12x13: The Body on the Side of the Road

[00:00:00] This podcast contains adult language and content, listener discretion is advised.

[00:00:04] If you have a story to share, send it to Lets Not Meet Stories at gmail.com.

[00:00:09] Enjoy the show!

[00:00:30] This happened when I was 21 years old in 1981.

[00:00:45] I was living in a smaller town outside of a huge city in the Midwest with my husband.

[00:00:51] I was expecting my first child.

[00:00:54] I worked at a fast food place that stayed open until 3 a.m.

[00:00:59] My husband worked for a bowling alley as a manager and he was never off before 2 a.m.

[00:01:05] Business was slow in this particular night so I was sent home a few hours earlier than usual

[00:01:10] at about 1 a.m.

[00:01:13] In the town where I lived, there was a large private girls college.

[00:01:18] At the time women were being warned to lock their car doors because two men were targeting

[00:01:24] women around my age.

[00:01:26] They were still on the loose.

[00:01:29] There were several reports of these men following women home to attack them and there were incidents

[00:01:36] where they forced women who were driving alone late at night off the road.

[00:01:41] The men were assaulting and killing these women and they had killed three by this point.

[00:01:47] Two of the women were found on deserted roads, one was found in her apartment.

[00:01:54] What made all of this even scarier was that there was no physical description of these

[00:01:59] men or any details of what kind of vehicle they drove.

[00:02:05] After I was sent home from work early, I climbed into my car, locked my car doors and started

[00:02:11] heading home.

[00:02:13] As I began driving the hair on the back of my head stood on end and I had this gut feeling.

[00:02:20] Something was very wrong.

[00:02:22] I noticed that I was being followed home.

[00:02:25] I took several turns around town at random trying to shake this car but to no avail.

[00:02:32] The advice given by law enforcement at the time was that if you thought you were being

[00:02:36] followed, you should drive to the police station.

[00:02:40] My husband and I had recently moved to the area so I had no idea where the police station

[00:02:45] was.

[00:02:46] I was terrified, panicked, and had no idea what I should do.

[00:02:52] This happened during the days of no cell phones, however payphones were available in different

[00:02:57] areas.

[00:02:58] Some payphones were situated closer to the street and if they had a longer cord it was easily

[00:03:04] accessible without getting out of the car.

[00:03:07] Not all payphones were like this though.

[00:03:10] Either way you still had to deposit money into the phone to make a phone call even if

[00:03:15] you were calling 911.

[00:03:18] I briefly thought about trying to get to one of these phones but I was too scared and

[00:03:22] I didn't think that I would be able to deposit a coin into the phone quickly enough before

[00:03:26] these men would have time to approach me.

[00:03:30] My parents were living about four streets over from where my husband and I were so I decided

[00:03:36] my safest bet was to try and make it to my parents house.

[00:03:40] As I was driving around deciding what to do, I was still being followed on route to my

[00:03:46] parents house.

[00:03:48] There was a short block that went around my parents house and I went around this block

[00:03:54] about three times just to be certain that I was being followed.

[00:03:58] I wanted whoever was following me to know that I was on to them so every time I went around

[00:04:03] this block I honked the horn.

[00:04:07] You would have thought that laying on the horn would be discouraging to these creeps.

[00:04:12] Maybe they would stop following me.

[00:04:15] However it had no effect on them if anything they started following me even closer.

[00:04:21] I finally pulled into my parents driveway and these creepers pulled in right behind me.

[00:04:27] They turned their lights off and I heard their car door open and shut.

[00:04:33] I was appalled and terrified.

[00:04:36] I watched in my rear view as the two men were coming up to my car.

[00:04:41] They split up and one was on each side of my car.

[00:04:45] My parents house was a split level and they had a double car garage.

[00:04:50] In order to get into their house you had to go through the garage door or the front door.

[00:04:56] The front door was on the left of the driveway about two car lengths away and there was

[00:05:01] a set of steps leading up to the door.

[00:05:04] I laid on the horn again but they continued approaching my car.

[00:05:09] My dad who was retired military often stayed up late at night watching TV and thank God

[00:05:15] this night was no different.

[00:05:17] He was still up.

[00:05:19] All of a sudden he turned the porch light on and burst out the front door.

[00:05:24] He assessed the situation instantly and started yelling at these creeps to get the

[00:05:28] fuck away from my car while barreling down the steps towards them.

[00:05:33] At first they hesitated but after getting a good look at my dad, they must have thought

[00:05:39] better.

[00:05:40] My dad is about six four, very big-boned.

[00:05:44] He wore a size 15 shoe.

[00:05:47] He made it to the front of their car and pounded on the hood several times before they

[00:05:51] were able to burn rubber reversing out of the driveway.

[00:05:55] He was unable to get their license number since they didn't have a front plate but he

[00:06:00] was able to provide the police with an adequate description of them and let them know the

[00:06:06] make and model of the car that they were driving.

[00:06:09] My dad said that he thought he heard a car honk more than once and he was finally able

[00:06:15] to hear that it was me in the driveway when he shut the TV off.

[00:06:20] He had just shut it off and was heading to bed when I pulled in.

[00:06:24] Thank God my dad acted so quickly or I might not be sharing this story today.

[00:06:30] The police ended up capturing these two creeps two weeks later and luckily they never

[00:06:36] had a fourth victim.

[00:06:38] They were arrested and turns out they were both on probation for kidnapping and assault.

[00:06:43] When they were released from serving sentences on those charges, they decided to up the

[00:06:49] ante and kill their victims leaving no witnesses.

[00:06:53] My dad is still a hero today.

[00:06:56] His quick actions prevented me from being their fourth victim and the color, model, and

[00:07:01] make of their car that my dad described to the police was an exact match to what they

[00:07:06] were driving when they were arrested.

[00:07:09] The police told me how fortunate I was that my dad had realized what a dire situation

[00:07:14] I was in.

[00:07:16] I still get chills thinking back to that night.

[00:07:19] I remember it just like it was yesterday.

[00:07:22] This incident has caused me to be hyper aware of my surroundings and I never turn into my

[00:07:27] driveway without making sure that I'm not being followed.

[00:07:31] Please be mindful of where you are.

[00:07:33] Don't walk around with your headphones on or your phone pressed against your ear.

[00:07:39] You never know who may be watching out for an opportunistic moment.

[00:07:43] It doesn't take much for someone with ill intentions to try something.

[00:07:48] Most importantly, make sure that you are aware of your local police station and where it

[00:07:53] is.

[00:07:54] If you ever get chills or a gut feeling that something is wrong, just drive straight

[00:07:58] to the police station.

[00:07:59] Someone will help you there.

[00:08:01] Better safe than sorry.

[00:08:22] This happened a few years ago.

[00:08:24] One night about a quarter after midnight I was in my bed when I heard frantic knocking

[00:08:31] on my door.

[00:08:32] I walked out of my bedroom while the knocking continued and I heard a woman crying saying,

[00:08:39] please help me but it was faint.

[00:08:43] I looked out the people and I saw nobody out there.

[00:08:47] There were no other doors being knocked on just mine.

[00:08:52] This was odd in and of itself because my apartment was on the third floor.

[00:08:57] Why would someone in distress walk all the way up to the third floor and knock on an apartment

[00:09:02] door?

[00:09:05] Something was definitely off about this.

[00:09:08] If somebody actually needed help, I figured that they would be banging on everyone's

[00:09:13] door.

[00:09:14] I decided to call the police and the dispatcher told me not to open the door.

[00:09:20] I told the dispatcher how odd the voice sounded since it was so faint.

[00:09:25] I told her, it almost sounded like a recording.

[00:09:29] Now I've heard of this tactic being used before.

[00:09:33] I had heard of a slightly different incident where a recording of a baby crying was used

[00:09:39] to lure women to check it out.

[00:09:42] It's just so sick that there are people out there that will try this and pray on the

[00:09:46] empathy of others.

[00:09:49] The police then drove by.

[00:09:51] I saw them using their spotlight to look through the complex, but I had no idea if anyone

[00:09:56] was found.

[00:09:58] On the off chance that they did find somebody, I was worried that they were hurt.

[00:10:03] I barely slept after this.

[00:10:06] I was thinking of all of the possibilities.

[00:10:09] How did this person find me?

[00:10:11] Where had they seen me around?

[00:10:13] Was this someone random who followed me to my apartment complex?

[00:10:17] Or did they live in the complex?

[00:10:20] I live in my apartment alone and I don't know many people in my area.

[00:10:25] I don't have any family close by either.

[00:10:28] This made me wonder.

[00:10:30] Had this person been watching me closely enough to gather this information?

[00:10:35] I mean, thinking of all of this was making me go crazy.

[00:10:41] The next day, I talked with the management at my apartment complex and I let them

[00:10:45] know what was going on.

[00:10:47] They told me that nobody else had reported anything similar.

[00:10:52] I then tried contacting the police again for an update, but I was redirected to another

[00:10:57] police department who wasn't the one who responded to my initial call.

[00:11:01] I never heard anything back from them, but I wish I did because I really wanted to know

[00:11:08] if this happened to anybody else.

[00:11:11] I ordered and installed a ring camera so that I would at least be able to have video

[00:11:16] of whoever this was in case they came back.

[00:11:19] I feel much safer now than I installed this camera and I hope it's enough to deter anything

[00:11:25] like this from happening again.

[00:11:27] I'm in the process of getting a firearm and taking self-defense classes.

[00:11:33] Both take time and a lot of money, so it's been a process.

[00:11:38] I want to make sure that I'm investing my time and money into something that will make

[00:11:42] me feel protected long-term.

[00:11:45] So stay vigilant out there.

[00:11:46] Don't fall for these kinds of tactics.

[00:11:48] I'm thankful that I had heard about encounters like these happening so I was somewhat prepared

[00:11:54] but I can't help but wonder if I wasn't aware would I have opened the door?

[00:12:00] What would have happened?

[00:12:02] Would I be alive?

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[00:13:43] Now back to the show.

[00:14:01] A couple of years ago my husband and I took a trip to Yosemite.

[00:14:05] We stayed outside of the park at a hotel in Elporto.

[00:14:09] One evening while we were driving back from the valley, I noticed that our headlights

[00:14:14] caught what appeared to be somebody lying down on the side of the road with both feet

[00:14:19] pointed toward the road.

[00:14:21] I told my husband that there was a person lying there on the highway.

[00:14:25] I was concerned since it was pitch black, varied our calcide.

[00:14:30] My husband knows that I love true crime so he thought that I was spooking myself and

[00:14:35] he said he was certain that what I had seen were trashbacks.

[00:14:40] But I was also certain of what I just saw.

[00:14:44] I insisted.

[00:14:45] No, that was a body.

[00:14:47] I saw a body.

[00:14:48] I know that it was a person.

[00:14:51] The rest of our drive was rather quiet since I couldn't stop thinking about it.

[00:14:56] Since we made our way back to the hotel, just as we were about to park, my husband looked

[00:15:02] over at me and said, you are sure about this aren't you?

[00:15:06] Do you want to go back?

[00:15:08] In desperation I blurted out.

[00:15:10] Yes, of course I do.

[00:15:13] So we circled back out of the lot and made our way back to the stretch of highway where

[00:15:18] I saw the body.

[00:15:21] As we drove by again, I saw the feet even clearer than before.

[00:15:27] A yelled when I spotted the body again and I had my husband turn the car back around.

[00:15:32] I asked him to stop.

[00:15:34] He rolled down his window and called out.

[00:15:37] Are you okay?

[00:15:39] There was no answer.

[00:15:41] Once more even louder, my husband asked, hello, are you okay?

[00:15:47] Suddenly, a woman dressed in all black sat up.

[00:15:52] She was wearing a nice down jacket and black pants.

[00:15:57] She had a purse with her and three water bottles.

[00:16:01] Her makeup was done nicely and she seemed very sweet.

[00:16:05] My husband was absolutely shocked.

[00:16:09] I asked her where she was headed.

[00:16:11] She said that she was trying to get to the chevron station of the road since her mom was

[00:16:16] going to meet her there to pick her up.

[00:16:19] This struck me as a little odd since this woman looked to be in her late 40s.

[00:16:24] I knew that something weird was going on because I knew which chevron station she was talking

[00:16:30] about and it was still another seven miles away.

[00:16:34] She explained that in her mind she thought that it was only about a mile from the hotel

[00:16:40] that she was staying at, which was the same hotel where my husband and I were staying.

[00:16:45] She thought that the chevron seemed a lot closer and assumed that she could walk.

[00:16:50] We offered her a ride, and as she climbed into the back seat, I grabbed a thick scarf

[00:16:56] to wrap around my neck and pepper spray for protection.

[00:17:02] As we drove, we tried to ask her questions just to chit chat.

[00:17:07] I asked why she was lying on the side of the road and she said that she had gotten tired

[00:17:12] of walking so she laid down ready to give up, which was crazy to me because it was winter.

[00:17:20] She had no hat or gloves with her and I could tell that she was somewhat fragile, which

[00:17:25] made her even more vulnerable to the elements.

[00:17:30] Once we arrived at the chevron station she thanked us, got out of the car and sat on a bench

[00:17:35] in front of the closed convenience store at the chevron station.

[00:17:40] We offered to stay with her until her mom arrived, but she said that she would be fine.

[00:17:46] I reminded her that there was no cell reception in the area and I tripled checked that she

[00:17:51] didn't want us to wait with her, but she was insistent that she was fine.

[00:17:57] After that my husband got back on the road and started driving back to the hotel.

[00:18:02] As we were driving, we noticed two police cars were pulling into the parking lot of our

[00:18:07] hotel.

[00:18:08] They had not been there the first time we arrived back from the valley that evening.

[00:18:13] I told my husband that I knew they had to be either looking for her or asking about

[00:18:19] her.

[00:18:21] I calmly walked over to one of the police cruisers and I asked if they were looking for

[00:18:26] a missing woman.

[00:18:27] The officer told me that they were and asked if I had seen her.

[00:18:32] I explained the situation and said that I felt like there was more to this woman's story.

[00:18:38] I said that I was concerned that something very bad had happened to her.

[00:18:43] The officer I was speaking with thanked us for picking her up and giving her a ride.

[00:18:47] He couldn't tell me what happened, but he implied that her decision to leave and find

[00:18:52] somewhere else to go was a smart choice on her part.

[00:18:56] I told him that she was very likely still at that chevron station and asked that he

[00:19:01] go to check on her to make sure she was okay.

[00:19:04] After he pulled away, I realized that whatever happened to her happened at the hotel we were

[00:19:10] staying at.

[00:19:13] Later that night, I looked up the local police log and I found that a domestic violence

[00:19:17] dispute had broken out at the hotel.

[00:19:21] According to the report, the woman had been beaten very badly and she was so terrified

[00:19:27] that she was willing to walk in the dark without a flashlight just to escape.

[00:19:32] It was my guess that after walking about half a mile from the store, she was in so much

[00:19:36] pain that she needed to lie down.

[00:19:39] She couldn't go back to her hotel room because she didn't want to return to the person

[00:19:43] she was escaping from.

[00:19:45] She wound up quickly going back to the hotel just to get some help from the front desk.

[00:19:50] She didn't stay there long since she was worried that her husband would know she returned

[00:19:55] and she didn't want him to come after her.

[00:19:58] The front desk called the police for her while she escaped.

[00:20:02] It's my understanding that the man who hurt her was her husband.

[00:20:07] He was arrested.

[00:20:08] I've always wondered about her and whether or not she went back to him.

[00:20:14] In any case, I hope she's safe.

[00:20:16] Ever since this happened, my husband says that he won't think twice when I say there's

[00:20:20] a body on the side of the road.

[00:20:29] A lot of these stories seem to be about men creeping out women.

[00:20:36] But this one is a little different.

[00:20:39] This took place about 14 years ago and early 2010.

[00:20:43] I was 16 years old and played lacrosse.

[00:20:47] I liked girls but I didn't know much about flirting or anything like that.

[00:20:51] One day, I was heading home with my lacrosse stuff and a woman walked up to me and asked

[00:20:56] me if I played.

[00:20:58] I told her I did and I also blurted out that I was the captain of the team since I was so

[00:21:04] proud of that.

[00:21:06] She said that she thought that was interesting and asked how old I was.

[00:21:11] My told her I was 16 and she laughed and said that she was 38 years old.

[00:21:17] After this, she told me that I was cute and that she'd love to come to one of my lacrosse

[00:21:21] games.

[00:21:23] This woman told me to take her number down several times during this interaction so

[00:21:27] I did, but I had no plans of actually reaching out to her or texting her or anything like that.

[00:21:36] The next day, I was talking to a teammate and I told him about the incident.

[00:21:41] He laughed and told me that I was a liar.

[00:21:45] To prove that I was telling him the truth, I decided to text her and asked her to remind

[00:21:51] me what her age was again.

[00:21:54] She responded.

[00:21:55] Babe, I'm 38.

[00:21:58] I hope I'm not too old for you.

[00:21:59] When's your next game?

[00:22:03] I didn't know what to say so I showed him her response but I didn't reply to her.

[00:22:09] She then texted me again and sent me some nudes.

[00:22:13] I felt really put off by this so I told her I was going to practice and I didn't respond

[00:22:18] any further.

[00:22:20] After that night, she texted me asking what I was doing and asked if I wanted to come

[00:22:25] over.

[00:22:26] I told her that I couldn't because I was doing homework.

[00:22:29] She told me that she could help out and show me a few things.

[00:22:34] This gave me a panic attack so I quickly said no before turning my phone off and going

[00:22:39] to bed.

[00:22:40] A few days later, I was getting ready for my next game when I saw a familiar face in the

[00:22:45] stance.

[00:22:46] I took a closer look and realized it was her.

[00:22:50] Hi, Wheels!

[00:22:52] She called out with a purr.

[00:22:55] My stomach dropped but I mustered up the courage to politely wave at her.

[00:23:00] I tried to put her surprise appearance at my game in the back of my mind but I couldn't

[00:23:07] shake it.

[00:23:08] After the game she came up to me and asked if I wanted to go home with her.

[00:23:13] I told her I normally shower after games.

[00:23:16] She promptly said that I could use hers.

[00:23:19] I then told her that I had to hang out with some teammates and tried to walk away.

[00:23:25] This woman grabbed my arm and asked why I had been dodging her.

[00:23:30] She asked if I was man enough for her and said I needed to stop playing games.

[00:23:36] My coach was nearby and happened to overhear what was being said.

[00:23:40] She came over and asked if everything was good.

[00:23:44] This woman still had a hold of my arm so I said, fuck no!

[00:23:48] And tried to get her off of me.

[00:23:50] My coach ended up restraining her and I backed away.

[00:23:54] As I walked away I heard her yelling insults.

[00:23:58] This whole thing made me feel so sick.

[00:24:01] I could have vomited.

[00:24:03] After that I had to have a meeting with my coach, my parents and the principal of my school.

[00:24:09] They explained that this woman was in the wrong and that she should not have sent me

[00:24:12] those messages or come to my game.

[00:24:16] They reassured me that I had done nothing wrong.

[00:24:20] I was fearful that I had which was why I didn't tell anybody about the situation sooner.

[00:24:26] During that meeting I promised myself and my parents that if I saw her again, I'd

[00:24:30] press charges for stalking and sending explicit photos to a minor.

[00:24:35] But fortunately, I never saw her again.

[00:24:57] I'm the female in this happened a few years ago when I was 19.

[00:25:01] I got a job at a hot dog shop that had a cheeky little phallic pun for the name.

[00:25:09] It was located in a somewhat shady area but the shop itself was pretty well known as

[00:25:15] it had some fantastically dark local lore.

[00:25:19] Rumor had it, the hot dogs were made out of horse meat.

[00:25:24] Allegedly, the whole operation was a front for something less savory.

[00:25:30] There were also several rumors that we had been shut down by health inspectors and reopened

[00:25:35] illegally.

[00:25:37] Even with all of these rumors in circulation, people kept coming back for our delicious hot

[00:25:42] dogs.

[00:25:43] After I started working there, I soon discovered that none of that was even remotely true.

[00:25:49] But it was all fun to gossip about.

[00:25:52] Everyone who worked there would often give ambiguous answers to questions from customers

[00:25:57] to continue feeling their wide eyed morbid curiosities.

[00:26:02] I got used to the quirky characters that would come by this hot dog shop pretty quickly.

[00:26:08] There was some older gentleman who was rumored to be involved with a local organized crime ring,

[00:26:14] the occasional nightclub owner and tourists.

[00:26:17] We also provided food to the many homeless and mentally ill people who hung around on

[00:26:21] the streets in our area.

[00:26:23] The community was very diverse and sometimes dangerous, but people looked out for each

[00:26:28] other.

[00:26:31] During one shift in the early hours of the morning, I was working the register when a man came

[00:26:36] into the hot dog shop.

[00:26:39] He had long, dark hair with thick stubble covering most of the lower half of his face.

[00:26:45] The shop was busy so he placed his order then stepped to the side to keep chatting

[00:26:50] with me while the other people in line made their orders.

[00:26:54] I was used to this as I had grown up pretty comfortable with people rambling at me or

[00:27:00] hitting on me.

[00:27:02] I felt okay about this as long as I was on the other side of the counter.

[00:27:08] After telling me all his thoughts about all of the other men in the shop being posers,

[00:27:12] but before telling me how beautiful he thought I was, the man told me that he was a chef at

[00:27:17] a nearby restaurant.

[00:27:19] Like I said, the people in this area looked after one another so I felt reassured.

[00:27:26] But I gave him a fake name just to be safe.

[00:27:30] I then started seeing this guy around more often after I met him.

[00:27:35] It didn't seem uncommon at first since the shop had its fair share of regulars some

[00:27:40] of whom we even knew on a first name basis.

[00:27:45] But when my co-workers told me that he had come looking for me and asking about me when

[00:27:49] I wasn't there, I started to feel uneasy.

[00:27:54] Every time I saw him after learning that he had been asking about me, he seemed to be more

[00:27:59] intoxicated each time.

[00:28:02] He would always walk in and slur.

[00:28:04] Hey beautiful.

[00:28:07] He said this so casually as though he thought beautiful was my name.

[00:28:12] It made me feel sick to my stomach every time.

[00:28:16] One night, late, 2 a.m., after I finished my shift, I stepped out on the sidewalk only

[00:28:22] to see him there on the other side of the road watching the shop and waving at me.

[00:28:29] I tried not to think about how long he might have been there watching me through the shops

[00:28:33] large neon sign cluttered windows.

[00:28:37] I had my manager walk me to my car that night.

[00:28:41] But long after that, it was a Saturday night and the shop was pumping as usual.

[00:28:47] Anybody who has worked in food and hospitality knows exactly what I'm talking about.

[00:28:52] There was a 40 minute wait just for French fries as the tiny shop was crowded with people

[00:28:57] who had soared out of one of the nearby nightclubs.

[00:29:02] The crowd was drug-addled and starving, signifying the 3 a.m. rush was in full swing.

[00:29:09] Having said rush, a big bulky man in his mid to late 20s was growing impatient so he

[00:29:14] started getting in my face.

[00:29:16] He had ordered fries and was upset that he had been waiting for 30 minutes.

[00:29:22] I kept apologizing but that only made him angrier.

[00:29:25] I was desperately trying to plan my escape from my post which was within arm's reach

[00:29:30] of this guy.

[00:29:32] I tried to move towards the front door where I figured I could get the attention of one

[00:29:37] of the club bouncer's outside to have them come over and sort this guy out.

[00:29:42] But there was no hope.

[00:29:43] The store was too crowded.

[00:29:45] As I was trying to think of what to do next, I heard a sloppy but familiar voice.

[00:29:51] Hey, leave her alone.

[00:29:54] Then my stalker randomly emerged from the crowd.

[00:29:57] He was a mere 5-5 but he still fronted up to the massive man who was screaming about

[00:30:03] his fries.

[00:30:05] And the two of them started fighting.

[00:30:08] Luckily the commotion caught the eye of one of the bouncer's outside.

[00:30:12] The bouncer ran inside and swiftly de-escalated the situation.

[00:30:16] And shortly after that, I got a job offer to work in a more stable environment elsewhere

[00:30:22] and moved on.

[00:30:23] To my hot dog shop stalker, thanks for the help that night but no thanks to anything else

[00:30:30] that you ever tried to offer me.

[00:30:45] This happened 9 or 10 years ago in DC.

[00:30:48] After meeting with a couple of friends at a bar, my friend Robin and I decided to end

[00:30:54] Girls Night Early.

[00:30:56] It was 1am.

[00:30:58] We had spent the evening at Rocket Bar and afterward we went outside, got into the car

[00:31:04] and started pulling out.

[00:31:06] My friend Robin was driving and I was in the passenger seat.

[00:31:10] We were going a bit slow since we weren't too familiar with the area and didn't want

[00:31:14] to miss any turns.

[00:31:16] The street that we were on was a bit dead at the time but then we heard a yell followed

[00:31:22] by some really loud crying.

[00:31:26] It was clearly a woman's voice so we slowed down to see what was going on.

[00:31:31] To our right, we saw this lady stumble out and onto the street.

[00:31:36] She was clutching her chest and crying.

[00:31:39] Robin locked the doors and cautiously rolled my window up since I had it open but she left

[00:31:45] it open just an inch.

[00:31:48] The lady came right up to my window and said, I need help.

[00:31:52] What's wrong honey?

[00:31:53] I asked.

[00:31:55] She didn't answer my question.

[00:31:57] Instead she kept repeating, I need help.

[00:32:00] I need help!

[00:32:02] She said this over and over again.

[00:32:05] I was a little naive around this time so I reached for the door handle and got ready to

[00:32:10] open the door to this lady but I was grabbed by Robin who whispered, don't even fucking

[00:32:16] think about opening that door.

[00:32:19] With each repetition of this lady saying I need help her speech became more and more

[00:32:24] slurred.

[00:32:26] But when she saw Robin stop me from reaching for the door, her eyes widened.

[00:32:30] She stopped slurring and firmly proclaimed, I need help.

[00:32:36] Robin and I were shocked.

[00:32:38] We jumped as she started yelling and frantically asked, how can we help you?

[00:32:42] This lady then shoved her fingers in the one inch opening of the window and screamed,

[00:32:47] let me in.

[00:32:49] We yelled at her to stop but then the lady started yanking at my door handle.

[00:32:54] At this point Robin had had enough so she yelled, hell no and we started pulling away.

[00:33:02] As terrifying as this was the next 30 seconds were even more terrifying.

[00:33:08] As we pulled away I saw the lady yelling to someone, they're leaving!

[00:33:13] We then saw two guys emerge from a parked car, a few cars behind where we had stopped

[00:33:18] in the road.

[00:33:20] After that Robin sped away so fast it was like a scene in an action movie.

[00:33:26] We looked in the rear view mirror as we were making our getaway and saw the three of them

[00:33:30] standing in the street watching us drive away.

[00:33:34] Ladies and gentlemen please be careful out there, I can't imagine what could have happened

[00:33:39] to me if it weren't for my friend.

[00:33:44] I know some people are inherently helpful and as one of them I know all we want to do

[00:33:49] is help but there are a lot of evil people out there.

[00:33:53] Some of them will go as far as disguising themselves or faking emergencies to do us

[00:33:58] harm.

[00:33:59] Be aware of your surroundings and always lock your doors especially in DC.

[00:34:14] In 1991 I was 20 and newly single after being in a relationship with my first love.

[00:34:27] I was unemployed and living with two friends.

[00:34:31] I started hanging out with one of my friend's church friends.

[00:34:35] My friend's church friends weren't the typical church people.

[00:34:39] They were kind of like street church people.

[00:34:43] They had no denomination for the most part they had pretty basic Christian beliefs but

[00:34:48] nothing too crazy at all.

[00:34:51] About five of my friends, church friends were sharing a pretty big apartment.

[00:34:56] Since they had pretty ample space we would all hang out there and it was normal for

[00:35:00] people to drop by here and there.

[00:35:03] Then this one girl who will call Bernice dropped by one day.

[00:35:09] This was a very pretty girl who was seven or eight years older than I was.

[00:35:15] This age difference might not sound like much but since I was 20 the age difference

[00:35:21] felt pretty significant in my opinion.

[00:35:24] Although she was pretty, I wasn't immediately drawn to her but when she first saw me

[00:35:30] she would not stop staring the entire time she was there.

[00:35:35] She was very obvious about it and everyone in the apartment could tell that she was acting

[00:35:39] creepy towards me.

[00:35:42] As everyone else looked at her they noticed that she was extremely fixated, so much so

[00:35:47] that I remember one of the church friends trying to talk to her and get her out of this

[00:35:52] trance.

[00:35:54] Whenever someone would approach her she would barely acknowledge them.

[00:35:59] She just kept staring at me.

[00:36:02] I was new in this group and as a shy person in general I don't want to come out and

[00:36:07] ask what's going on.

[00:36:10] I'm sure many other people would have piped up and asked this but I just stayed in my

[00:36:15] corner and kept watching TV.

[00:36:18] She stuck around for about two hours and there was so much tension while she was there.

[00:36:25] Once she finally left I felt like I could breathe again.

[00:36:29] Someone in this friend group eventually admitted that she had a few issues.

[00:36:34] The issues were specified to me at the time but I can't remember what they were now

[00:36:39] that it's been so long.

[00:36:42] After this revelation her odd behavior made a bit more sense but it still didn't explain

[00:36:48] her fixation on me that night.

[00:36:51] I chalked up her reaction to me being the new guy in the group that night.

[00:36:56] Since this group was somewhat established I figured she probably just wasn't used to

[00:37:00] seeing anyone knew around.

[00:37:02] Who knows?

[00:37:03] I thought, regardless.

[00:37:05] It was a bit disturbing and I felt anxious about seeing her again.

[00:37:10] About a week later I dropped back in to hang out with everyone.

[00:37:14] As I walked through the door everyone stared at me.

[00:37:18] The tension was palpable.

[00:37:21] What's going on?

[00:37:23] I asked.

[00:37:25] Bernice was here today somebody explained.

[00:37:29] And I said.

[00:37:31] She left a letter that she wrote for you here.

[00:37:34] They trailed off as they gestured towards the table in the corner.

[00:37:40] I walked over to the table and found a three-page letter written to me.

[00:37:44] She just left it on the table no envelope or anything.

[00:37:47] She left it for everyone else to see and they all had the opportunity to read it if

[00:37:53] they wanted to.

[00:37:54] I assumed they had which would explain why they were all acting so freaked out when I had

[00:37:59] arrived.

[00:38:01] Actually from what I recall her letter started with a bit of rambling.

[00:38:06] Quite a bit of it.

[00:38:08] She said that when she first saw me she thought that I was Jesus and she went on and on about

[00:38:14] it.

[00:38:15] She wrote,

[00:38:16] I'm not 100% sure if you are Jesus or not but I think you are.

[00:38:23] I love you with all my heart.

[00:38:24] I can't stop thinking about you.

[00:38:27] I just want us to be together.

[00:38:30] I almost shit myself halfway through reading this thing.

[00:38:34] Everyone there was in suspense as they gathered around and watched me read Bernice's letter.

[00:38:40] Once I was done, I imagined I was probably as pale as a ghost.

[00:38:45] I seemed to remember them telling me not to worry about it too much as they said they

[00:38:49] were going to make sure that she wouldn't come around, especially if I was there.

[00:38:55] I felt relieved about this and luckily I didn't see her.

[00:38:59] At least not for about a year.

[00:39:02] Due to the town that I was living in being relatively small, I eventually bumped into

[00:39:06] her at a club.

[00:39:09] It was about two to three days before Christmas.

[00:39:12] I said hello to be polite but I honestly didn't have any choice but to acknowledge her

[00:39:17] since she came right up to me.

[00:39:20] When she approached me my heart was in my throat.

[00:39:23] I imagined I probably started sweating instantly.

[00:39:28] I remember her talking to me pretty normally for the first few minutes.

[00:39:32] She started with normal chit chat, asking me how I had been doing in such.

[00:39:37] So I thought okay maybe she's come to her senses a little.

[00:39:41] At least that's what I was hoping and praying for.

[00:39:45] The normalcy of the conversation led to me letting my guard down a little so I started

[00:39:51] to relax.

[00:39:52] But as the conversation went on, she blurted out an invitation to Christmas supper at

[00:39:58] her mom's house.

[00:39:59] She told me it was going to be her and her mother and I would be the guest of honor.

[00:40:06] This may sound like an innocent and possibly a nice thing to do under normal circumstances,

[00:40:12] but when she mentioned that I would be the guest of honor I couldn't help but think

[00:40:16] about her letter and how she was so sure I was Jesus.

[00:40:22] This was way too much for me.

[00:40:24] I got out of that club pretty quickly after that.

[00:40:27] I haven't seen Bernice since.

[00:40:38] This happened about 2-3 years ago.

[00:40:41] I was 16 at the time and I used to work at a fast food restaurant.

[00:40:46] It was winter time so it got dark pretty early, around 5 pm.

[00:40:51] I was called to come in to work on this particular day but the weather was pretty bad which

[00:40:56] caused business to be really slow.

[00:40:59] We didn't have any customers that day so as a result we had to close the store early.

[00:41:06] It was about 5.30 pm when my manager and I were leaving.

[00:41:10] My ride had not arrived yet so after my manager locked the store I had to wait outside until

[00:41:16] my ride came to get me.

[00:41:18] About 20 minutes had passed since she left and I was really cold so I decided that I would

[00:41:24] walk to a friend's house.

[00:41:26] My friend lived nearby just a few blocks away so it was about a 10 minute walk.

[00:41:32] My figured that I would go there to warm up and wait for my ride.

[00:41:37] The store I worked at was on a busy street near residential neighborhood.

[00:41:41] As I walked away from the store I started walking down the residential street that ran

[00:41:45] behind the store.

[00:41:47] I was walking on the sidewalk, on the left side of the street as the sidewalk on the

[00:41:52] right side of the street cut off after a block.

[00:41:57] This road also has some woods on the right side of the road which is why the sidewalk

[00:42:01] ends on that side.

[00:42:03] Walking on the left side of the road was more convenient for me anyway since my store

[00:42:07] was on the left side.

[00:42:09] This street wasn't lit very well so the light from my store helped me see a little

[00:42:14] better.

[00:42:15] I walked about 3-4 of a block when I got this feeling that I was being watched.

[00:42:21] The neighborhood I was walking through had gotten pretty dark by the time I was walking

[00:42:25] to my friend's house.

[00:42:27] I had pretty much reached the end of the block and was getting ready to cross the street

[00:42:32] when I noticed a silhouette of someone walking on the right side of the road near the woods.

[00:42:38] The figure appeared to be a man who was about 5-10, maybe 180-200 pounds.

[00:42:45] I couldn't make out any features though.

[00:42:48] Being this person on the right side of the road was unexpected but I tried to stay calm

[00:42:53] as I'm the type of person who can be slightly paranoid.

[00:42:57] I've been followed, almost kidnapped and stalked.

[00:43:02] This is why I do my best to be aware of my surroundings.

[00:43:05] When I noticed him, I stopped walking immediately and got this sick feeling in my stomach.

[00:43:12] The man then noticed me and proceeded to walk slowly and yell out to me.

[00:43:16] He called out.

[00:43:18] Come here, I want to talk to you.

[00:43:20] I replied, no I'm good, I'm only 16.

[00:43:25] Then I turned around and started walking back to my store while he continued to yell at

[00:43:29] me, trying to convince me to come to him.

[00:43:32] At that point something in me told me to run so I did exactly that.

[00:43:38] As I was running I turned my head to see what he was doing.

[00:43:41] To my horror I saw him chasing me.

[00:43:44] Then I turned up the speed and started sprinting as fast as I could.

[00:43:49] Thankfully as I reached the store my ride had arrived so I ran straight to the car.

[00:43:55] As I tried to get in the door was locked and only took a few seconds for my ride to unlock

[00:44:00] the door but that felt like hours.

[00:44:03] When I got into the car I just broke down and cried.

[00:44:07] I was kind of out of shape when this happened so my back was hurting from breathing so hard.

[00:44:12] I was so frascled.

[00:44:15] This was the first time I was chased on foot and let me tell you it's so much scarier

[00:44:20] and more surreal and intense than you can imagine.

[00:44:23] To this day I still feel traumatized by the incident and it's been hard for me to go

[00:44:28] anywhere by myself especially in the dark so to the man who chased me in the dark let's

[00:44:33] not ever meet again.

[00:44:42] This happened when I was 13.

[00:44:56] My family and I were on our way home from a Wednesday night church service.

[00:45:00] My mom was in the driver's seat when I was behind her in the back seat.

[00:45:05] My five year old brother was in the middle and my 10 year old sister was on the other side.

[00:45:10] We were just down the road from my church so we were on a familiar country road but

[00:45:15] it was late and very dark so nobody else was on the road.

[00:45:20] We were just coming up to our turn when all of a sudden a car came swarving from where

[00:45:26] we were about to turn.

[00:45:28] This little car was taking the turn so fast that their car came into our lane and almost

[00:45:34] hit us.

[00:45:35] We swerved as they tried to get their car in their own lane narrowly missing colliding

[00:45:40] with them.

[00:45:42] Unfortunately for them, they over corrected as they made their sharp turn.

[00:45:47] Their car flipped and landed driver's side door down in a ditch.

[00:45:52] My mom of course hit the brakes and immediately jumped out of the car to go help whoever

[00:45:56] was driving.

[00:45:57] However, she only took about three steps away from our car before stopping dead in her

[00:46:03] tracks.

[00:46:04] My sister and I were sitting there with our mouths hanging wide open.

[00:46:09] We had no clue what was going on or what we should do.

[00:46:14] I remember sitting there thinking this isn't actually happening to us, this kind of stuff

[00:46:18] only happens in movies but why was my mom not continuing to walk forward?

[00:46:24] To go help the person who just flipped their car into a ditch it was summertime so we had

[00:46:29] our back windows rolled down about halfway.

[00:46:33] I could hear a person yelling for help so my mom started walking towards the ditch again

[00:46:38] to help them.

[00:46:39] But for some reason she stopped again in the center of the road.

[00:46:45] Another car flew from behind us and the guy driving that vehicle didn't hesitate

[00:46:50] to jump out and run to the crash to start helping out.

[00:46:55] This man hopped into the ditch and started prying the passenger door open so that the

[00:46:59] guy inside could climb out from that side.

[00:47:03] I was watching my mom and I noticed that she seemed like she wanted to jump in and help

[00:47:08] but she was frozen.

[00:47:10] She couldn't move from that spot.

[00:47:12] She just stood there and watched as the good Samaritan who pulled up behind us successfully

[00:47:18] got the flipped cars passenger side door open.

[00:47:22] The guy from inside pulled himself out of the door and got into a frog like crouching

[00:47:27] position on top of the car.

[00:47:30] At this point my mom started shuffling back to our car.

[00:47:34] When I looked back at the guy on top of the car, I saw that he had this crazy look in

[00:47:39] his face.

[00:47:40] He looked directly at our car and my mom as he launched himself off of the top of his

[00:47:46] car hitting the guy who just helped him.

[00:47:50] After knocking the guy to the ground he started running at our car prompting my mom to break

[00:47:55] into a sprint.

[00:47:56] He must have known that he wouldn't reach our car before my mom did because he changed

[00:48:00] directions and ran to the car behind us.

[00:48:04] My mom then jumped into the car and locked our doors just as the guy jumped into the vacant

[00:48:09] driver's seat of the car behind us.

[00:48:12] He slammed on the gas before he even had a chance to close the door.

[00:48:16] He almost hit us for a second time.

[00:48:19] The next thing we knew, the guy who was just car jacked, ran up to my mom's window and

[00:48:24] started screaming and pounding on the window.

[00:48:27] My mom was so shaken that she didn't want to roll her window down but she cracked it

[00:48:32] so that we could understand what the man was saying.

[00:48:35] He was yelling, asking us to call 911 because his phone was in the car along with his girlfriend.

[00:48:44] My mom immediately started searching for her phone to call but since she was so frantic

[00:48:49] about what was going on she couldn't seem to find it in the moment.

[00:48:53] I took a break from comforting my little brother and my sister to dial 911 on my phone

[00:48:59] and then I handed the phone to my mom.

[00:49:02] While she was explaining what happened to the 911 operator, I heard a woman screaming

[00:49:07] down the road.

[00:49:09] The man who was at our window didn't hesitate in taking off running in the direction

[00:49:13] of the scream.

[00:49:15] He returned a few minutes later with a severely scraped up woman in his arms who turned out

[00:49:20] to be his girlfriend.

[00:49:23] My mom unlocked the doors and let the man set her down in the passenger seat while we

[00:49:28] waited for the cops to come.

[00:49:31] The girlfriend told us that the man who stole the car didn't notice her until he started

[00:49:35] speeding off.

[00:49:36] He tried to hit her but she scratched and punched him while pleading with him to stop

[00:49:41] the car.

[00:49:42] He kept coming at her until he finally rolled down the window and shoved her out while

[00:49:48] he was going about 60 miles per hour.

[00:49:50] When the cops finally showed up they talked to all of us to get our stories.

[00:49:55] While talking to one of the officers my mom learned that the man who had stolen the other

[00:50:00] guy's car shot and killed a man behind some apartment complex and that is why he was

[00:50:06] driving so fast and trying to get away.

[00:50:10] The man ended up being caught later that same night as he was trying to steal another

[00:50:15] car.

[00:50:16] He had already ditched the car that he stole from the guy who pulled up behind us.

[00:50:21] What really helped with getting this guy apprehended and convicted was that when this woman

[00:50:26] was fighting him off she grabbed the wrap off of his head before she was shoved out

[00:50:31] the window.

[00:50:32] She didn't even know that she had successfully pulled it off of his head until the police

[00:50:36] got there and found it where she was pushed out.

[00:50:41] The man spent time in jail but I was never informed of how long or anything like that and

[00:50:47] honestly I never cared to ask.

[00:50:50] When we finally got home my siblings and I were all told to go to bed but of course I

[00:50:55] wasn't able to sleep that night so I went downstairs to talk to my mom.

[00:51:00] I worked up the courage to ask her why she stopped running to the car when the other guy

[00:51:05] didn't.

[00:51:06] She told me she had such a strong feeling that she should stay in the car with us that

[00:51:12] it was almost like she could hear it.

[00:51:16] When she heard him start yelling for help she dismissed this voice and started back to

[00:51:20] help again but the overwhelming feeling that she had was telling her to stay put.

[00:51:28] To this day I wondered what would have happened to my mom and all of us if she had not listened

[00:51:33] to her gut feeling.

[00:51:36] The man could have easily overpowered her and got into our car if she had been any closer

[00:51:41] to him.

[00:51:56] Thanks for listening and make sure you stick around after the music if you're a patron

[00:51:59] for your extended version of this week's episode and if you want to get access to that

[00:52:03] and a whole heap of bonus content all add free head over to patreon.com forward slash

[00:52:09] let's not meet podcast to sign up and support the show today you're going to get hours

[00:52:14] and hours of bonus content with stories you won't hear anywhere else again all ad free

[00:52:20] that's patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast this week you have heard

[00:52:25] followed home and scared to death by cheesy breadstick the lure by T Clark EC the body on

[00:52:32] the side of the road by okay dark 9 6 6 0 she was more than twice my age by wheels on

[00:52:40] ice 2020 my stalker defended me at the hot dog shop by Jesse bunny lock your doors and DC

[00:52:50] by Tha King Amy Bernie's by Judge Dre the man who chased me in the dark by sticky coach

[00:52:58] grace and finally always listen to your gut by fuzzy fox 41097 all of the stories you've

[00:53:07] heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors

[00:53:11] if you have a story to share send it to let's not meet stories let's not meet a true

[00:53:15] horror podcast is not associated with reddit or any other message boards online finally

[00:53:21] make sure you check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like odd trails my true

[00:53:25] paranormal podcast and the old time radio cast at cryptic county podcasts dot com we'll

[00:53:31] see you all next week stay safe

[00:53:55] this happened a couple of years ago