1: and Martin were starting to look jittering. Customers were calling
20:56
Speaker 1: the police. I was about to whisper that we should abhorn,
21:00
Speaker 1: but then by last John and I but he wasn't alone.
21:06
Speaker 2: Get down, hands where I can see thom.
21:09
Speaker 1: The thunderous voice belonged to an armed officer. John stood
21:13
Speaker 1: in the doorway, ghost pale, watching the scene with wild eyes.
21:17
Speaker 1: My heart ceased. John had not come alone or unarmed.
21:21
Speaker 1: He had alerted the police with claims of a violent
21:23
Speaker 1: robbery in progress. Before any of us could react, Toby
21:27
Speaker 1: and Martin dropped their toy guns and raised their hands.
21:30
Speaker 1: That was the moment I realized the severity of what
21:33
Speaker 1: I had done.
21:34
Speaker 2: Wait, it's a setup.
21:36
Speaker 1: It was all fake. They're hired actors. The guns are toys.
21:41
Speaker 1: One of the officers scowled at me, Lady, this better
21:44
Speaker 1: be a joke. I felt, tears pricked my eyes. I'm sorry,
21:50
Speaker 1: I didn't mean. The police were furious. They had arrived
21:54
Speaker 1: armed to the teeth, expecting a life threatening robbery, only
21:58
Speaker 1: to discover it was a hoax. Toby and Martin were
22:00
Speaker 1: furious too, swearing they weren't informed it might go this far.
22:05
Speaker 1: And John, he looked at me like I was a stranger.
22:10
Speaker 1: Why would you do something this insane, he asked. Later,
22:14
Speaker 1: we were both seated in the back of a cop
22:16
Speaker 1: car giving statements to the police. Had buried my face
22:20
Speaker 1: in my hands. I wanted to make a memorable pre
22:23
Speaker 1: wedding shoot.
22:24
Speaker 2: I just thought you thought what that I'd come charging
22:27
Speaker 2: in to rescue you, that I'd be some hero. Nancy,
22:30
Speaker 2: you know I hate all that. And now look where
22:32
Speaker 2: we are.
22:33
Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, a dining prank at a Florida cafe
22:37
Speaker 1: turned into chaos when twenty two year old Peggi George's
22:40
Speaker 1: texted her boyfriend falsely claiming the restaurant was being robbed alarmed.
22:45
Speaker 1: Her boyfriend called nine one one reporting an armed robbery
22:48
Speaker 1: at Aliban Bakery, a Haitian eatery in Fort Pierce. Police,
22:52
Speaker 1: rushing with sirens blaring, arrived at the scene with weapons drawn. However,
22:58
Speaker 1: they found no crime, only George's, who admitted the false
23:01
Speaker 1: claim was a prank. The act created a dangerous situation,
23:05
Speaker 1: risking harm to the police and the public. George's was
23:08
Speaker 1: arrested for misuse of the nine one one system, a misdemeanor,
23:12
Speaker 1: and later released from jail.
23:21
Speaker 3: On the day I was attacked. I shouldn't have ever
23:24
Speaker 3: been at Kroger's. I should have been safe and sound
23:27
Speaker 3: in my house. There wasn't even anything in particular that
23:31
Speaker 3: I needed to buy. The only reason I went there
23:34
Speaker 3: was to get out of the house. My husband, Jerry,
23:37
Speaker 3: had been arrested three weeks ago. He was an investor
23:40
Speaker 3: who defrauded his clients. He'd swindled people out of millions
23:44
Speaker 3: of dollars, and the law had finally caught up with him.
23:48
Speaker 3: I had no idea what he was doing at the time,
23:51
Speaker 3: but his lawyers still advised me to stay away from
23:54
Speaker 3: the public for a while, because a lot of people
23:56
Speaker 3: in my town blamed me as much as they blamed
23:59
Speaker 3: my husband. I was the rich, oblivious housewife who still
24:04
Speaker 3: got to live in a mansion while so many of
24:06
Speaker 3: them were out on the street. It wasn't fair. I
24:10
Speaker 3: didn't do anything wrong, but people still hated me anyway.
24:15
Speaker 3: For three long weeks, I did what the lawyers said.
24:18
Speaker 3: I stayed inside and had food delivered. But one day
24:22
Speaker 3: I was overcome with cabin fever and I needed to
24:25
Speaker 3: get out of the house. I figured that if I
24:27
Speaker 3: were just to pop into Kroger and buy some snacks
24:30
Speaker 3: and wine that nothing bad would happen. I'd wear sunglasses
24:34
Speaker 3: and a hat so no one would recognize me. I
24:37
Speaker 3: was very wrong. As soon as I entered the store,
24:41
Speaker 3: I could feel all eyes on me. Everyone was staring.
24:45
Speaker 3: I didn't recognize anyone because I didn't have a lot
24:48
Speaker 3: of local friends, especially people in this tax bracket, but
24:52
Speaker 3: they sure recognized me. My husband had been in a
24:56
Speaker 3: few new stops and they'd used a lot of photos
24:59
Speaker 3: with the boat us together, so I guess my face
25:03
Speaker 3: was pretty famous. And I think that the hat and
25:05
Speaker 3: sunglass como was a bad idea. They think that just
25:09
Speaker 3: made me more conspicuous. I walked to the alcohol section,
25:13
Speaker 3: which where is where I really wanted to go anyway,
25:17
Speaker 3: and I filled my cart with wine bottles, only the
25:20
Speaker 3: expensive stuff. Of course, I was minding my own business.
25:24
Speaker 3: When I got to the end of the aisle, two
25:27
Speaker 3: older women stopped me, standing in my way and glaring
25:31
Speaker 3: at me through their thick glasses. They looked like angry librarians.
25:37
Speaker 3: Excuse me, I said, as I tried to push through,
25:40
Speaker 3: but they wouldn't move. You're his wife, one of the
25:45
Speaker 3: women said, I'm just here to shop. I told her, yeah.
25:50
Speaker 3: The other woman said, you're shopping with the money you
25:54
Speaker 3: stole from our families. I didn't steal anything, I said,
26:00
Speaker 3: I had no idea my husband would shut up. The
26:03
Speaker 3: woman said. Her eyes were filled with pure hatred. I
26:07
Speaker 3: realized that the women weren't going to move, so I
26:10
Speaker 3: started backing away, but several other people were waiting on
26:14
Speaker 3: the other end of the aisle. I was blocked off
26:17
Speaker 3: from both directions. What were they going to do? They
26:22
Speaker 3: were starting to get closer. I was worried that this
26:25
Speaker 3: was going to turn into a real mob, a riot.
26:29
Speaker 3: Another shopper, a young, attractive woman in a sunflower dress,
26:33
Speaker 3: pushed her way through the crowd and walked right up
26:35
Speaker 3: to me. I felt relieved. It seemed like she was
26:39
Speaker 3: trying to diffuse the situation. She didn't look angry like
26:42
Speaker 3: everyone else. She smiled sympathetically of me, but when she
26:47
Speaker 3: got close enough, she spat right in my face. I
26:52
Speaker 3: had enough. This whole situation was becoming humiliating and dangerous.
26:57
Speaker 3: I left my shopping cart where it was and literally
27:00
Speaker 3: ran through the crowd before they could grab me. I
27:03
Speaker 3: just had to get out of there. I raced towards
27:06
Speaker 3: my car. When I heard a man's voice shouting, it's you.
27:12
Speaker 3: I would have ignored him, but then I heard a
27:15
Speaker 3: terrible scream and aloud down. I had to turn. When
27:20
Speaker 3: I looked back towards the entrance, I saw the man
27:24
Speaker 3: lying unconscious on the ground. He was right next to
27:28
Speaker 3: the ladder. I realized with horror that he was at
27:31
Speaker 3: the top of the ladder fixing some kind of electrical problem.
27:34
Speaker 3: When he saw me, got distracted and fell over. I
27:39
Speaker 3: had to run over and see if he was okay.
27:42
Speaker 3: When I got to his body, I could tell that
27:45
Speaker 3: he was dead. The fall had killed him. His head
27:49
Speaker 3: was twisted in an unnatural direction. It looked like he
27:53
Speaker 3: landed on his neck. Oh god, I said. I fished
28:04
Speaker 3: out my phone to call nine one one. When the
28:06
Speaker 3: group of shoppers rushed through the entrance and saw me
28:10
Speaker 3: standing over the dead body.
28:13
Speaker 1: Look.
28:14
Speaker 3: One of them said she killed him. Another one said,
28:20
Speaker 3: she murdered Tony, and now she's taking pictures of his body.
28:25
Speaker 3: They had it all wrong. I didn't kill anyone, and
28:29
Speaker 3: I wasn't trying to take a picture. I was trying
28:31
Speaker 3: to call the hospital. I needed to defend myself. Please, No,
28:37
Speaker 3: he just fell but no one was listening. They all
28:41
Speaker 3: stood by the entrance for a long moment, exchanging looks,
28:45
Speaker 3: and then they came to the exact same conclusion without
28:49
Speaker 3: saying anything. They knew what they were going to do.
28:53
Speaker 3: They were going to attack me all at once, as
28:56
Speaker 3: a unit, a horrible, crazed unit. They all ran at me.
29:01
Speaker 3: I raced out of the parking lot. I realized that
29:04
Speaker 3: I was going in the opposite direction of my car,
29:07
Speaker 3: but I couldn't turn around. I had to keep running.
29:11
Speaker 3: They were getting closer and closer. I had my bicycle
29:15
Speaker 3: three times a week, so I was in very good shape,
29:18
Speaker 3: much better shape than a lot of these people, honestly.
29:22
Speaker 3: I made it to the end of the parking lot
29:24
Speaker 3: and then to the other side of the sidewalk next
29:26
Speaker 3: to our town's main street. My house was a twenty
29:30
Speaker 3: minute drive away from here, so I couldn't run all
29:33
Speaker 3: the way back. I had to find another place where
29:36
Speaker 3: I could stay and hide. I'd call the police and
29:39
Speaker 3: explain what happened, and surely they would understand I need
29:43
Speaker 3: a protection. But where could I go. I looked around me,
29:47
Speaker 3: and I saw an old yoga studio where I used
29:49
Speaker 3: to be a client. Just a few minutes away. But
29:53
Speaker 3: if I could make it there and explain my situation
29:55
Speaker 3: to Nina, the owner, then maybe she could help me
29:58
Speaker 3: hide from the mob. So that's what I did. I
30:02
Speaker 3: ran as fast as I could until I made it
30:05
Speaker 3: to the yoga studio. I rushed inside, sweating and out
30:09
Speaker 3: of breath. I was so scared that these people would
30:11
Speaker 3: tear me apart if they even caught up to me.
30:15
Speaker 3: I saw a woman working the front desk, but it
30:17
Speaker 3: wasn't Nina. It was someone I'd never seen before. Hi,
30:24
Speaker 3: I said, is Nina here. The woman looked at me
30:29
Speaker 3: for a long, silent second. I could tell she was
30:32
Speaker 3: trying to figure out who I was. Then she said,
30:36
Speaker 3: I'm the new owner. Nina lost all of her money
30:40
Speaker 3: because of your husband. I had to take over the
30:43
Speaker 3: business after she well, after she killed herself. Oh crap.
30:51
Speaker 3: I raced out of there, back onto the street. The
30:54
Speaker 3: mob of people had grown and they were all rushing
30:58
Speaker 3: towards me. I had to find somewhere to go, so
31:01
Speaker 3: I went around the corner of the yoga studio and
31:04
Speaker 3: made it to a dead end alley. There was nowhere
31:07
Speaker 3: I could go except for a disgusting dumpster at the
31:10
Speaker 3: side of the alley. That was my only option. I
31:14
Speaker 3: had to hide inside and pray that no one would look.
31:18
Speaker 3: So before anyone round to the corner, I jumped into
31:21
Speaker 3: the dumpster and slammed the lid over my head. I
31:25
Speaker 3: could hear their angry voices outside. I tried to hold
31:28
Speaker 3: my breath so they couldn't hear me. A few minutes
31:32
Speaker 3: passed and they were gone. I ended up waiting there
31:37
Speaker 3: in filth, in total darkness for three hours before I
31:40
Speaker 3: finally felt safe enough to leave, sore, humiliated, and comforting garbage.
31:46
Speaker 3: I got out of the dumpster and walked back to
31:48
Speaker 3: the Kroger parking lot. I passed a lot of people
31:51
Speaker 3: on my way to the car, but no one did anything.
31:54
Speaker 3: I guess they didn't recognize me under all this filth.
31:57
Speaker 3: I got in my car and drove home. Since then,
32:01
Speaker 3: I just stayed in my house, wondering what was going
32:03
Speaker 3: to happen with my life. Even if my husband gets
32:06
Speaker 3: acquitted for what he's done, the public will never accept
32:10
Speaker 3: us again. I'll have to stay in my house forever.