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MFM Minisode 420

January 27, 2025 /

This episode features stories about childhood experiences, including a kidnapping attempt, a near-drowning incident, and a humorous mix-up with a funeral home. Guests share personal anecdotes that highlight themes of family, safety, and resilience.

One story recounts a childhood abduction attempt where a young boy was threatened with a knife but was saved by a group of football players. The guest reflects on how this traumatic event shaped her brother's obsession with safety.

Another guest shares a chilling experience during a family vacation in Belize, where they discovered a drowned man while on a river tour. The parents had to explain death and the importance of not discussing the incident with authorities.

A touching story from a twin highlights the deep connection between siblings, as one twin fought for her life in a coma. The other twin recalls their childhood password and the emotional reunion when her sister woke up.

Lastly, a humorous anecdote describes how a family received calls meant for a local funeral home due to a similar phone number, leading to comical interactions with grieving callers.

TLDR

Guests share childhood stories of abduction, near-drowning, and a funeral home mix-up, highlighting resilience and family connections.

Episode

32:04
00:00:00
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00:00:51
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Hello! And welcome to my favorite murder. The Mimi-sode. The Mimi-sode, because Mimi's on my lap right now, drooling.
00:01:50
Mimi did a real good poke-up from the bottom of the Zoom screen. like here let me get her on camera for you so you can have something nice to look at rather than my
00:02:00
something wonderful fucking face okay mimi the supermodel with her tiny tiny mouth oh pretty
00:02:07
hi lady you want to go first sure okay the title is i'm not going to read the subject line
00:02:15
which i can't believe more people haven't done that is fucking hilarious full credit to this
00:02:20
person. Yes. And then it says in parentheses, but if I did, it would be, and then it's tells
00:02:25
the whole story and it's great. And then it just starts. I'll be honest. The main reason it has
00:02:30
taken me so long to write this in is because I absolutely panic at the thought of not having a
00:02:34
good opening line. So I'll let you use your imagination and pretend that this one was
00:02:38
particularly fantastic. Sigh. Here we go. I'll apologize in advance for being incredibly verbose.
00:02:45
Yet another reason I have procrastinated sending this. Someone's been using the the Thores. I bet someone got their $10 word out. In 1984, my parents moved to a huge house about
00:02:58
two blocks from the largest local high school central. My mom was nine months pregnant with my
00:03:03
sister, but being the badass woman she was, she still helped to move all the boxes and furniture,
00:03:08
despite it being her due date. She went into labor four days later. This isn't actually relevant to
00:03:15
the story referenced in the subject line, but my mom is going to sound pretty neglectful in a
00:03:19
minute. So I wanted to make sure and paint her as the strong, amazing woman she is before throwing
00:03:25
her entirely under the bus. Get her under there. It says right about now. She'll be a writer. Okay.
00:03:35
Sometime in the upper eighties, I believe 1987 or 88, my brother asked my mom if he could walk
00:03:40
down the street to play at his best friend's house. It was the eighties. So she said, sure.
00:03:44
and waved her six or seven-year-old child out the door to walk down the street, which is so normal, and didn't expect him home until the streetlights came on.
00:03:54
She never could have imagined that the next time the door opened, it would be two police officers on the other side telling her that her son had been abducted.
00:04:03
Okay, yeah, this gets crazy. Apparently, my big brother was walking down the street as advertised
00:04:08
when a woman saw him by himself and decided she had a grand opportunity to make some money.
00:04:15
She had a knife and threatened my brother with it to get him to comply and come with her.
00:04:20
She then needed to find a payphone so she could call my parents and demand a ransom for the return of my brother, who by this time was crying.
00:04:29
Nevertheless, she dragged my bawling brother to the closest place she could find the high school.
00:04:34
There was indeed a payphone there, but to get to it, she would have to cross the practice field and get to the tennis courts on the other side of the main field.
00:04:43
and it says for scale this is like three city blocks it is a huge high school okay all with
00:04:49
a screaming crying child who was pleading with her to take him home so fucking traumatizing so
00:04:56
creepy yeah yeah he even offered her his own money turns out his not fully formed brain was
00:05:02
concocting a plan to give her monopoly money in exchange for his life which is equal parts funny
00:05:07
and absolutely heartbreaking. Yes. As she undoubtedly shouted at him to shut up and continued dragging him to the payphone,
00:05:15
the football team on the practice field began to notice something was wrong. I have searched high and low for an article about this,
00:05:24
which I know exists because I've seen it, but because I can't find it and because I hate asking my parents and brother
00:05:30
to relive this part of their lives, I am recounting this from memory as best as I can.
00:05:35
The football players saw my brother crying and this disheveled woman holding a knife
00:05:40
and correctly assumed he was in danger. They surrounded the woman and one of the players tackled her.
00:05:47
As football players are want to do, I guess I'm not sure what part of scary lady
00:05:52
with a small child and knife made the idea of tackling seem appealing but that is indeed what happened The police were called probably using the very payphone she planned to ransom my brother through because 80s And my hysterical brother relayed
00:06:05
that he lived two blocks over and wanted to go home. Yeah. So that is how my mother came to find
00:06:11
out that my brother actually never made it to the neighbor's house at all. And it says, because
00:06:15
calling to make sure he arrived safely just wasn't a thing. It wasn't though. It really wasn't. No
00:06:20
No one ever called anyone unless you had to. Totally. And instead was dragged by a stranger in search of a payphone, but was luckily intercepted,
00:06:30
pun intended, you're welcome, Georgia, by the football team and returned to my mother.
00:06:35
My brother doesn't like to talk about this incident much, but he did surprise me once
00:06:39
when he brought it up and credited this experience for his obsession with personal safety slash
00:06:44
weapons and trying to keep our family safe from harm. He is a wonderful man who would move mountains for those he loves, and he has always been there to bail me out of a few unfortunate situations.
00:06:54
I am beyond lucky that our story didn't end in tragedy like so many others, and I am so grateful that I can find a modicum of humor in such a terrible memory.
00:07:03
I think that is why I relate to your podcast so much. My family has always imbued humor into sad or scary situations, for better or worse.
00:07:11
Stay sexy and make sure your kid arrives safely at their friend's house. offer your kidnapper monopoly money don't offer your kidnapper monopoly money oh wait i've got it
00:07:22
stay sexy and let the football team rescue you virginia nice one virginia like that turned quick
00:07:31
that just like yeah because in my mind like talking about walking across that school it was
00:07:38
just like empty school wind is blowing you know what i mean that the loneliest thing in the world
00:07:43
is like an empty school. Totally. A hundred percent. And then like this woman probably had mental health problems,
00:07:50
which is so sad, but like a knife to a six or seven year old child is just... Just no.
00:07:55
Wrestle her immediately to the ground. Yeah, these teenagers. Yeah. These brave teenagers are like, nope.
00:08:02
They're not standing by. No, it's the best. Yeah. That's really wild. Very lovely.
00:08:07
But also it's the kind of thing where it's like stuff like that happens to people.
00:08:11
And then she's attributing his need to keep people safe. And that is how bad things bring about good things.
00:08:22
It's like now he is maybe overvigilant, but then that care and concern benefits all these people in his life.
00:08:30
Absolutely. Okay. I'm not going to read you the subject line. So it just starts, hey, Karen, Georgia, and assorted animals.
00:08:38
I'll jump right into it. My dad's family moved around a lot when he was younger due to my grandpa's job with the military.
00:08:45
One of the places they lived when he was a little older was the Caribbean, where my dad got a job on a sailboat and became friends with the owner.
00:08:53
Fast forward about 15 years and my parents wanted to take their three young kids on vacation.
00:08:57
Since they're cheapskates, they decided to take us down to Belize. Those fucking cheapskates.
00:09:04
That doesn't sound cheap. I don't know Belize that well, but shit. No, we literally went to the same lake every year.
00:09:11
Don't be crazy. And it was a drive. It was a three-hour drive, and we drove it there and back every time.
00:09:19
A country in Central America where my dad's friend was now living, to stay with him and his wife for a couple weeks.
00:09:24
On one of our last days in the country, my parents took my older brother and I on a tour of Monkey River, where we were supposed to be able to see crocodiles and manatees.
00:09:32
manatees. For reference, the tour consisted of only my family and a tour guide in a little boat
00:09:38
floating down a river and up the shore of the jungle. I guess manatees were a really big selling
00:09:44
feature on these tours because as our time slot was running out, our tour guide really seemed
00:09:49
intent on finding us a manatee to take pictures of. Finally, he spotted one in the distance.
00:09:55
However, as our little boat got closer and closer to the manatee, it became clear that it was in
00:10:01
fact not a manatee in the water but a man floating face down next to a boogie board he was wearing a
00:10:08
green and blue wetsuit and he was still strapped to his board with at his wrist given that he had
00:10:13
drowned in a kind of remote area in the jungle we were the first ones to find him oh my god
00:10:21
oh i'm just yeah yeah it says this was a while ago and i don't fully remember what the tour guide
00:10:29
said to my parents, since I was paying attention to the corpse right beside our boat, but I'm pretty
00:10:34
sure that the tour guide knew who the man was and said that he'd been diving for oysters. At the time,
00:10:42
the police in Belize were pretty corrupt and had a reputation for arresting tourists for crimes they
00:10:46
didn't commit in order to elicit bribes. So the guide told my parents not to mention the body to
00:10:52
anyone and that he would take care of it. Wow. Cue my parents having to explain two very important concepts to their six and eight
00:11:01
year old children. Oh my God. Death and that snitches get stitches. To this day, I get super stressed when going through customs since my parents absolutely
00:11:12
forbade us from talking to any customs agent, a six year old and an eight year old.
00:11:18
That's like a great way to just like implant trauma on top of trauma. Yes. You know?
00:11:25
Yes. The stakes go wildly high. Yeah. So our parents absolutely forbade us from talking to any customs agent when trying to leave Belize.
00:11:35
I also refused to swim in the ocean for the next couple of years because although my mom had said the man had probably passed away from a heart attack, six-year-old me knew deep down that it was sharks that had gotten him.
00:11:46
Sure. Or sharks or a giant clam that opened and closed. You know, that's always.
00:11:52
Snap. That was my big concern. Really? When I was young A giant clam I saw it in some weird 70s children thing where it like a real life swimmer and a real sized up clam
00:12:05
I could picture it. Yeah. Well, my mom has taken my brothers and I on lots of sketchy vacations since then.
00:12:11
Most involved her flying us across the Atlantic Ocean by herself to stay for months at a time with strangers she met on the Internet.
00:12:19
What? And then in parentheses, it says, my mom is not a murderino. And then it says, that was probably one of the most memorable.
00:12:25
Oh, basically. So aside from that, that was probably one of the most memorable trips we've been on.
00:12:31
Thanks for making this great podcast and giving me something to do instead of studying for my college finals.
00:12:37
Oh, no. And then it says, you've definitely knocked my GPA down a point or two. To which I will say, you've definitely knocked your GPA down a point or two.
00:12:47
Hit stop. It's not that good. ssdgm and don't go looking for manatees margo oh my god have you seen the video i think it's in
00:12:58
thailand i'm probably completely wrong about the animal and the place but in thailand there's like
00:13:02
crocodile or alligators who have these little webby fingers and they've learned that in this
00:13:08
river if they lay on their backs and hide their body and put their hand up like they're drowning
00:13:13
it looks like a human is drowning and the people jump in to save the human because they have these
00:13:18
little like fingers and from far away it looks like a hand being like help me help me they've
00:13:23
learned that people will jump in and like and then do they attack the people and try to bite them and
00:13:28
eat them yes oh my god these little arm hand thing i mean it's the creepiest you tricky little
00:13:36
bastards it's nature this is why this is why yes everybody's the bible evolving evolving
00:13:42
the bible this is why this is why While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent.
00:13:54
The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Making plays that end up on everyone's feed, scoring from angles that don't make sense, rewriting record books that barely had time to gather dust.
00:14:05
Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and Hyundai doesn't either. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach.
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Hyundai did it by making advanced safety standard on every vehicle. Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra-fast charging capability.
00:14:17
And Hyundai continues doing it every day. From robotics that change how people live to young athletes changing the game,
00:14:24
the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA.
00:14:31
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00:16:01
Goodbye. Okay, I guess we asked for people to tell us their weird childhood hobbies.
00:16:10
Oh, good. Which is fun. Yeah. Oh, you know what? I feel like the file folder just opened and it was that one where the girl got the kit of like sparkle of glitter.
00:16:21
No, it was balloon animals. The fucking balloon animals. Wasn't there a sparkle one too where it was just like sparkles?
00:16:29
I don't remember that one. Anyway. Yes. Balloon animals was recent. Okay. So this one's called peanut people.
00:16:39
Hello, all. sort of day one listener. I started from the beginning in 2018. So whatever that is. Yeah.
00:16:46
You asked for weird childhood hobbies. And I remembered mine that I think helped me figure
00:16:51
out my career path. When I was around eight, we had this big plastic jar of shell on peanuts.
00:16:57
It was old and stale and needed to get thrown out. Kind of like those big tins of popcorn that
00:17:01
everyone got for Christmas that eventually got emptied out and turned into trash cans.
00:17:05
Yeah. Well, I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I was feeling crafty one day and I took the
00:17:10
peanuts and started drawing faces on them. It started off as a bit of a joke. I would carry
00:17:15
them around in my bejeweled purse and tell my friends made up stories about the peanut people.
00:17:21
Some laughed with me. A lot probably laughed at me. Either way, it was a hit. So I expanded on this idea. Either way, it was a hit. It does not track from what you just said.
00:17:33
People are laughing. I think that's like a pure hearted, lovely thing is just like,
00:17:37
you know what? The noise was there and that's all that matters. Exactly. So I expanded on the idea. I created a house for the peanut people. I made walls and floors
00:17:48
out of cardboard, painted it and even created furniture. It was clearly more than a joke to me.
00:17:55
I got really into building homes for the peanut people I did the same thing but with troll dolls My friend and I were obsessed We built like elaborate houses for them That fun It became a peanut village
00:18:06
It probably lasted a year, but the passion for designing buildings never really went away.
00:18:12
So here I am 21 years later, designing buildings at an architecture firm. Wow. What?
00:18:19
Amazing. When people ask me what got me interested in architecture, I do not tell them.
00:18:25
But I told you, smiley face. Yay. As I found out in 2018 at one of my first internships, the job is like any and can get pretty boring.
00:18:32
So I have always appreciated having you guys in my ear. Stay sexy and throw out your stale peanuts.
00:18:39
Kelsey, she, her. Wow. I really like that. Isn't that lovely? Also, it's just like so funny for kids these days where like literally you cannot be near peanuts.
00:18:53
And like the peanut allergy thing that came up, which is important and good. I'm not trying to be one of those people who's like, nobody was allergic to peanuts before.
00:19:04
I love when comics make those generalizations. I'm like, my next door neighbor who I was just talking about, he had such a bad peanut allergy.
00:19:14
Like he had to have an EpiPen at all times or his throat would close and he would die.
00:19:19
It's not like nobody had it. It's like nobody gave a shit. You sound stupid when you say that nobody got autism back then.
00:19:26
It's like nobody cared. Yeah, they weren't paying attention. They were just like, oh, you have to, we're just going to real quick make this easy for ourselves and put you in a room somewhere and not look into this.
00:19:37
And like literally it was like an 11 year old that on his own without his mom or anybody doing the work, he had to make sure he never ate a peanut.
00:19:46
So he literally like, what's in this? I don't know. I'm not like it was sad. Anyway.
00:19:52
You made it. I'm a peanut allergy truther, and I'm here to say. Okay. I'm not going to read you the subject line.
00:20:00
It just starts, hello, all. I appreciate all the work you and the entire company does.
00:20:05
Nice. Well, that's all the emotion I can handle based on my German family upbringing.
00:20:11
I appreciate that. Nice one. So it says, let's get into the story. This last holiday trip home, I heard a casual story from my dad.
00:20:20
While watching a crime show with him, he mentioned that the FBI interviewed him once, leading me to immediately ask for the details.
00:20:28
Back in the 80s, my dad was a nurse anesthetist, which is a specialized nurse who sedates or induces general anesthesia for medical procedures.
00:20:37
To make extra money, he would pick up shifts at a Chicago abortion clinic on the weekends.
00:20:42
Well, this clinic happened to be run by the Chicago mob, specifically Anthony Tony Centracchio.
00:20:48
Trachio. Whoa. Right? What a name. Yeah. That was kind of fun to say. It sounded great. That
00:20:55
and anesthetist, you fucking knocked it out of the park there. Thank you. It's a hard one. That's a
00:20:59
hard one. Okay. Mostly my dad would keep to himself and do his work. So there was, this wasn't a
00:21:05
problem. Occasionally he would be offered jewelry to buy while working there, which he politely
00:21:10
declined. You need this bracelet or you want a bracelet? Wow. During this time, the FBI came to
00:21:18
our house and asked him about his work, the clinic, who owned it, and were particularly
00:21:22
interested in Tony Santraccio. Sure. My dad states that he was relatively vague about his responses, like likely a smart decision.
00:21:31
The FBI also asked about the jewelry being offered, which my dad replied he never bought
00:21:36
because, quote, it wasn't his style. Then instead of keeping this interview to himself, he told the mob members at the clinic
00:21:45
that he had been interviewed. So smart. tell them immediately or it's going to seem like you fucking snitched.
00:21:51
Yes. You know what I mean? Yes. Yes. Self-report. Yeah. When working alongside or with the mob, please self-report.
00:21:58
Because you know one of those FBI agents were on the take too and told them, would have told
00:22:02
them that they talked to him. And then they've been like, why didn't you tell us that they talked to you?
00:22:06
That's right. And then there's also the embedded FBI agent who isn't on the take, who's overgrown his
00:22:13
mutton chops. And he's Tony Centraccio's best friend. Oh my God. It goes all the way to the top.
00:22:19
Think it through when you're working with the mob. Okay. Thankfully, he didn't know anything of value for the mob to care about it.
00:22:28
My dad is in his early 70s now, and he still volunteers his time in service at abortion clinics.
00:22:34
He considers it one of the ways he can give back in this questionable time, and it's a reminder that abortion rights are human rights.
00:22:41
He is the reason both my sister and I are in the medical field and is always proud to label himself a girl dad.
00:22:49
I hope this makes at least one person smile while reading, even if it does not make it on the podcast.
00:22:55
Stay sexy and don't buy jewelry with mop ties. Rachel. That's so beautiful. Like a beautiful way to raise your daughters to be like, this is what I do.
00:23:05
And it's totally normal. And it's just my job. And, you know. And it's important.
00:23:10
Yeah. Yeah. It's important work that has been politicized and weirdly religiousized in a way that is actually neither smart or accurate or good for our culture.
00:23:25
And this is science, which has nothing to do with my morality or whatever the fuck, you know, or my religion.
00:23:31
Or anybody else's belief, what part of the Bible they read. I mean, it kind of makes you love the mafia a little more, if anything.
00:23:38
I know you love them so much. I really do love them and I love Italians, of course.
00:23:45
While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent.
00:23:51
The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Making plays that end up on everyone's feed, scoring from angles that don't make sense, rewriting record books.
00:24:00
that barely had time to gather dust. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation
00:24:03
and Hyundai doesn't either. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. Hyundai did it by making advanced safety
00:24:09
standard on every vehicle. Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra fast charging capability.
00:24:15
And Hyundai continues doing it every day. From robotics that change how people live
00:24:19
to young athletes changing the game, the future isn't some far off concept. It's already here.
00:24:24
Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Goodbye. Bye. If you're always on the lookout for a great audiobook
00:24:31
or just want help figuring out what to listen to next, there's a podcast you should know about.
00:24:36
It's called Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club, hosted by Cal Penn. Each episode takes a closer look at some of the most talked about new audiobooks on Audible,
00:24:44
spanning a wide range of genres from sci-fi and literary fiction to rom-coms, thrillers, and comedy.
00:24:49
Cal is joined by guests who dig into what these stories are about, what makes them stand out as audiobooks,
00:24:55
and why they're connecting with listeners right now. If you're looking for your next listen, this is a great place to start.
00:24:59
Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:25:06
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They work. They're cute. They're stylish. And they're classy. Yeah. Like, it doesn't look lazy.
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00:26:20
quince.com slash mfm goodbye okay this one is really long it's my last one it will probably
00:26:28
make you cry i'm gonna guess i'm gonna guess 75 on karen crying on this one okay let's see i'm not
00:26:34
gonna read you the title hey all this is longish but worth it it also may make you emote be warned
00:26:40
okay when my twin sister ashley and i were 13 years old she woke me up at 3 a.m on christmas
00:26:46
morning, sobbing in my bed, begging me not to die. I vividly remember responding immediately with,
00:26:52
Ash, I'm not going to die before you. You're going to die before me. I'm the one who has to
00:26:57
figure out how to live without my twin. This was not that abnormal for her to worry about.
00:27:01
I come from a very large, close family, and we had a few grandparents die around that time.
00:27:07
This was also the first year we didn't share a bedroom, and she was deathly afraid of the dark.
00:27:11
In November 2020, after almost 12 years of fighting for her life, battling pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, Ashley spent a month in a coma in a hospital in Vermont.
00:27:24
Because it was the height of COVID, we were not allowed to see her in the hospital.
00:27:28
Even though she was comatose, I still felt connected to her, as I always have. She called it twin tuition.
00:27:35
Every night for almost a month, I went outside to angrily smoke and yell at her wherever the fuck she was.
00:27:40
I was so angry at not being able to be with her because of COVID and I was terrified that I would never see her again.
00:27:47
I wouldn't get to say goodbye, which didn't seem right considering we came into this world together.
00:27:52
I'm already fucking getting choked up. I didn't want her to leave the world alone.
00:27:58
The entire time she was in a coma I would yell at her I would cry at her I would apologize to her for yelling at her I kept telling her give me one more year I know it selfish of me but I can do this without you yet
00:28:12
I need one more year. Come on, Ash. I know you can hear me. What's the fucking password?
00:28:18
What's the fucking password? When we were kids, we used to always joke about what we would do if one of us was cloned.
00:28:25
We were weirdly obsessed with it. I guess being a twin is like a clone. That's got to be a little jarring.
00:28:32
Yeah. Right? It's a discussion that you would probably want to be having. Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:36
That makes sense. How would we know who the real one was versus who the clone was?
00:28:41
Her answer was always the same. Just ask me for the password to our bedroom because of course we had a secret password
00:28:46
to our bedroom that only we knew. We had way too many siblings we couldn't trust with our Nintendo DES.
00:28:51
At 1109 a.m. on a Wednesday in December 2020, my phone rang. It was a phone number that I didn't recognize.
00:29:00
I answered it, said hello a couple times, but heard no response until finally a scratchy, rough voice said,
00:29:08
It's Mariah Carey. Now stop fucking yelling at me. You heard me, Britt. It's Mariah Carey. Now stop yelling.
00:29:16
She woke up. I immediately broke down and said, Ash, is that you? Silence. About two minutes later, a nurse picked up the phone and identified herself as Mary.
00:29:24
may explain that my sister had woken up from a 35 day coma that they didn't expect her to come back
00:29:29
from. In fact, at one point she had died and they had brought her back. She wanted to tell me that
00:29:34
as soon as my sister woke up, they extubated her and she kept motioning for the phone in her
00:29:39
hospital room. When she was finally able to speak, she said, call Brit. I was her healthcare agent or
00:29:45
next of kin and was always her main contact during any hospital stay. If you hadn't guessed it yet,
00:29:50
Mariah Carey was the password to our childhood bedroom. My sister and I definitely had like,
00:29:57
if you come back as a ghost, like do this one thing and that's how I know it's you.
00:30:01
Yeah. I don't remember what it was, but. Make a plan. Yeah. You better call her and reset that plan.
00:30:07
Shit. You're right. Yeah. She heard me and she came back for me. She gave me one more year and I'm so grateful that she did.
00:30:14
She journaled, wrote personal letters to her family and friends, and most importantly to her son,
00:30:19
Jordan. We lost Ashley April 8th, 2022. I'm glad she's not in pain and I'm glad she didn't resent
00:30:26
me for begging her to give me that year. I love her and miss her so fucking much every second of
00:30:31
every day. The connection that twins share is very special and I feel very lucky to experience it
00:30:36
as I feel closer to her now than when she was on this planet. I love you, Ash, and I'll see you soon.
00:30:42
Stay sexy and don't forget the password. Brittany. yeah you got me i think me too let me sit in my emotions where do you feel it in your body
00:30:54
feel it in your body it's like oh my god it's a tightness in the throat and the chest it is
00:31:01
and it kind of uh we all come in and go out alone and it is hard but there's more maybe
00:31:10
but there's there's i think they're i think they just proved it these two these why am i so far
00:31:16
back away from the microphone. I forgot how to podcast. Hard leaning. Like, there's a, that was a little bit of a, there's proof of that humans can do more.
00:31:30
If twins can do it, that means eventually regular people will be able to do it. Right.
00:31:35
Like there's a high note and we're just like, ours is here, but it's still there.
00:31:39
But it's also that thing of like, what a lucky thing that it actually worked and that there
00:31:45
was a little more time especially knowing that she had kids yeah she said mariah carey stop yelling
00:31:51
at me like oh what the fuck so so she that's a good tip of like maybe you can bug people out of
00:32:00
comas just irritate them yeah and like if she could talk to her in a coma and annoy her she can talk to her from the great beyond I believe that Even though I don believe in jack shit
00:32:11
I'm a fucking nihilist. I think she can go out there, have an angry smoke and just be like,
00:32:16
girl. Yeah. And there's a connection there. I think so. I do. I think people can do it now.
00:32:23
Like, did you listen to the telepathy tapes? That podcast? Oh yeah. No. Oh, it's like,
00:32:29
hold on, let me write this down. I keep seeing clips on TikTok. And it's basically like the clips are amazing, but it almost feels like it's about a documentary.
00:32:38
So I'm like, oh, I need to actually just sit down and listen to this podcast. So I'm recommending it blind based on TikTok.
00:32:46
But it's like basically studies where the theory is kids with different kinds of autism have the ability to have telepathic connection with their caretaker.
00:32:58
so if they're non-verbal they can still communicate absolutely i totally believe that
00:33:04
that's incredible yeah i download i'm gonna listen that's yeah yeah listen i will too okay
00:33:09
you have one more right i do okay the subject line of this email is parents house home phone
00:33:16
number was one digit off from the funeral home hello all we had the dentist we had the dentist
00:33:24
Oh, yeah, that's right. That's right. Hello, all longtime listener. First time writing in.
00:33:29
I've been waiting for years to have a good hometown story to share. And after hearing
00:33:33
Minisoed 416 about the girl whose home phone was mistaken for a doctor's office, I knew it was
00:33:39
finally my time. I grew up in a small town in Ohio in the early 2000s. During this time,
00:33:44
a new funeral home opened in town and their phone number was just one digit off from my parents'
00:33:50
home phone. For years, we got calls from people trying to reach the funeral home. It happened so
00:33:55
often that my parents changed their answering machine message to clarify. If you're trying to
00:34:00
call the funeral home, you've dialed the wrong number. Because they're crying probably too,
00:34:05
so they can't even see the phone number correctly or dial it correctly. Oh my God. It's like the
00:34:09
worst moment to be in charge of like that kind of executive function. Yes, exactly. At first,
00:34:17
my mom did her best to explain the mistake to the callers, but it wasn't easy. Many people
00:34:22
insisted they had the right number. She ended up as an unofficial unpaid secretary for the funeral
00:34:27
home, taking messages and calling them herself to pass them along. That's so nice. The funeral
00:34:34
home thought it was funny and even told her, if anyone ever calls for a body pickup, let us know
00:34:39
right away. We got all kinds of calls, an elderly woman crying about her husband's headstone,
00:34:45
questions about visiting hours, and more. My mom had the hardest time convincing people they'd call the private residence.
00:34:52
One time, the owner of the funeral home himself popped up on our caller ID. My mom answered hello and was immediately met with him yelling,
00:35:01
that's not how you answer the phone. We're a professional business. Use the business name.
00:35:06
He must have been joking. That's psychotic. And then she said without missing a beat,
00:35:12
if you're so professional, shouldn't you know your own phone number? You called a private residence.
00:35:17
He quickly apologized and hung up, clearly mortified. So he did mean it. Oh, as in like ex-receptionist secretary, I was like, yeah, he meant that. I've been
00:35:27
yelling at that before, for sure. I literally would have typed up an invoice for my time
00:35:32
and then been like, oh, if you're going to yell at me like I'm in your employee,
00:35:36
you can pay me like an employee. There were so many times I'd pick up the phone and forget
00:35:40
like what work I like where I was because I was a temp all the time. I'd be like, um, fuck.
00:35:46
Can't remember. Um, okay. Over the years, the calls happened less and less. And thankfully my parents haven't received one in a long time.
00:35:56
Say sexy and double check the number before you hit call. Jess S. Oh, that's good.
00:36:03
Do you think things like that happen less and less I was just going to say that Yeah The blue like the number is blue in Google Google Yeah Like when was the last time you like no you have the wrong number I haven said that in fucking years
00:36:15
Yeah. Yeah. That's right. That's, I love, I love that. That's like such a great party story, you know?
00:36:22
Yes, it is. It's like, hey, remember only 40 years ago, but that also is so long ago.
00:36:27
It's 190 years ago. Send us your hometown stories of your party stories when things get slow and you got to share an anecdote that's like a little raunchy, but not too raunchy.
00:36:40
You don't know if like there's religious people there or what, you know? Yeah. Something that's like family friendly, either raunchy or just interesting.
00:36:47
Like, do you have a memory about your family's landline? Like the phone that hung in the kitchen before everybody had their own individual phone.
00:36:57
Totally. There was so much fighting at my house about get off the phone. I'm not paying for that phone call.
00:37:04
And then when Pacific Bell did their like 1986 update and there was call waiting and there was call forwarding.
00:37:12
I love that you remember what year that like it was so exciting. It was it was epic because then you could no one could tell you get off the phone because there was call waiting.
00:37:20
Call waiting was fucking incredible. Or whatever story at My Favorite Murder at Gmail.
00:37:26
We'll take anything. There's also a mini mini so on the fan cult if you want one more story from each of us.
00:37:32
And they're all still there. So it's not just one. It's like years of mini mini so.
00:37:38
Fucking literal. Almost a decade of these. Yeah. So go to myfavoritemurder.com and join the fan cult.
00:37:45
Yes. Do all that and then stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie?
00:37:58
This has been an Exactly Right production. Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.
00:38:03
Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo. This episode was mixed by Liana Squalachi. Email your hometowns to myfavoritemurder at gmail.com.
00:38:11
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Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 80
    Most heartwarming
  • 75
    Most dramatic

Episode Highlights

  • Dr. Death the Cowboy
    A charming neurosurgeon leaves a trail of broken bodies in his wake.
    “He promised to heal them. Instead, he left a trail of broken bodies.”
    @ 00m 48s
    January 27, 2025
  • A Childhood Abduction
    A boy's innocent walk to a friend's house turns into a terrifying abduction.
    “The next time the door opened, it would be two police officers telling her that her son had been abducted.”
    @ 03m 57s
    January 27, 2025
  • The Drowning Man
    A family discovers a drowned man while on a tour in Belize, leading to a shocking lesson.
    “It became clear that it was in fact not a manatee but a man floating face down.”
    @ 10m 01s
    January 27, 2025
  • Mob Connections
    A nurse anesthetist's work at a Chicago abortion clinic leads to an FBI interview.
    “The FBI came to our house and asked him about his work, the clinic, who owned it.”
    @ 21m 18s
    January 27, 2025
  • The Password to Childhood
    A touching moment where a childhood password becomes a sign of hope during a crisis.
    “Mariah Carey was the password to our childhood bedroom.”
    @ 29m 50s
    January 27, 2025
  • A Twin's Connection
    A heartfelt story of a twin's bond and a miraculous recovery from a coma.
    “She heard me and she came back for me. She gave me one more year.”
    @ 30m 08s
    January 27, 2025
  • Unexpected Calls
    A humorous tale of mistaken phone calls to a funeral home and the chaos that ensued.
    “If you're trying to call the funeral home, you've dialed the wrong number.”
    @ 34m 00s
    January 27, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • This is a story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice.
    MFM Minisode 420
  • Death and that snitches get stitches.
    MFM Minisode 420
  • The stakes go wildly high.
    MFM Minisode 420
  • Stay sexy and don't buy jewelry with mop ties.
    MFM Minisode 420
  • She heard me and she came back for me. She gave me one more year.
    MFM Minisode 420
  • That's psychotic.
    MFM Minisode 420

Key Moments

  • Greed and Betrayal00:51
  • Child Abduction03:57
  • Drowning Discovery10:01
  • FBI Interview21:18
  • Miraculous Recovery29:16
  • Emotional Goodbye30:31
  • Life Lessons31:30
  • Humorous Mix-Up33:50

Tension Over Time

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown