And That's Why We Drink - E215 Bigfoot Geometry and Tin Can Fingerprints

Episode Date: March 21, 2021

Today in episode 215, we're tackling the big questions, like is it Bigfoots or Bigfeet? We're taking you back to our live show in Seattle this week where Em covers the most famous cryptid of all, that's right, Washington State Monster himself, Sasquatch! Then Christine brings us the unbelievable story of the kidnapping of local 9-year-old George Weyerhaeuser and the wild logistical choices his kidnappers made. Christine might have also worn Em's underwear in your city, Seattle... and that's why we drink! Please consider supporting the companies that support us! Simply visit athleticgreens.com/DRINK and get your FREE year supply of Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs today!Try Acorn TV free for 30 days, by going to Acorn.TV and using promo code DRINKGet started today at StitchFix.com/DRINK and you’ll get 25% off when youkeep everything in your Fix!Go to THIRDLOVE.com/DRINK now to find your perfect-fitting bra… and get 20% off your first purchase!Go to Curology.com/DRINK for a free 30-day trial, just pay for shipping and handling!Go to FunctionofBeautY.com/DRINK to take your quiz and save 20% on your first order!

Hello, everybody. So we haven't done this in a while to you, but we are actually going to be posting a live show today. Yeah, there was a lot going on in everybody's life these past week or so. And I was traveling to visit places, grandma, whole thing. It was just very chaotic. So at a certain point, we were like, it's probably easier to just release one of our gems that we have saved up i think it's the uh seattle episode one of our seattle shows it's one of the bigger ones on my end story wise it was a lot of research you're gonna like it if you uh are hmm a fan of a very uh popular cryptid let's just say that yeah and i i went and looked at what story I'd covered, and it's a doozy. So I think this is a really big episode. I'm going to listen to it as soon as it comes out just to refresh my memory of touring and just feel sad and miss you and miss traveling.

Just to feel sad. Womp womp. Well, I hope everyone enjoys it. I know we definitely enjoyed it. We also enjoyed taking the week off, to be completely honest. But that's okay. We will be back with our regular programming next Sunday. We can't wait to see you then.

Otherwise, we're going to sit back and listen to Seattle with you now. So let's rack and do the fiddy-boo. Sorry. I feel like a kid that's about to give a presentation that he has no idea about. We just flew in from Los Angeles and boy are my arms tired. Fun fact, he was a wonton. Listen, English is my first language. Is camera home?

What? Sassy with me. Sassy the clown? The clown is shy. Ugh, quite. Oh, sweet. Finish your drink. And that's why we dream!

Hello, Seattle! What's going on? Holy shit! Woo! Holy shit! You're loud, you're loud! Oh my goodness. Oh, hey, thanks for selling us out, by the way.

Yeah! Oh, don't show me their faces! No! Hello, everyone! Hi, hi, hi! Oh my, wow. Hello, everyone. Hi, hi, hi. Oh, my. Wow. Hello.

Wow. I like to say that's probably the loudest we've ever heard in the audience before. All right. And we've been to Texas, so that is saying something. That's true. Thank you guys so, so much for coming. We had a show here yesterday also, so hopefully we're at least equally funny tonight. We can't fingers crossed anything um yesterday i did not have clothes with me so i did wear ems and evas clothing well explain that first so well okay do i have to well delta lost my baggage

um and so they brought it back but well so she didn't have clothes and she was like what what am i gonna do on stage and i was like i don't know just wear my clothes and so she didn't have clothes and she was like what what am I gonna do on stage and I was like I don't know just wear my clothes and so she took it literally and wore my clothes but then decided how she was gonna wear them so she wore my underwear on top of the pants okay well there's okay I wore Eva's pants and Eva's a very small human and so I was like I gotta wear something on top of them to kind of so she needed she needed my baggy parachute underwear, apparently. So she threw that on. That was a good time, though.

It was a good time. Interesting. And then later people were like, oh, I thought you were kidding. And I was like, you just thought I did that for fun? No? I think L.A. is a weird place, apparently. Yeah, maybe. I mean, it is.

Did you do anything? Oh, you look beautiful with or without my underwear. I'm sure you look beautiful, too, whoever underwear. I'm sure you look beautiful too, whoever you are. What did you do today? Well, I was very cold a lot of the day. Yeah, it's freezing here, guys. I did feel kind of like an asshole because yesterday I went to Starbucks, and I was like, well, I went to Starbucks, but I do that every day.

So I need to find a local coffee shop. So I did that come, I need to like find a, like a local coffee shop. So I did that and I was like, cool. I did my thing. And then, uh, I got a sandwich at Panera. Oh, good. A little bit of basic bitch stays with you. But I did go to the Jimi Hendrix statue. So that was cool. I felt like, I felt like that was pretty cool. So I don't know. What did you do? Um, well, I didn't leave the hotel because I was oh good I I was trying really hard the story I'm gonna do is like very overwhelming with how much information there is out there so I was trying really hard to get it all taken care of I've heard a lot of hints about this yeah I made a genius mistake because I don't know what that means I was going

to I got Postmates today for lunch but I accidentally ordered from a restaurant that only serves like family style. So I ordered lasagna and I got like a pan of lasagna. And wow, did I have fun. Accidentally. Yeah, it was an accident that I ended up really appreciating. So I still had a good time in Seattle. So thank you guys. Yes. So with that, let good time in Seattle. So thank you guys. Yes.

So with that, let's crack into it. Yeah. Okay. I'm excited to see what the hell you've been working on for like four days here. Oh, guys, just so you know, if you guys want like a behind the scenes little thing about how I do my notes, I try to do, if you're on a Word document, I try to make notes, I try to always make them the same length, so I try to make it a page

and a half in eight-point font. Just so you know. It's really... These notes, I got it as down as I could. It was eight-point font in 40 pages. And I was like, oh, shit. So, I tried really hard to break this down while also giving you as

much information as possible and it is just the most overwhelming notes I've ever done in my life so let's see if like you get a like me in middle school where I didn't know what the fuck I was doing or me trying who knows so um I sure don't it It's not. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This is not a ghost. What is it? Don't boo me. I have anxiety. Hey, get out of here. Not today. I'm hoping

you guys will have heard of this one before. Okay. It's the one you guessed in the car that I told you no to. I knew it. This is the story of Sasquatch. I knew it. Em's like, no, nice try. I was like, wow, you're such an idiot, Christine. I wouldn't do that one.

So, there's a lot of information, obviously, but I tried to bring as much fun as i could into this so okay we'll see we'll see you're the judge um so we'll just start with all the places it's been featured in movie and tv wise because that's what has been featured what yeah okay yeah um harry and the henderson's first a goofy movie. Which is just the best. Which is my biggest cheer.

It also has had features in Futurama, an original movie called Bigfoot on the Syfy channel, or as my dad lovingly calls it, the Siffy Network. And, of course, Animal Planet's TV series, Finding Bigfoot. My favorite show. There's also a podcast.

That's why we drink that you should listen to. I'm notfoot. Right. My favorite show. There's also a podcast. Oh, gosh. Oh, and that's why we drink that you should listen to. I'm just kidding. Oh. I'm not kidding. Keep coming to the shows. There's a podcast called Sasquatch Chronicles. Oh, my.

And it's been out since 2013 and just celebrated their 500th episode. 500th. Yowza. And have they found Sasquatch? They have quite a lot of chronicles on Sasquatch Chronicles and they had actually I listened to a few episodes I do recommend it it's very very good

I looked up their website and the about section of their website says in November 2012 my brother and I came face to face with several of these creatures in the foothills of Washington State they surrounded our car and we could not safely leave the location. It's funny, isn't it?

Yeah, I hope that happens to you on the way home. I never believed in these creatures before, and this encounter deeply changed both of our lives. I decided to create a safe outlet for others like myself to discuss our unique encounters and experiences. And since our encounter, I've been investigating reports from eyewitnesses and speaking with researchers and investigators to help unravel the mystery that surrounds these elusive creatures oh my i'm just gonna save my commentary for when you're actually oh when i'm done with my 40 pages okay yeah i'll save it for

page 38 thanks so uh just, I do recommend them. It was very, very fun to listen to. So, what is Sasquatch? Says no one here because everyone knows. I'll tell you. Sasquatch is a cryptid in North America folklore, and it's specifically in the Pacific Northwest region, and especially surrounding areas of Washington State.

Okay. Where in Washington State alone, a third of the sightings have been. Oh, my. You guys are weird. We knew that already. Don't worry. And it's, I tried to, there's a lot of different descriptions. I tried to make the most blanket statement description I could.

A muscular, upright, walking, ape-like creature with a version of brown hair, because everyone's got different color brown hair, apparently, six to nine feet tall and lives in woodland regions. They have footprints that go up to two feet long and eight inches wide. Oh, my. They take long, leaping bounds when running, and they walk with a, quote, lopping gait. Loping.

Loping. Loping. Remember last night when Em called it the pungent sound? Oh, yeah. If you guys were, I didn't know that. It's Puget, right? Puget. Puget. Christ.

Em goes, the pungent sound. And I was like, Eva, you. Don't worry. Everyone let me know I was wrong. Oh, yeah. That's the fun of this show. I'm always wrong, and everyone let me know I was wrong. Oh, yeah. That's the fun of this show. I'm always wrong and everyone lets me know. All right, so not a lopping gate, a loping gate.

So apparently the closest description I could find for the face of a Sasquatch is that it's a mix of a gorilla and a human and has a round crested face that sits directly on shoulders and has virtually no neck. Just kind of just head plopped right on there. Ew. The Sasquatch weighs up to 500 pounds and makes strange grunting, gurgling, and howling noises at night.

Good. Good. Same. Someone said same. My hotel room is like adjoining M, so I can confirm. Did you hear me snoring last night? No. Oh, good.

I did hear you watching a lot of weird YouTube videos, though. That's true. They are... Oh, they're also known... This is also you, Christine. They're known for being accompanied by a foul smell whenever they enter a room. Good one. They have also been seen floating across the ground instead of just walking sometimes.

They're reported as gliding. And that is because of... That part has potentially been explained by their, quote, tell me if I'm saying it wrong, complaint gate. I don't know what that is. If they are connected to primates, apparently instead of having a stiff-legged walk like humans, the Sasquatch might have a bent-legged walk, which suppresses the bobbing motion, so it looks like they're gliding instead of walking. Sure, I'm just going to trust you on that.

I don't really get it, but okay. They look like they're floating. That's all that matters. Okay, I'm just going to trust you on that. I don't really get it, but okay. They look like they're floating. That's all that matters. Okay, okay, okay. Also, fun fact, apparently a lot of conspiracy theories that the government has known about them for decades and has facilitated capturing and murdering them.

That part wouldn't surprise me, I guess. That one is on one of the episodes I listened to of Sasquatch Chronicles, and it was really detailed and really creepy. Sasquatch versus Bigfoot, because I didn't know if there was a difference. I don't either, so illuminate me. Maybe they all do, and I'm just going to tell you. That guy does, though, I can tell.

He knows a lot. So Bigfoot is actually just an umbrella term for human-like giants. What? So you. Yeah. Yep. Tarantula legs. So... With my tarantula legs, yeah. So they are... So a Bigfoot can be a Sasquatch, or a Sasquatch can be a Bigfoot, but Bigfoot can be also like the Abominable Snowman or... This sounds a lot like the geometry puzzles. I don't understand. Yeah. A square can be also like the abominable snowman. This sounds a lot like the geometry puzzles. I don't understand. Yeah.

A square can be... One is the other, but the other isn't one, yes. Got it. So, but even though Bigfoot is a blanket term for any human giant, Bigfoot is actually a phrase that came later. Okay. So, which we'll get to, don't worry. Oh, great. Most areas have a version of a human-like giant in their own folklore, so every area has their own type of Bigfoot.

So one of my favorites was in Turkish folklore, there's a cryptid called the Almaz, and one of them actually ended up sleeping with a bunch of the villagers in the 1850s. Drama! If only VH1 had been around at that time. Also in Florida, apparently there's the skunk ape. What? And in Australia, they have a Bigfoot called the yaoi. Yaoi, right.

That's what you say when you see them. And then in Indonesia... Thanks, Dad. You're welcome. Also, this is another one of my favorites. In Indonesia, there's one called the ibu gogo, which actually translates to grandma who eats anything so that's me so you're the bigfoot and right okay got it got it got it also in the himalayas is the yeti or the abominable snowman which actually are the

same thing apparently okay um but in they it was only called the yeti, and it was actually, up until the 1920s, also called the Mehto Kangmi. Sure. Which actually translates to Man-Bear Snowman. But someone, a reporter in 1921, was trying to translate it and clearly translated it wrong. And instead of Man-Bear, translated it to a very similar word that actually translates to filthy so for a while it was the filthy snowman it also sounds like a vh1 yeah and then he didn't like how it sounded so he altered it to say abominable fun fact okay you didn't know you were learning about every cryptid tonight did you also, there's a whole lot of native tribes

that have their own versions of Bigfoot. One of them is actually the origin of the Wendigo. Oh, okay. Which I've covered in one of our episodes. Yes. So in different tribes, the creatures usually signify either a bad omen, evil, or death.

Good. So nothing good. Yeah. And some have actually been said to drag you away in the night, which was a story that they would tell children so they wouldn't leave the house when they're supposed to be asleep. I love that. I love that that seems to be a common thread in every culture. Yeah. Just terrorize your children. So the word Sasquatch was coined in 1929 by a guy named J.W. Burns, who actually took the word Sasquatch from a native word, sesquic, and it translates to wild men.

Oh, okay. He was writing an article for a magazine compiling people's sightings of the creature, and he just decided that he was going to go with Sasquatch. Doesn't really make too much sense to me, but okay. So, fun fact though when he when he posted the posted the article like it's on social media when he published the article in an actual newspaper oh my god um he the art the newspaper actually came out on April Fool's Day so people thought that it wasn't real. And so that was just the beginning of nobody actually really ever fully believing in Sasquatch since day one.

That's sad. So since the 1800s, over 900 sets of Bigfoot footprints have been reported. And there have been up to, so Mount Rainier is actually the record holder for the amount of sightings. They've had up to 70. Oh, okay, okay. And mainly the reports are eyewitness reports, which is actually the weakest type of evidence,

and 95% of them are mistakes and hoaxes. Shocker. In 2007, there was an article in a survey that said that 16% of believable uh 16 percent of people absolutely believe in bigfoot well 14 only 16 oh that's a lot in my mind i'm like a thousand people should so what the fuck but and also 44 people 44 percent of people are open-minded to it so that that's a lot i mean that is a lot but yes, absolutely. Yeah. And then 44% of people are open-minded to the idea if there's ever proof. Holy.

Okay. Sure. So this year alone, there's already been 16 sightings. And also, there's a whole lot of stories on Reddit, which I was trying to find some really good Sasquatch stories on Reddit, and there were too many, and I got overwhelmed. So read them yourself. Sasquatch stories on Reddit and there were too many and I got overwhelmed so read them yourself.

Majority of sightings include the Sasquatch creature either dodging their car when they try to hit it. What? Apparently they get scared and think it's like a deer and then they think that they're too close. They should hit it? Well if you're

too close I think they're afraid of stopping and flipping the car so they to, apparently they notice it dodging cars, climbing trees, bathing in ponds. The whole spectrum. Or my favorite is a lot of people see it running and screaming at the same time. Yeah. Which, that's me when I run, so I can only imagine. I was going to say, a lot of these things hit really close to home. Yeah.

Yeah. So in 1811, so we're all the way back in 1811. Oh, okay. David Thompson is the very first person to discover a Bigfoot track. Okay. It's a footprint that is- And he is here tonight. Yep.

And the footprint he found was 18 inches long and did not belong to a bear. And up until he tried sharing with people, nobody... Until he tried, he put it in a newspaper and nobody knew what track it was. Okay. So that was the beginning of the bear...

The barefoot. The Bigfoot saga. Okay. He thought it must be a giant because apparently, I think I'm doing it right, the Spokane tribe? Spokane, like the city. Yeah, I know, but I was going to say Spokane like an asshole. You did say, wait, really? I said pungent yesterday, Christine.

I know. I don't know what I'm doing. Why do I question anymore? So he thought it must, if it's not a bear, his next thought was it must be a giant because apparently in the area that he saw it, the Spokane tribe believed that there were giants living in that area. Oh, interesting. Because they have some story that goes all the way back saying that a big giant-like human was stealing all their salmon when they would sleep. Oh, that sucks. So it turned into a regular. It does. It does. Legitimately, I'd be really pissed. And so. I love salmon. He thought maybe it was a giant. In the 1840s,

a Protestant missionary reported also seeing giants in the area. And in 1847, a guy named Paul Kane wrote a story about a skookum. Don't look at me. Which is a supernatural cannibalistic wild man that lives in Mount St. Helens. What? So apparently a skookum is a type of Sasquatch and a Sasquatch is a type of Bigfoot. Okay, got it. The little branches. I'm following. Eva, write that down because I will not remember it later. Okay, thank you. So in 1870,

a hunter saw a Sasquatch scattering his campfire remains and printed a story in the newspaper. Everyone just printed stories in the newspaper. Yeah, what the hell? And I paid for a journalism degree. I'm the fool here. Everyone's just like, I'll put it in the newspaper. In 1884, in British Columbia, there was a news article of a group of men that saw... Okay. Hey, hey. We're going there tomorrow. Hey-o.

We can't talk about me and Canada right now. We don't want to derail too hard. Everyone's head will explode. I'm so excited. In a British Columbia news article, a group of men saw a creature by the railroad tracks and they said it was, quote, something of a gorilla type with thick, glossy black hair. Okay. They named it Jacko.

Oh, that's cute. Then they ran it over to a, on top of a bluff and then knocked it on the head with a rock. What? Why? But they, I don't know, because 1880s was a fucked up time. Yeah. I mean, I'm not going to deny that, I guess. So they wrote about that saying it looked like it was a baby Sasquatch.

What? Yeah. In 1893, Theodore Roosevelt. Oh, boy. Where is this going? I don't know. He wrote into a publication called The Wilderness Hunter, Theodore Roosevelt. Oh, boy. Where is this going? I don't know. He wrote into a publication called The Wilderness Hunter,

and he wrote about a story that he heard from a drunken old mountain hunter named Bauman. Sure. But apparently even he was open-minded to the thought, and he wanted to publish a story, so he did. After that, so all the way through the 1800s people keep seeing uh this creature and so by the end of the 1800s people are just taking the sasquatch sightings super seriously and are now blaming everything left and right for sasquatches so i love that game that's well in 1910 uh in nahini valley canada okay Which apparently is not too far. I don't know. I'm not even going to open my mouth. Not too famous, I guess. Nahini Valley, two miners

were found there dead with their heads cut off. And for no reason at all, Sasquatch was to blame. Which is really lucky for the guy who killed them. But there was no... It wasn't even suggested that it wasn't like a human

that hurt them they were just like there's only one explanation like the cops got there were like that's that's the work of a sasquatch if i've ever seen it oh so nowadays nahini valley is now known and the name was officially changed to headless Valley. Are you serious? Yeah. Okay. So, then in 1924, all of a sudden, a bunch of stories come out for some reason. That's like the year of the Sasquatch.

Famously so, yes. So, in 1924, a guy named Albert reported actually being kidnapped and taken hostage by a family of Sasquatch. A family? A whole family. Oh, boy. The father and daughter guarded him while the mother and son prepared meals.

What? And at first he was afraid that he was also going to be part of the meal. Yes. But then he found out that they were vegetarian. And were just keeping him as a pet and tried to feed him their vegetarian diet. And that's the first use of magic mushrooms in Civilian Northwest.

That is bonkers. I'm sorry. So also in 1924, in the newspaper, of course, again, there were five miners that actually claimed seeing several Sasquatches throw rocks at them and try breaking into their cabin in the middle of the night. Cool. Apparently they screamed, quote quote like a bunch of apes and the next morning they went out and found a foot long footprints okay okay okay in god I'm following I know it's it's quite a lot guys I told you 40 pages of this no I'm I'm buckled up I'm ready so uh and from the 1940s to the 1960s there were several reports that started coming in of people having close encounters like people saying like they had

to grab their child off the playground because a sasquatch tried to get them like wild things and uh 1958 this was when the term bigfoot actually came out because one guy named jerry was a construction it always starts with a guy named Jerry was a construction... It always starts with a guy named Jerry. I was like, how'd that get everyone? I'm telling you. So Jerry was a construction worker, and while he was working on a site, he found a massive footprint.

He decided to actually make a cast of it in the hole and then bring it to a newspaper office and be like, this is what I found. Look how big this footprint is. He prepared. He was like, no one's going to. Look how big this footprint is. He prepared. He was like, no one's going to believe me. I better make a cast. So then he goes to the newspaper office, and he says, look at how big this thing is.

So then they take a picture of him next to it, because it was apparently like half the size of him. Oh, okay. It was a big foot. Okay. Oh. Oh, there it is. I get it.

So. I get it. Then they took a picture and posted it in the newspaper, and the text under the picture said, New Sasquatch found. It's called Bigfoot. Clever. And that was how the name Bigfoot happened.

Very clever. Got it. Oh, I heard one clap, and I was like, okay. Someone's amped. I really got them there. Someone's excited. But apparently the giant foot that he found, excited. But apparently the giant foot that he found, the footprint,

not the giant foot. On the playground he found a giant foot. All the children screamed. So apparently, so his boss's name was Wilbur and Wilbur had a brother named Ray. Okay, alright. So we fucking

hate Ray. We do. So, Ray... Everybody hates Ray. Since the 50s... Get it? I gotcha. Everyone hates Raymond. Thank you. I tried. You should have a comedy show. I don't think so. So,

Ray's... So, Ray in the 50s, when Bigfoot was coined and this Bigfoot was found, apparently he hid the secret for a long time, but he only died a couple years ago. And his kids admitted that for decades, Ray would go around with big man-made footprint boots. And he would intentionally throw people off. footprint boots. And he would intentionally throw people off and

one of the footprints that he made was the one that Jerry found and Bigfoot was coined after. That's sad for Jerry. But keep in mind, that information came out recently. So in the 50s everyone was like, oh shit, this is a Bigfoot. Wait, so what kind of

psycho is Ray? He's had a lot of free time being like i'm just gonna stomp around in these giant shoes he had a he had a hobby that's all i can say about him i mean don't we all i guess so in 1967 this is when bigfoot like this was like the the real time where everyone actually was starting to believe i thought that was24. 1924 is when all those stories really started pouring in. But 1967 people were... On board. Were really questioning whether or not it was around. So in 1967

there were two guys named Roger and Robert and they actually caught a Sasquatch allegedly on film. Oh, I thought they caught it. No. In a cage. No, they like filmed it got it uh and this is probably the most iconic video of bigfoot um this is the most well known one where he's where he's walking in the woods and that's the one you guys you wouldn't understand

so uh it shows quote a hairy human humanoid figure walking through the woods, looking at them for a second, and then continuing walking. Yeah. Just like that. Just like this. To this day, nobody has proven that the film was fake or doctored, even though it was a film back in 1967. Oh, so Photoshop.

They've had a while to try to prove that it's doctored, and they haven't been able to skeptics say that it's a costume it's just someone walking around in a gorilla suit but if you pay close attention to it now that the you know enough time has passed and they've been able to see they can now watch the video and a lot on a clearer screen right I don't know technology um it sounded good to me it doesn't look pixelated. It's very clear. And apparently you can tell that it is too realistic for someone to have been walking around in for a costume. Because underneath the skin you can see muscle movement. You can even see a tumor on its right leg.

What? Things that... Sorry, that was loud. Things that like a costume wouldn't probably have. A tumor? There was like... It's very like... There's so much detail to it

that in 1967, like, okay, it would have been a really expensive costume to admit. so. I imagine so.

Um, one anthropologist, this is a large quote, but when asked about, uh, when asked about that video, Yeah. he said,

it's easy to say, oh, it looks like a man in a fursuit until you see a man in a fursuit because you can actually see, not just, I could have said that too. I know. I mean, oh, it looks like a man in a fursuit until you see a man in a fursuit because you can actually see not just – I could have said that too.

I know. I mean, and I don't have a PhD. Look, I told you I'm quoting him. I don't want to be responsible for that. You can see muscle movements. You can see the shoulder blades slide under the skin. You can see tendons attaching to joints and so forth. The clarity is really much better than most people have acknowledged in the past. We worked with a motion and gait analysis lab and brought in an actor who coached them

in order to simulate the posture that was exhibited by the creature in the video, and he was not able to do anything anywhere closely approximate to the posture of the body, the angles of the joints, and so forth. I have a question. Yeah. Is that guy always on the History Channel being interviewed? I don't know. Maybe.

I didn't i feel like he's definitely an expert witness for anyone who has a kind of out there maybe i don't know maybe that's his career well so after that movie came out uh sightings skyrocketed in washington state you guys really ran with it. In fact, tell me if I'm wrong. I know you will. Oh, shit. It autocorrected. Now I really don't know what it's called. Just tell me really quietly. No. Uh-oh. I'm just going to say a county. What county?

Okay. Autocorrect made it say stamina county. I know that's not right. Whatever that one was. Yes. Stamina. Sure. That county that's not right. Whatever that one was, yes. Sure. That county. We heard it. Their county commissioners actually in the 60s put

in an ordinance in place to protect Sasquatches and keep people from hunting them. So in 1969 a law came out saying willful slaying of such a creature shall be deemed a felony and you're going to be either charged five years in prison and or a $10,000 fine.

It has since been amended. What a good use of their time. I know. It has since been amended to a gross misdemeanor so it's either a $1,000 fine or one year in jail. The real reason that they put this in was because since so many people were stoked about finding Sasquatch,

they were afraid that someone was going to try to find a real Sasquatch and hunt one and accidentally kill a hunter in camouflage or something. Yeah, like kill somebody else. So, that's why they also put in another amendment that if you do happen to kill a Bigfoot

and one day it is legally recognized as a human, they will charge you for homicide. So they're like, just wait. So they're like, don't kill them. That podcast will someday figure this out. Right. And we'll get there.

So in the 1970s, Sasquatch has now become a mainstream character in media, and there were three big scary movies that came out starring Sasquatch. The Legend of Boggy Creek, Creature from the Black Lake, and The Capture of Bigfoot. By this point, Sasquatch was so popular that you guys

also decided that it was going to be a staple in American pseudoscience and become Washington's state monster. Good job. That's a pretty good state monster, though. Yeah. I'd say. So in 1980...

What's our state monster? I don't know. Oh. Geo? I don't know. Probably. So by 1980, there were over 400 reports, and these were some of my favorites. So Glenn Thomas reported walking through the woods when he spotted a family

of bigfoots there were uh they were digging through a pile of rocks and eating the small animals that they found underneath they were vegetarian listen everyone's got a story okay maybe maybe the the vegetarians were doing that by choice oh it wasn't natural to them it was a choice okay got it so investigators went back back later and found when they found out that a bunch of Bigfoots were digging all these holes, they were like, okay, let's go see if that actually happened. They went back to the spot and there were actually 30 holes

that had been dug up and all the boulders that were moved that would have been needed to have moved to dig the holes, they were over 250 pounds each. So for something really strong, I had to be moving myself. So this guy wasn't just running around moving them by himself. Right. So this was a description of their

sound that I really appreciated. Are you going to make the sound? No. I just wanted to warn myself. No. I don't want to hear it. I am vetoing this decision. Me too.

Screw you guys. I don't want that in it. I would just, like... I am vetoing this decision. Me too. Screw you guys. I don't want that in my ears. It's described as their deafening, screaming, choking, belching moan from the top of a mountain. The kind of scream that sends mothers scurrying to find their children. The kind of scream

that no cougar or bear could ever squeeze from their throat unless it was their last. What the fuck? A piercing, echoing, guttural, and single, horrible, high-pitched, yet throaty, inhuman, unnatural creation from Steven Spielberg that makes your skin crawl.

What? So it sounds downright awful. No! We're not going to do it. I wouldn't even know how to. No, nobody apparently does, because that sounds horrific. So then the last report that I really enjoyed was there was a guy

named Stan, and he says that he first met a Sasquatch when he was a little boy, and every day after school, he would meet the Sasquatch in he was a little boy, and every day after school, he would meet the Sasquatch in the woods and talked with him about the kids at school. Oh, okay. Which sounds way fun. I can imagine going up to this guy being like, bitch, guess what Chelsea fucking did?

Chelsea? You mean Megan. Oh, and Megan. I, not to de- Sorry, Chelsea was the name of my bully, so. Yeah. Not to derail, but I did just literally last night watch an episode of Bob's Burgers where Tina befriends a goose and like keeps telling the goose about all her boy problems.

And it sounds exactly like that. No wonder I identify so strongly with her. So here are some of the things that they found that is considered proof of Sasquatch. In 1982, they found dermal ridge impressions that were discovered on the footprint cast, which are the lines in your feet that open up for sweat pores and stuff like that. Oh, cool.

And they moved horizontally from toe to heel, which is the opposite of human beings, and they were thick and calloused. Ew. So unless someone's a really good artist. I mean, it sounds like Ray was pretty talented. Yeah, right? There's also further proof that in 2007, there's an organization called the Bigfoot Field Researchers

Organization, and they released pictures of a juvenile Bigfoot, which some people said it looked kind of like a bear, but they were able to prove that it also looked a lot like a chimpanzee, and people really don't know what this animal is. Okay. Interesting. Also in 2000, there was one cast of a creature that instead of it just being a footprint, they made a cast of a Bigfoot lying on its side. And they said that it had recognizable impressions of a forearm, thigh, and buttocks, Achilles

tendon, and heel. Oh, dear. It was 40% to 50% bigger than a normal human, and it was an anatomy unknown for any animal. So they don't know what it was, but fun fact. I know what it was. It was a Bigfoot, probably. So scientists' main theories of Sasquatch possibly being real is that it could be an evolved version of the species called

Gigantopithecus. Yep. That sounds right. But their fossils have only been found in Asia and they walked on all fours. So that's the argument there. The only way that they could actually be Bigfoot

is if they somehow migrated without showing any fossil record and also learned to walk on two legs. Bigfoot could also be a descendant of the Paranthropus, which would explain that it does walk on two legs and its gorilla-like skull. But those fossils have only been found in Africa and have been extinct for hundreds of years. Okay. been extinct for hundreds of years so okay um the next argument that actually says like bigfoot is not does not exist is that after all these years we found no bigfoot dna no fecal matter no nests and uh professional trackers can never guarantee tracks where they should be in a heavy bipedal primate foot toes should splay apart and the soles should be rough and cracked.

But all of the footprint casts that people have found are that the soles and the balls of the feet look like really soft, smooth human feet. Okay. And the toes are close together. So instead of like stepping in dirt and the toes splaying, they're always like a perfect foot. Okay. Also, no Bigfoot bones or bodies have ever been found to date. And some people have tried to argue that saying that Bigfoot is supernatural and will not let us find their bodies.

Yeah. Or that. Also, the fact that now that we all have cameras in our pockets 24-7, why haven't there been an influx in recorded sightings? And there's like TV shows about it. Right. And samples that have been sent to labs claiming to be Bigfoot DNA have come back as camel, elk, cow, porcupine. Oh my. And unknown.

But the unknown. I like camel. I like porcupine. Where are the camels coming from? We'll get there, don't worry. Oh good. And also unknown. So a lot of people think, oh unknown means that it's unidentifiable and it could be an animal we've never heard of. But that usually in a lab means that it's just contaminated or too degraded to degraded. That sounds right. Yeah, okay. I was like, is that autocorrected? I was like, is that a joke that we have together that I forgot? No, it's basically like it's broken down.

It can't be analyzed by the lab. I got it. And one time they thought they finally found Bigfoot blood, but it was transmission oil. So that was a dead end. And then a guy named Phillips, who is a cultural anthropologist, he said, what it takes to maintain any species especially a long-lived species is a breeding population so that requires a substantial number spread out over a fairly wide area that can find sufficient food and shelter and the fact that this has all somehow been hidden by the

investigators or from investigators is really trippy but an npr interview with jane goodall actually she said in 2002 and 2012. I met her one time. Did you? Okay, here's the thing. Sorry. No. I'll just be really short. Go ahead.

So I met her one time, but it was so wild because I was with my brother back in D.C., and we ran into her, and she was holding a stuffed gorilla, and we were like, there's no way that's actually, like, why would- That's the most Jane Goodall thing you can see. We were like, we must just be inventing this, and we said hi and whatever. It was her, but she was literally walking around with a stuffed gorilla.

Good for her. Yeah. So, like, if... I'm just saying she lives up to exactly what you would picture. Love it. Well... She was very lovely also, but anyway. She...

Well, in 2002 and 2012, she said that she definitely believes that they could exist and hopes that one day there's proof that comes to light. She really believes they exist? That they could exist. Okay. Oh, that they could exist. Okay.

I'll take it. Really quick, I want to say some of the more famous hoaxes of Sasquatch. So there's one guy named Tom Biscardi. Tom Biscardi? Tom Biscardi, not Tom Bacardi. I thought you said Tom Biscardi. No, sorry. I did say it weird. Tom Biscardi, not Tom Bacardi. I thought you said Tombis. No, sorry. I did say it weird.

Tombis. Tom Biscardi. Got it. He's the CEO of a company called Searching for Bigfoot. Oh, wow. And he announced that he had captured Bigfoot. Oh, boy. And that he was selling tickets for people to see it.

Oh, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom. But there were no bodies that, there was like no Bigfoot bodies at all even though he said that he had them after people bought tickets. So they'd show up and be like where the fuck is this Sasquatch body? What? So he tricked everyone. How did he put, he just He just said oh there's a body come see it and then they'd show up and they'd be like where is it and he'd be like never mind

sucker. Oh so he didn't even play it off. He just was like okay bye. So then in 2008 a guy named Rick and his friend Matthew they posted on even play it off. No. He just was like, okay, bye. So then in 2008, a guy named Rick and his friend Matthew, they posted on YouTube that they found

the body of a dead Sasquatch. Oh, gosh. And the story actually was so popular that major news networks tried to go to the building to check out the body. And then the body

ended up being examined and the hair was not real, the head was hollow, and the feet were rubber. But they tricked like every major news network. I kind of love that part. That's fun. Well, Rick makes a comeback, almost. Six years later, in 2014,

he says, okay guys, this time I actually have a Bigfoot here. Guys, believe me. This time I'm not lying to you. So he says he killed a Bigfoot, which by the way is illegal. Which by the way, someday will be homicide. Right. And he had scientific tests

performed on the body. He said that it's the real deal. It's Bigfoot and I shot it and now I'm proving it to the world. And he said he didn't want to just show it. He wanted to actually go on tour with the body. Oh, for God's s to just show it he wanted to actually go on tour with the body for god's sakes and so he went on a north american tour and apparently showed everyone the body um he released photos of it and a video of it but never released any tests or biological

samples um and then eventually he admitted that the corpse was a hoax a hoax and he had paid someone to actually build it for him after he had already gone on the tour and taken everyone's money. Oh, great. And so those are the three most famous hoaxes, apparently, beyond Ray and the Big Footsteps. I was going to say, that seems like the OG hoax.

Right, yeah. Well, he's known, actually, as the father of Sasquatch, or the father of Bigfoot. Really? Yeah, because he was... I mean, yeah. Currently, he's known actually as the father of Sasquatch, or the father of Bigfoot. Really? Yeah, because he was... I mean, yeah. Currently, he was the one who did most of the stomping around in fake shoes.

His poor grandkids who were like, guys, sorry, we have bad news. Right. For everybody. Well, in 2013, Zoo Bank, which is an organization that assigns species names, actually approved Sasquatch to have its official classified species name as Homo Sasquatchus. Very original. They also said that it is officially acceptable that if you're going for a plural form of Bigfoot, Bigfoots and Bigfeet are both appropriate. They're both grammatically correct. I'm glad you put that in there because I was

wondering. And also because Washington State is home to more Sasquatch sightings than any other area there have been a few attempts now but there is a Senate bill trying to pass a law making Sasquatch Washington State emblem and state cryptid to get you guys also state license plates with Sasquatch on it. state cryptid to get you guys also state license plates with Sasquatch on it. Mark my words.

If you get a Sasquatch license plate, I might move here for real because that is so cool. So I'm sorry that was so fucking long because they're in my story is never that long, but that was the best I could do at shoving everything together. But that was the story of Sasquatch. Thank you. Nice work. That was very good.

Wow. I mean, I really liked that. Thank you. I didn't really know much about Sasquatch. I know everything about Sasquatch. I think we both know too much now. Anyway, thank you. And now it is Christine's turn. Hey, guys. So my story. Hello. So my story yesterday, I feel like it was kind of dark. Um, so this one's just like, just weird. So much like yours, just a weird, weird story.

Um, buckle up guys. So this is the story, uh, which you probably won't know. Um, you probably won't. You definitely won't probably cheer anyway. We have anxiety. I was going to say not yet. I haven't told you yet and be quiet. Just pretend like you're really excited

this is the story of the kidnapping of George Weyerhaeuser thanks guys so this is a wild ride so everybody get ready so the Weyerhaeuser company is one of the world's largest private owners of Timberlands Timberlands? Timberlands

Timberlands or the shoes? I donberlands. Timberlands are the shoes? I don't know. Oh, Tims. Well, not the shoe. I'm talking about like the wood. Oh, I got you. Owning or controlling more than 12.4 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. The company was founded in 1900 by lumberman Frederick Weyerhaeuser

and still exists today. But the story takes place in the 1930s. Got it. Which is right after the company was built. And at that point, they had, nope, that's wrong. Pretend I didn't say that. Guys, you guys wanted a live episode. And you're like, what does that entail?

And it's a lot of us not knowing what we're doing. Right. This story takes place in the 1930s, right after the company built what was then the world's largest sawmill in Longview, Washington. All right. Yes. So, needless to say, this is a very successful company and at the time was a hugely successful company. So, we're going back to May 24th, 1935.

George Weyerhaeuser is the nine-year-old grandson of the company's founder, Frederick Weyerhaeuser. Nine-year-old. Nine-year-old boy. Yep. And founder, Frederick Weyerhaeuser. Nine-year-old. Nine-year-old boy. Yep. And he is released from school for lunch earlier than usual. And just like he does every day, he walks to meet his sister, Anne, at the school she goes to, which is the nearby Annie Wright Seminary. And, oh, wow.

I didn't expect that. Cool. Cool. Cool. The family had a chauffeur. Same. Also me. cool cool um the family had a chauffeur same also me uh that usually met the kids at the seminary to drive or at the school to drive them home for lunch um and so he would go and meet his sister and then they would both get in the car and drive home for lunch got it um and keep in mind they're like one of the wealthiest families in the region same same oh ouch okay um but so

because he had gotten out of school 15 minutes early he decided he'd rather walk home than wait for his sister so he decided to walk home alone um so nine-year-old george at some point on his walk back home was kidnapped so it didn't take long for the family to notice he was missing. They immediately notified police, but nothing came of it until that evening when a special delivery letter arrived at the Weyerhaeuser home. The letter demanded $200,000. And also keep in mind, we're in the 30s. This is a Great Depression. $200,000 is like a massive quantity of money. Today, that's $3.5 million. I did that math in my head. I didn't, but

we can pretend. So that's like a massive, massive quantity of money. So the letter demanded $200,000 in unmarked $20, $10, and $5 bills if they wanted George back. And on the back of the envelope was little George's signature to prove that they had him and that he was alive.

Oh, no. They told the Weyerhausers that if they agreed to the terms, they should place a personal ad in the Seattle Post. I mean, I guess anyone could just walk and post in the newspaper. It seems like that's what was going on then, yeah. I guess it doesn't surprise me anymore, but that they should place a personal ad in the Seattle Post Intelligence, sir. Signed, Percy Minnie.

And that was supposedly like the secret code will you please keep it down i'm just kidding um that was supposedly the secret code that would signal to the kidnappers that they agreed to the term what was it i'm sorry what was the code so they had to sign the the personal ad percy mini i got it like a fake got it got it basically yeah so the family did place they oh they placed three ads in the paper over the course of several days, like, waiting to hear back. And finally, oh, and at that point they had already told the FBI, so the FBI was already on it. This is obviously, like, a high-profile case, hugely wealthy, successful family in the area, a lot of money, et cetera, et cetera. So on May 29th, five days after the kidnapping, the family finally received another letter.

This letter instructed George's father to register at the Ambassador Hotel in Seattle, where he would await further contact. And so that's all they got at that point. So there was also a note from George in the envelope. And it basically said, like, hi, mom and dad, I'm safe. And just signed George. Oh. Yeah. So they were like, okay, mom and dad, I'm safe. And just signed George. Oh. Yeah. So they were like, okay, we got to keep moving forward with this.

So the same night, that same night that they got the letter, George's dad went to the hotel, booked a room, waited and waited. Finally, a cab driver arrived with a letter for him. And the letter told him to drive to this, like, secluded spot. So he followed the instructions and when he arrived he found sticks driven into the ground with a white cloth attached and a message directing him to another white sign and when he got to the second white sign there was no further message so he waited and he waited and he waited and he waited but after two hours he heard nothing so he

was like I guess I'll just go back to the hotel instead of standing out here for hours um the next morning he received a phone call at the hotel from an anonymous caller who yelled at him for not following the instructions and he was like I did I went to the second flag and they were like there was another note and he was like I didn't see the other note and they were like you didn't look hard enough silly goose Yeah. They like bickered back and forth. The guy was like, oh, come on. Like we put it very obviously. And he's like, I didn't find it anywhere. I was there for two hours. So basically he was like, well, I didn't see it. So there's nothing I could do. So they were like, okay, fine. Wait. And we'll get back to you. We'll try again. This is just like the biggest disaster ever. So on that

same night, around 9.45pm, a man described as having a quote European accent, which I don't know what the hell that means. Called Where is he? Oh, here he is. Okay. We'll find him. He described as having a European accent. He called

and he told Weyerhaeuser to go to an address and there he would find a tin can oh my god it's like the worst scavenger hunt ever then then there was you'll find a piece of glass yeah a follow point that it'll be pointing in a certain direction i mean it's literally what this is so the note was inside the tin can and the note would direct him from one can to another can and then that can would direct him to another can. I'm not even kidding. And it would just direct him from can to can to can. And then ultimately he ended up on a dirt road off of a highway where he found a final note saying, wait in your car. Oh, by the way, he's like driving apparently.

So it was like drive to this point, then drive to this point. So he's driving all over Seattle. driving apparently so it was like drive to this point then drive to this point so he's driving all over seattle um ultimately he finds a note that tells him to wait five minutes in the car with all of the inside lights on for five minutes and like watch the clock which is just terrifying it's the middle of the night by the way also at this point i was kind of writing these notes like where's the fba like right i don't know they're aware and like letting this happen he's just kind of like sitting in his car with all the lights on. This just seems very dangerous.

Whatever. So he's just, I guess that's just what happened back then. Okay. I don't know. I wasn't there. Okay. So he's sitting in the car with all the lights on. And then it said, after five minutes, you leave the car with the ransom money in the car.

So you count to five minutes. And you leave the car with the money inside the car. And then you walk back towards Seattle. Okay. Does he get his car back? No, that's not part of the plan. Okay. So they're like, you just leave your car there. Um, and you walk back towards Seattle. Um, and then if the kidnappers determined that the correct amount of money was inside the car, then he would get his son, George, back within 30 hours. Okay. So he'd only walked about 100 yards down the road back towards Seattle when he heard a noise from the bushes.

A man ran out, got in the car, and drove away with the ransom money. So he was like, okay, at least that part was true, I guess. At least I followed all the instructions this time. Yeah, and it seemed like they were a little happier than the first scavenger hunt he went on. So now, obviously, all the family could do was wait. So less than two days later, on June 1st, 1935,

George walked in the front door of the Weyerhaeuser's home, safe and sound. He had been driven there by a family from Issaquah, Washington. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I thought maybe that one would get some woo-hoo. Some woo-hoos.

Okay. So, Issaquah, Washington, who had taken him in the middle of the night. Had taken him in. No, they hadn't taken him. He'd already been taken by someone else. Right. So, this family had taken him in in the middle of the night after he was dropped off by the kidnappers. Got it.

So, this family was like, hey. They showed up at the house and were like, hey, we found your son. He wandered into our home. It's true. He literally wandered into their home. I'll tell you all about it. So, okay. So we know what happened from the warehouser's perspective and from kind of the police perspective, but we have not heard about what happened from George's perspective. And now that he's home safe, obviously the FBI immediately interview him, and I'm now going to tell you his account of what happened to him. Okay. So when he was, he explained that when he left Annie Wright Seminary on May 24th to walk home alone, he took a shortcut through some tennis courts, and he, as he

was walking out the other side, he met a man who was around 40 years old he had brown hair and a mustache the man asked him for directions and as george began to respond the man just picked him up i don't know what the directions part is supposed to accomplish but picked him up carried him to a sedan which was parked across the street and also had a second man waiting in the passenger seat they put george in the back seat, threw a blanket over him, and then they drove around for an hour while the men whispered up front frantically. Like they didn't know what the next step was? It sounds like. It sounds like us throwing our eyes like, what the fuck do we do?

We didn't plan this far ahead. Hey, I know. I have a bunch of empty tin cans. We could probably scatter these all over Washington State. Oh my God. Okay, so I can fake a European accent. I'll call. It'll be fine.

I'll make a half-ass scavenger hunt and then when he doesn't do it right because I fucked up. Then you yell. Yeah, yeah. You'll be the bad guy. So they drove around for an hour apparently whispering frantically up front he

later said the two men addressed each other as bill and harry after about an hour the men pulled over and removed george's blanket they gave him an envelope and told him to write his name on the back of it so that was the first letter signature right um then they blindfolded him and carried him 10 or 12 steps which i just think is so precious that he told the fbi like it was either 10 or 12 steps oh i know i'm like he's like really i don't really trying i'm like don't even know where i am 99 of the time so the fact that this nine-year-old is so like conscious of direction so he says they walked me 10 or 12 steps and said he thinks they walked across some sort of stream he was then placed on the ground and still blindfolded was led by the hand through the countryside for about half a mile eventually they reached a large log and when they got there the man who was leading george put him in a four

foot pre-dug hole uh-oh yeah that had been dug in the ground so holy shit this is terrifying for this poor kid then they chained his right wrist and leg inside uh the hole before placing a board over it to completely cover it from above oh no the men bill and harry quote unquote took turns guarding the hole for hours until about 10 that night when he heard them frantically whispering again i i can't even imagine just incompetent all over the place so apparently they were whispering and saying, well, the police might find us here. So they were like, okay, we should go somewhere else.

So they grabbed George, carried him back to the car, put him in the trunk again with a blanket over him. After about an hour, they led him back through the woods in another spot where they dug another hole and put him in that one instead. I'd be like, I'm good with the car. Like, I'll just stay in the car. There's a blanket in there. There's a blanket and cans.

It's fine. Some cans. I can make do there. Yeah, it's all good. Once he was in the second hole, they gave him a seat from the car and two blankets. Then they covered up the hole again with a bunch of boards. Investigators later determined that next, on May 26, 1935,

the two men, this time accompanied by a woman, put George in the trunk of a Ford and drove through Washington into Idaho. Woo, yeah, I heard one woo. Yeah, it's not as exciting when there's just like terrible things surrounding the world. No one wants to cheer at all. Yikes. I guess that's cool. Eventually they took George out of the car and handcuffed him

to a tree, again watching him until nightfall. When it grew dark out, they took him to a house and locked him in a large closet with a mattress, two chairs, and a small white table. They kept him in there for six days in this closet. That was a dramatic pause. Actually, I lost my place. Pretend. That was a dramatic pause. Actually, I lost my place,

but pretend like it was for dramatic effect. Okay, so on the sixth day, George's abductors told him that they were leaving the house, and George, because as we've determined, is just very smart and conscientious of his surroundings. Very on it.

He glanced at someone's watch as they were leaving the house and saw that it was 5 55 p.m so he was able to kind of help help the fbi like determine at what point they were leaving what a genius i know he's much smarter than i am um as shouldn't surprise anyone uh when asked which i'm kind of find this a little bit fucked up but they asked him why he didn't run away at this point and i'm like well can you blame again because he's smart as hell he's like i'm traumatizing hanging out here you're not hurting me yeah yeah so they asked him why he didn't try to run away and he said he didn't think he had to because the men had told him he would be going home soon oh yeah so poor baby um so they

put him back into the trunk of the car with another blanket on top of him and ultimately he was dropped off at a shack near Issaquah they stayed with him until around 3 30 a.m and they left after that telling him his father would come to take him home soon so at this point it's like four in the morning and George is wandering around this neighborhood in the middle of nowhere he walks into a farmhouse and tells the family who he was. And the family takes him in, washes him up, gives him clean clothes, and drives him back to Tacoma, where he's from. So, his poor kid. Does anyone want to, like, have any ownership of Tacoma right now?

Yeah. I don't know. It's such a sad story. I don't know if anyone wants to, like, announce they're from any of these places. Yeah, I'm not giving you much chance to be happy. Sorry. So, Tacoma. Yay! We love it. It's beautiful. Okay.

So, cool. Now, we have come full circle as far as we've heard the family story, we've heard Georgia's side of the story. And remember when I was like, oh, where's the FBI? Why aren't they involved? Apparently they were involved, but Wikipedia didn't want to tell me until way at the end. I see remember when I was like, oh, where's the FBI? Why aren't they involved? Apparently they were involved, but like Wikipedia didn't want to tell me until like way at the end. I see. So I was like, oh, but then I was like, it's actually kind of a fun twist because it turns

out they were involved all along. Ooh. Yeah. Super cool. So as I mentioned, the FBI joined the case pretty early on because this was like very high profile, very, you know, wealthy, important family, et cetera, et cetera. While the family was negotiating with the kidnappers, the FBI conducted their investigation extremely quietly so that the abductors wouldn't get spooked. When the warehousers got the ransom money ready, the FBI noted every single serial number on the bills and sent them to FBI headquarters. Smart. Yeah, really smart, where ransom lists were prepared. So they basically wrote down every single serial number so that all over the U.S. it would be tracked if any of them were used.

Immediately after the kidnappers took the money, which was May 30, 1935, the list of serial numbers was sent to every FBI field office to distribute to commercial enterprises in their region, including banks, hotels, railway companies, etc. So, like, throughout the whole country. Hold on. There it is. Pretend like this is really smooth. Oh, there it is. There it is.

I'm very professional. Oh, guys. I'm so happy you're here. Okay for the next thing yeah yeah oh yeah cool me too on june 2nd 1935 a day after george was rescued the fbi received word that one of the 20 ransom bills had been used to pay for a railway ticket from huntington oregon to salt lake city the fbi determined that the purchaser was a 23-year-old man named Harmon Metz Whaley. And shortly after that bill was used, many ransom bills began appearing in discount stores

in Salt Lake City. So basically, one of the bills was used to get to Salt Lake City, and then all of a sudden the bills started popping up in Salt Lake City. I see. So apparently, there were not many FBI agents living in Salt Lake City. Uh-oh. Living in Salt Lake City. I see. So apparently there were not many FBI agents living in Salt Lake City. Uh-oh. Living in Salt Lake City. So they were like, I guess we have to send them there. So. So you like rallied the troops to Salt Lake City? Yeah, a bunch of FBI agents were just kind of like sent to stand in. So a lot of the bills had been used at discount stores like

Woolworths and you know like those kind of convenience stores so um all these FBI agents were basically sent to be like store security and just stand all day all day at these stores and just hope they walked in yeah got it basically um so at one point at a Woolworths in Salt Lake City um one of the agents was notified by a cashier that a woman had used one of the bills. The woman was taken into custody, and her name was Margaret Whaley, which same last name as the guy who took the train ticket. Got it. The train from to Salt Lake City. And she was the 19-year-old wife of Harmon Whaley.

So that's how they determined who she was. So Margaret was taken into the local FBI field office and investigators were able to get the Whaley's home address from her pocketbook. So they show up at Harmon Whaley's house and after several conflicting stories, he finally admits that he and another man named William Daynard, whom he had met at the Ohio, nope, start over, whom he had met, I almost said Ohio State, that's wrong. Whom he had met in the Idaho State Penitentiary. Got it. Very different. Had kidnapped George Weyerhaeuser in an attempt to get money from the Weyerhaeuser family. So he's like, yeah, I did it, and also I did it with that

guy, William Daynard. What? That's what he said, I think. Anyway, oddly enough, approximately $3,700 of the ransom money was found to have been burned in the Whaley's stove, but they took the ashes and sent them back to D.C., to the FBI laboratory, and they were identified as the ransom bills. So they basically tried to burn all the money to hide it from the FBI. Weird, okay. But it didn't work, so too bad. Physical evidence found

in the hideout, the holes that George had been buried in and the kidnappers' homes was examined by the FBI. Fingerprint identification positively linked both of the Whaley's so Harmon and Margaret and Daynard to the shack where the ransom had been divided and Harmon

Whaley's fingerprints appeared on all the tin cans. He really tried, though. I love that they're like the main character. They're the guest star of the story. I can't believe it. Don't laugh at that. That was it. Don't laugh at that. That was terrible. Don't laugh at that part.

Yikes. Also, they identified one of Margaret Whaley's fingerprints at the hideout, too. So she couldn't kind of escape and be like, I had nothing to do with it. They found her fingerprints at the same places where George had been being held. Got it. So on June 21st, 1935, Harmon Whaley finally pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap, landing him 45 years on the kidnapping charge and two on conspiracy. After a few years in the McNeil Island Correction Center, he was sent to a brand new state of

the art prison called Alcatraz Island. Oh. Yay. That was a fun little game changer. I like that. At the time, it was like very state-of-the-art and like... Right. Yeah. Before it's time. You know things, how things went. So anyway, his wife Margaret pleaded not guilty, guilty but was sentenced to was found guilty and was sentenced to two concurrent 20-year terms in prison so daynard had not been caught yet he was the guy that uh both the whaley said was kind of the brains behind the operation um and he had evaded law enforcement several times but he was ultimately arrested in los angeles along with the ransom money in his garage they found various dyes and paraphernalia used to change serial numbers on money.

So he was like, can you imagine though? He had basically the equivalent of like $3 million and he couldn't use any, he couldn't use a $20 bill because that's crazy. No. So he's sitting in his garage trying to like change the little serial numbers. Yeah. Didn't work.

Um, well, yeah. Nice try, but a for effort, a for effort. Um, so he ultimately pleaded guilty as well um and he was sentenced to two 60-year prison terms he was eventually found to be quote insane nobody clarifies what the hell that means but i feel like back in the day they just kind of said

that sometimes slap that on and yeah went on their way why not it's an easy an easy out um and he was confined to a hospital the fbi ultimately found almost all of the ransom money and was able to return it to the weyerhaeuser family so that was good um some of it was in the whaleys and danard's possession and some of it they actually found buried like throughout washington state and they had to kind of talk them into giving away their hidey holes. But apparently they weren't very good at hiding those anyway. So I imagine it was not too hard to find. It seemed like that's just their answer.

They just dug holes and put stuff in it. And then whispered frantically. And then just like through cans. I don't know. It seems just like not a very thought out plan. Okay. So they were all basically ended up in jail. They all basically ended up in jail.

Harmon Whaley, for what it's worth, he was the first man who was kidnapped. He actually wrote to George Weyerhaeuser from prison several times to apologize for having kidnapped him. He felt really terrible about it. He's like, I just wanted the money. Like, I didn't want to hurt you, et cetera, et cetera. And little George

happy ending eventually became the chairman of the board for the Weyerhaeuser company and in yeah he lived out a super awesome life and I believe he's still alive I don't know just don't let's we'll see even delete that part until I Wikipedia it

later I do believe he is still alive. In 2001, he was inducted. Listen, dreams really do come true. I can't wait. In 2001, he was inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame. Yeah. I love it.

That sounds like something out of The Office. I was going to say, it's the most Dunder Mifflin thing I've ever heard. It really sounds fake. So good for little George. He really, really, really did it. Did it big with his life. Perhaps most poignant of all, I thought at least, was when George's kidnapper, Harmon Whaley, was finally released from prison at the age of 52.

So he was like 23, I think, when he went to prison. So at 52, he was released, and George gave him a job at one of the company's factories that kid is just the best i know i know wow i know what a good boy such a good boy such a good boy like geo hated very good and that my friends is the story of the kidnapping of george weyerhaeuser. Pretty, pretty, pretty cool. Thank you, guys. I do, if you guys are okay, I do have a quick horoscope for you. So I want to explain for anybody who's been dragged here by a significant other, a family member, anybody who's like, I just want to go home. I don't know why I'm still sitting here.

This is very uncomfortable for me. Well, we're almost done, but this is what this is. A horoscope is basically where I give unwanted astrological advice to people who can't use it anyway. So you're welcome. So Harmon Whaley is a Sagittarius. Okay. And so was the guy yesterday. Maybe that's a Seattle thing. I don't know. Maybe. So I have a little thing for all you Sagittarius. Okay. Today, Sagittarius, your heart pounds with excitement. For some

reason, there's a quiet voice inside of you warning that you may be getting yourself into a great deal of trouble. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. It goes without saying that this probably isn't a good day to make a decision of any sort. Uh-uh. Your thinking may not be as rational as it usually is. Why don't you write down your brilliant ideas and return to them in a day or two when you're thinking a little more clearly? And that, Seattle, concludes the story of the kidnapping of George Weyerhaeuser. Thank you. Thanks, guys. It was hard to pick. It was hard to pick a story. Seattle has some fucked up stories. I watched like 11 YouTube videos of just listicles of like crazy shit that happens here.

So it was a tough choice. But thank you guys for having us. We really appreciate that. We're so happy to be here. Thank you so much, Seattle. We love you, Seattle. Thank you. Thank you so, so, so, so much. Oh, wait. And that's why we