And That's Why We Drink - E440 WeWorking with Ghosts and Devil’s Lettuce Friend Tattoos

Episode Date: July 13, 2025

It’s Episode 440 and would you look at that fancy new farm artwork Em got? This week for the very first time Em reports to us live from their story location! The most haunted room of the Dunhill Hot...el in North Carolina. Then Christine takes us to Florida for the unfortunately still unsolved case of Amy Gellert. And do we need to start a new series of telling stories from haunted locations? …and that’s why we drink! Anyone with information about Amy Gellert’s case is asked to contact:Brevard County Homicide UnitPhone: (321) 633-8413Email: majorcrimes@bcso.us Central Florida Crimeline:1-800-423-TIPS | 1-800-423-8477You can remain anonymous Photo Links:The Dunhill Hotel & in 1946 (as the Mayfair Hotel)Amy GellertDrawing of the knife used Want to see Christine and Xandy live? Visit https://www.beachtoosandy.com/ for tickets! Want to hear more from us? Subscribe to our bonus Yappy Hours on Patreon or Apple Podcasts! http://patreon.com/ATWWDPodcast___________________Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to http://Zocdoc.com/DRINK to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Start listening and discover what’s beyond the edge of your seat. New members can try Audible now free for 30 days and dive into a world of new thrills. Visit Audible.com/DRINK or text DRINK to 500-500. This year, skip breaking a sweat AND breaking the bank. Get this new customer offer and your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at MINTMOBILE.com/ATWWD. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 We talk about it every time folks. We love Eva. We love that we were able to find her so quickly. We were desperately, we were drowning when we needed somebody to come in, help us out. At the time it was just emails and social media and it very quickly turned into like we need you to go ghost hunting in the basement. Do you mind? Man, no one like Eva and we wouldn't have found her if it weren't for zip recruiter. Typically you don't associate speed with quality. But in her case, we were able to find her in like 30 seconds. It's crazy. ZipRecruiter was able to do that for us. Like I said, usually speed and quality don't mix, but there is an exception to that unwritten rule. If you're hiring, you can find candidates fast who are also extremely
Starting point is 00:00:39 qualified for your job. Just use ZipRecruiter. And right now you can use ZipRecruiter for free at ziprecruiter.com slash drink. is so easy to use it is so helpful I mean it really we have I mean we have ZipRecruiter to thank for everything that's happened so far anything Eva has touched that ZipRecruiter's responsibility or was their responsibility for sure it's also something that I'm incredibly grateful for so thank you ZipRecruiter. Experience hiring speed and quality with ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter
Starting point is 00:01:08 get a quality candidate within the first day. We were one of those four out of five. And if you go to ziprecruiter.com slash drink right now, you can try it for free. Again, that's ziprecruiter.com slash drink. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. How can you get even more of everything you love about Porter with the new BMO VI Porter
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Starting point is 00:01:58 Ding! Dog barking How's everyone doing? Hey! Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. Hi, is that better? No. It's all bad over here, Christina. Well, I guess just across the globe.
Starting point is 00:02:12 It is all bad over here. Yeah, over here being everywhere and there. Hey, you look like you're in a beautiful spot there. A nice little, I always make a joke when I'm recording in a hotel room with my brother that I've bought new artwork and I always show him the artwork in the hotel. And I wanna know what you've bought today
Starting point is 00:02:32 or what you've acquired for your collection today. It's interesting, it's interesting you mentioned that because I just hung her up. This is a farm. A farm, this is a farm. It looks like they're trees, the red parts are trees. It's a countryside, some sort of bucolic situation. I saw it and I went,
Starting point is 00:02:51 that dirty, dirty floor that we call nature, I just want her hanging over my bed. And that's where she stays now. But I did- It's beautiful. I love that the frame matches the walls. It's the whole thing, it's just really working together. I called in the big guns on that one.
Starting point is 00:03:07 I was like, I need me a designer. I need her now. And usually it's like, oh, Alison, oh, Alison, wherefore art thou Alison? I need you to frame something. And then, you know, I, we both decided let's spend some real money today. This time, this is a picture of the outside.
Starting point is 00:03:23 We gotta get, we to be serious now. Call Queer Eye. We need them to frame our dirty, dusty picture. Yeah. And that's what I bought recently. It's so cool. Thank you for asking. One time my brother said, what's that painting behind you? And I said, it's a Matisse.
Starting point is 00:03:39 And he said, really? Why is it in two pieces? And I was like, I cut it in half. Because it was like one where, for inexplicably this picture. And then they just like chop the canvas down the half and like moved out. He's like, I don't know, we have a lot of fun with it. And then sometimes he's like, what art is in there?
Starting point is 00:03:56 And I turned and there was this giant photograph of a jumbo jet. And I was like, what? I don't know. I was like, now I have to come up with a fucking story for that, so. Was that cut one actually a Matisse? No. Oh, I was like, you could have called it a two piece. No, it is not. Shit, that would have been good.
Starting point is 00:04:14 I should have saved that joke for you. That's why you should only podcast with me, Christina. I know, I've been feeling it, you know, deep down. I'm like, time to go, time to go. Em gets my art curation a little more. Yes, I'm glad you said something. Next time I might have something else hanging up. Every week is an adventure over here
Starting point is 00:04:33 in the world of design. So exciting, so exciting. Do you ever watch on TikTok those, those, what's it called? Designing scents or? I don't know the names of most accounts that I watch. I just know like what I'm seeing. Oh, I see.
Starting point is 00:04:48 It's the TV show from the 90s. Oh, yes. God, it's good and painful. God, it's bad. It's so hard to watch, but I can't stop. It's these two women from like the 90s, 2000s who are like, and here, we, like they're literally so crazy. They're like redesigning like children's bedrooms
Starting point is 00:05:07 and they make them, it's like, what's the opposite? But still- Of good? I was gonna say, what's the opposite, but still bad of extreme home makeover? Cause it's like that, but just like shittier somehow. Like cheaper, way cheaper. This is how Ty Pennington made his career.
Starting point is 00:05:26 He was like, I can do better than that. Please step aside because they will literally be like, oh, she likes purple. And then they'll just like take a bunch of purple construction paper and like tape it to the walls. Like it's the craziest shit. And then they'll like do something irreversible. They'll be like, we super glued all of these items
Starting point is 00:05:42 to the bed. And it's like, what the fuck? Or like, we took this dusty thing we found at the thrift store and made it her toothbrush. And I'm like, you can't just do that. I saw the one where in the kitchen, they bought like plates from the dollar store and like glued them on the wall to make them like 3D art.
Starting point is 00:05:59 And I was like, what the fuck is going on here? These people are like bonkers. It's like they're ahead of their time in like a way that they didn't realize because it's so comical to watch. What the fuck is going on here? These people are bonkers. It's like they're ahead of their time in a way that they didn't realize because it's so comical to watch. But there was this one where the girl whose room was being, she said she wanted her room to be pink.
Starting point is 00:06:13 The whole thing was green. And everyone was like, I wish we could hear. And then at one point they opened the closet and she's just like, they're like, this is her reading nook. And she's just sitting in the closet. Like these poor children. I feel like the- She came out, she came out, not came out, but she came out and said I'm a survivor.
Starting point is 00:06:30 And she said it took them days. She said they were there for many days and everyone was like days. They're gluing tissue paper to the wall. Like how are they spending days? And she said it was just as traumatic as it as it seemed. So that's a lot of paint thinner on a wall or something. I don't know how you get that off. I feel like their husbands were just so sick of them being like,
Starting point is 00:06:51 oh, I'm going to redo our room. They were like, I'll pay you to go anywhere else and do that. No more decoupage. No, no, no, no, no, no. Decorating sense with a C. It's supposed to be budget decorating in the 90s. It was man, if you guys just looked that up on YouTube, it is some good quality entertainment and horror also. It's also wild, because on TikTok,
Starting point is 00:07:10 there are people who are like, this is how you decorate on a budget, and it looks like a five-star hotel by the edge. And I'm like, how did you do that? Like, decorating sense must be humiliated. I think they must be humiliated. It must have been like pre-Amazon, pre any sort of internet purchasing.
Starting point is 00:07:24 Like they just had to, and then they'll go, oh, we bought these hooks for only $65. And I'm like, what the fuck kind of hook are you buying? You're like low in the budget, you know? Oh, and then, oh, the cultural appropriation. So they'll always throw in something. They always throw in something. They go like at one point they're like,
Starting point is 00:07:42 and here we're mod podging sacred Indian prayers to the wall to give it some cultural edge. And it's like, excuse me? Sacred Indian prayers, what? Firm pass. Well, you know what? It makes me feel better about us. You look classy as hell in that room, I gotta say.
Starting point is 00:08:02 Me? Oh, well, you know, it's just my farm painting. Yeah, your bucolic farm painting is really nailing it, you know. This actually is a very she-she kind of room. It looks... It also online, it said it was like a three-star hotel or something. I was like, but it looks beautiful. It looks fancy. Yeah. Anyway, tell that to the reviewers. Tell that on Beach Too Sandy. I will.
Starting point is 00:08:23 This is actually a beautiful hotel. I will. Oh, why do you drink, Christine? And dear God, what do you drink? Well, I just drank a bunch of coffee. I was supposed to save it for the episode. I couldn't. It's my Boston University mug that Blaze bought me
Starting point is 00:08:36 when we visited. So before I knew you, she's older than our friendship. And that's it because I woke up and my aura ring said, hey, something's really wrong. When is it? That girl needs a break, the aura ring. No, she goes through a lot. I charge her like all the time
Starting point is 00:08:58 because she's always just on the go. And it was like, your temperature was up like significantly overnight. And I was like, great. And so then significantly overnight. And I was like, great. And so then I was like, I think I'm fine. And then I went to lay down in my bed and I was like, I'm asleep. And so I slept like two more hours and now I'm here
Starting point is 00:09:15 and I'm still in my jammies, which is my cool shark shirt that we bought in Florida together. Love that. And it says, hard to see, but somewhere in there it says, bite me. I love that. Yeah. Why I drink. Are you feeling well?
Starting point is 00:09:28 I feel fine. I'm here. Okay. Sure. No, I feel okay. I think I needed a lot more sleep. I slept like almost a total of 24 hours over the last three days. I think my body was like doing its little pickup.
Starting point is 00:09:43 Up and down. Like, hey, we need to sleep now. So I'm okay, I'm just chugging along and melting alive over here. But I drink coffee, sadly all gone now. And I drink because I'm apparently falling apart, but what else is new? I mean, I'm sure our listeners would like to know how you're doing on Poor.
Starting point is 00:10:05 Oh, thank you for asking. Well, we are trying to get the word out. A lot of people are not realizing, and it makes me crazy because, remember when we'd go somewhere and we'd be... We'd be pushing a show like Tampa or Florida, whatever, like over and over. And then like a week later,
Starting point is 00:10:24 people would be like, why don't you ever come to Florida? And I'd say we're not like Tampa or Florida, whatever, like over and over. And then like a week later, people would be like, why don't you ever come to Florida? And I would leave me with like- It's infuriating. It is like the most, like you wanna like rip your hair out cause you're like, where were you? Or even like when we were like promoting our book and then a week later, someone was like,
Starting point is 00:10:36 you should write a book. And I'm like, are you okay? Like, did you just check out of the phone? It's like, wow, don't yell at me. I was just next door to you. I was there. I was waiting. Oh, and then somebody, you know who you are, commented, oh, you should come back to about me and my brother.
Starting point is 00:10:52 You should come back to Florida or to Tampa because I had tickets and I was so excited. But then I forgot you were coming. So I missed the show. Oh, my God. I am not coming back for that. Somebody skipped their hysterectomy to come to ends of my shows. So you know what? I'm like, I am not coming back for that. Somebody skipped their hysterectomy to come to Ems of my shows. So you know what? I'm not, no, no.
Starting point is 00:11:09 The bar is very high, my friend. I'm not coming back there. We haven't forgotten you, hysterectomy girl. We have thought about you often. Regularly, regularly. We're like, wow, talk about a devoted fan base. I mean, really, we were like, you shouldn't have done that, but thank you for doing it.
Starting point is 00:11:23 You could have stayed home, we would have understood. Yeah, we- Well, I'm sorry, Christine have done that, but thank you for doing it. You could have stayed home, we would have understood. Yeah, we... Well, I'm sorry, Christine. Oh, well, thank you. It's just, you know, we're out there. Yeah, if you're interested in seeing us, it's really fun. We do, we read one-star reviews of your town live on stage. It's very enjoyable.
Starting point is 00:11:37 Random people from the podcasting space are probably gonna show up at different events, so maybe you'll spot someone you recognize in the audience. I don't know. But yeah, it's fun. We're going all over the place. We're going to California, not LA though, but we're going to a few spots in California. We're going to Omaha, Nebraska, Kansas City, Plano, all sorts of weird spots. So anyway, come see us. It's going to be really fun. And it's fun. It's different than our touring because my brother and I share a hotel room. No, Christine.
Starting point is 00:12:11 And so that's always a very weird like, uh, difference between touring. Like a lot of it's the same traveling, blah, blah, you know, prepping. And then, um, then the hotel room is like just us bickering about what to watch on TV. So. Is it, I'm sure a portion of it is fun, but how much of it do you just like revert back
Starting point is 00:12:32 to being like little kids, siblings and like, do you like, do you get in a fight and then you have to go on stage? Like what happens? No, no, thank God. I think we were so toxic with one another for so many years and so badly that now we're like, oh, that's not worth existing in that way.
Starting point is 00:12:53 We gotta be us against the world rather than just, like, I feel like when we were kids, it was like just this constant, I mean, we're two years apart, I feel like that's just how it goes. But now we're like, oh no, fuck everyone else. Not everyone else, but the people that I feel like have created some problems for us.
Starting point is 00:13:10 We're like, fuck them. We're on our own team now. So it's kind of a nice little change of pace. We do occasionally bicker, but not really. I feel like, I mean, knock on wood. We haven't had a real like, we, the last knockout drag out fight we had, what is it? Knockdown drag out fight was in Korea town when we lived there and Blaze's brother lived with us and
Starting point is 00:13:33 Allie lived with us and Blaze had to get between us. It was like, really? Oh yeah. I threw my phone so hard against the wall. It shattered a million pieces my brother was like I mean we were and then guess what we had to record that night because we realized an episode came out at midnight for beach to Sandy yeah so we kind of got it out of our system I think I oh my god I it's moments like that where I'm like who being an only child was easy breezy man sometimes I look at Leona and I'm like it'll be fun for you to have a playmate. And then I'm like, but also like, oh my God, the scream. Like, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:14:09 I don't want the throwing and the screaming. But then we have that anyway with her. So I'm like, I mean, not in like a. To see you and her go to blows like that. Right, we just start like, I just throw my phone across the room. No, no, no. That does not happen nowadays.
Starting point is 00:14:22 But with my brother, man, we could really hit those. But we're, I think we've both done some very intensive inner work and therapy and have come to realize we're maybe on the same team. Instead of opposing forces. It sounds like every sibling rivalry or sibling relationship is like that. Like I used to watch Deirdre throw her brother
Starting point is 00:14:43 down the stairs. Yeah, right. Yes, yes. What the hell is going on here? You're like, hey, is that? And then suddenly they're like best friends or sibling relationship is like that. Like I used to watch Deirdre throw her brother down the stairs. Like what the hell is going on here? Hey, is that? And then suddenly they're like best friends again. And you're like, what the fuck is that about? I was always so excited to go back home and I was like, oh my God.
Starting point is 00:14:54 Yeah, get me out of here. I don't play. What is this, Animal Planet? Yeah, kind of. Well, so are there any cities coming up that you're really excited for? I'll say that. Thank you for asking.
Starting point is 00:15:08 Yes? Great, I guess we'll find out when you get there. I'm sure there are. No, I'm really excited. I love Kansas City because Live, Laugh, Larsenny's coming, which is really fun and we love them. And so we're gonna get to see them. So we're going to Chicago.
Starting point is 00:15:25 I don't know, we have just a lot of like, places just like kind of random throughout, smattering, you know? I don't mean to tell you what to do when you're in Kansas City, but I think this week an adult Chuck E. Cheese opened up. It's called like Chuck's Arcade or something. Well, well, well everyone, now I think we have plans.
Starting point is 00:15:46 And guess what? We just got the ticket counts. Kansas City was the only city that didn't add any tickets after we posted about the live shows. So either they found out about this adult Chuck E. Cheese and made other plans, which is entirely possible. Maybe we'll all just go there instead. I would, I can't, you know what you all should really do
Starting point is 00:16:05 is you should, instead of having shows in comedy clubs, you should just have them in like a place you plan on reviewing. I think that's a great idea. I'm sure you've talked about that at some point in your- Well, we do read a review of the venue at the end, but it's always like a positive one. And it's usually about the act, meeting us,
Starting point is 00:16:24 cause it's funny to say, oh, the comedians are so funny. And we're like, yeah, it is. Bye. Have a good night, everyone. But yeah, I think to do it in a venue with many reviews would be really enjoyable. At Chuck's Arcade. Are you kidding me? I mean, it's hard to argue with that. Yeah. Anyway, it's the one thing, well, that's not true. There was a few things on my Kansas City list I didn't get to, but I knew about- It's a lot going on in that town, I feel like. I was floored, I love Kansas City.
Starting point is 00:16:50 I didn't realize how much shit was going on over there. It's a cool town. But that one just opened, so I only heard about it and never got to even have it on my list when we were there, so. Well, well, well, look at my count. I don't know when my show is, but someday, it's gonna be there, and you can come, it'll be great.
Starting point is 00:17:04 That'll be great. Why do you drink, Em? Besides your beautiful art requirement. Besides the millions I just lost on that art piece. Acquisition, acquisition I should say. My acquisition, yeah. Millions. Well, billions.
Starting point is 00:17:16 I'm trying to be humble here. Billions, I'm so sorry. Let's see, why do I drink? You thought world hunger, dusty bucolic painting. Yeah, I just want to sit next to the dirty floor. I don't want to be in it, you know. Let's see, why do I drink? You thought world hunger, dusty bucolic painting. Yeah, I just wanna sit next to the dirty floor. I don't wanna be in it, you know? Right, exactly.
Starting point is 00:17:30 That makes you kind of like an everyman. Thank you. Let me drink this water with my pinky out, actually, while we're at it. Oh, okay. I won't interrupt. Let me see. Why do we drink?
Starting point is 00:17:38 Well, I hesitate to say, because I don't know when this comes out versus when I tell Allison, but there is Hank got his DNA results back Which we should discuss I think for patreon. Yes. Yeah be our Let's just put it this way Not what I expect. No, okay. Yeah, be our time. Yep. We're gonna do it in happy hour By the way, we're so excited. People are joining like crazy.
Starting point is 00:18:08 It's so exciting. People on Spotify and Apple podcast now are able to connect to the Yappy Hour. So we're adding some people to our little after school clubhouse. Yeah, no, I it's very fun. And that means even more people will get to play along. Will I tell you what's going on in his DNA? I guess. Like, can we play like a little game? Of, of course. What, I'm just gonna tell you? Yeah. I'm just making sure.
Starting point is 00:18:29 Here's the thing is that I, Allison and I are always on the fence about if we'll ever have kids. So this might be the closest to like a reveal we get. A gender reveal! Part of it is like maybe I don't tell Allison and I just like throw like a breed reveal with her and our friends You know what I mean? So I don't know if I'm gonna tell her which is why I want to make a patreon because she even Allison doesn't have a drone
Starting point is 00:18:51 She listens to our main feed. Yeah, so Allison you don't get to know until I tell you I get to know T. I don't Everyone else gets to know so I'm I'm I drink because of that where I was like, oh, this is gonna give me so many answers and now I just have more questions. I'm like, so what do I do with this information? Yeah, I can't wait. Oh, I'm so excited.
Starting point is 00:19:13 Remind everyone what Gio is. He is a German Shepherd mixed with Shih Tzu, mixed with Chow Chow, mixed with Dachshund. Oh, and then Pit bull is the biggest amount. So it's pit bull, German Shepherd, chow chow, shih tzu, or like even, and then a little dachshund. That's wild, because I would have just thought German Shepherd corgi or something,
Starting point is 00:19:39 or German Shepherd dachshund maybe. And it's like so specific, and then he has that blue tongue, like a chow chow, so it all kind of mixes together. And he's like, the coloring of a German Shepherd, but he's shrunken, he has an attitude of a Shih Tzu, it's all just kind of, like the butt curtain, you know. Well, I'll tell you with Gio,
Starting point is 00:19:57 at least every single one you listed, there is an attribute to him that makes it. You can find, yeah, that's true. Hank? I can't wait. It might as well have said 100% poodle, cause I'm like, what is going on here? I really like, it's to a point where I'm like,
Starting point is 00:20:12 do I need to like go do like a second test and see if they compare? What is that called, a second opinion? Get a second opinion? I kinda wanna go undercover and go to the same company and do it twice. Like maybe they mixed the dogs up, you know?? Maybe they put the vial in the rung. I feel like they gave me like Fifi's DNA and it's like, what the hell is going on?
Starting point is 00:20:32 Fifi, the 100% poodle that the owner paid like six grand for and is now finding out it's like whatever Hank is. Like certainly not a purebred. Oh, that's funny. Anyway, so I drink because of that because I'm a little confused and also on top of that. I'm I'm mainly more drinks I'm like, how am I gonna announce it to Allison? Like this is the closest like announcing something like that that we've gotten and probably might get so yeah when I got Geo I was working at
Starting point is 00:20:59 Disney Kids or whatever the fuck it was called Disney XD. That's what it was called. And I was a PA and we had a laminator at the office. And so I printed the results and I laminated them. And then I put them up on the- I would do the same thing. Employee board, along with a picture of Gio that I also laminated. And then they told me to stop using the laminator.
Starting point is 00:21:22 But I was very excited and proud and everybody did give me the chance to announce it and then they were like, you need to go back to work and eat your lunch on the parking lot floor and I was like, okay, bye. No, there's something about office culture where you live for the little announcements like that. You gotta have some fun, you gotta use the laminator
Starting point is 00:21:42 for fun sometimes. Yeah, there was one girl when we lived, yikes, capitalism, when we worked at ISS, at the prop house, there was one girl who was gonna have a baby, and I remember, it was like a huge thing in my department, like, oh, what color hair is the baby gonna have? It was just like something to make the day go by.
Starting point is 00:22:02 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, I totally get it. I would have been as excited as you probably. Let's all take bets as the episode goes on about what Hank is, and then at the end we'll all figure out who won. I'll give you some options. I'll give you a list of like some things he might be
Starting point is 00:22:18 or whatever, and yeah, yeah. Anyway, that's why I drank, because he's more of a mutt than I thought. So I remember just how exuberant I was when those came in for GEO. I like 10 years ago now. I mean, not 10, but close. My dopamine did spike. I went, yeah, it'll do that.
Starting point is 00:22:37 They make you wait a long time for those results. They really make it kind of a game. Yeah. Hey, you remember how you got allergies? really make it kind of a game, yeah. Hey, remember how you got allergies? I do, I do. Yes, yes, it's true. Oh my gosh, well how did it go? Because I one time thought I should look into my allergies and I went, nevermind, that sounds complicated,
Starting point is 00:22:58 but I hadn't thought of ZocDoc, which was my own dumb fault. You know, now that I am talking to a doctor about my allergies, I'm actually feeling so much better. Also, since I'm not near my dog this week, I'm feeling incredible. Well, that helps. That helps too. But I will tell you that if I didn't have ZocDoc,
Starting point is 00:23:15 I would have phlegm. And it's been very wonderful. ZocDoc can get you all allergy relief fast, so you can beat sneezing season and make spring a little less sniffy. ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in-network doctors and click to instantly book an appointment. We're talking about booking in-network appointments with more than 100,000 doctors across every
Starting point is 00:23:37 specialty from mental health to dental health, primary care to urgent care and more. I think across the board, Em and I have used ZocDoc for almost all of those categories over the years. It really- Since the dawn of our friendship, I've been using ZocDoc. Since the dawn of knowing one another and ZocDoc, yes. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments
Starting point is 00:23:55 and go to zocdoc.com slash drink to find an instantly book, a top rated doctor today. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash drink, zocdoc.com slash drink. Christine, I am in Carolina. Hello, I'm an American. North Carolina, I know my state.
Starting point is 00:24:15 And I am in the middle of a little adventure, but the next time you're craving your next action packed adventure, Audible delivers thrills of every kind on your command. Oh, right. So I don't need to travel to Carolina to get my fix. I can actually just open my phone. Close your eyes and wander away, yes. I just listened to Demon Copperhead,
Starting point is 00:24:34 and that was one of the best books I've read in a long time. Really, really beautiful, really good. Highly recommend. Audible is always getting me the best stuff, right? My adventures right here I don't even need to leave the house like M does they have gripping titles that keep you guessing Exclusive captivating audible originals and hotly anticipated new releases So get on it start listening and discover what's beyond the edge of your seat new members can try audible now free for 30 days
Starting point is 00:24:59 And dive into a world of new thrills is it audible.com slash drink or text drink to 500 500 That's audible.com slash drink or text drink to 500 500. That's audible.com slash drink or text drink to 500 500. All right. Well, I've got a little story for you. And speaking of that wonderful art piece that you mentioned behind me and just really wildly complimenting this hotel room so much. I'm gonna talk about this hotel. Ah!
Starting point is 00:25:31 And I got a room after I did notes on it, so. Shut up. Well, so I'm staying with Alice and Stanley right now and they, everyone but Alison and I have a small baby at the moment and not only that they also have dogs that are loud sometimes or just move around a lot. It was advised to me that I don't record in anyone's house. Yeah it's hard it's hard with the big in-law gatherings. Yeah and so I was like okay well I'll get I'll get a hotel and then I started doing research by accident on a hotel in the area.
Starting point is 00:26:05 And I was like, I'm just gonna go record there then. So I'm talking about the Dunhill Hotel. So this is, okay, wait, so when did we do, what was the hotel we just did in Tucson? Hotel Congress. Were you there when, oh no, you did the research there. I did the research there. Okay, so this one, and this might be the second time ever
Starting point is 00:26:31 we're recording from the haunted location because the other one was our 300 at Winchester. Mm-hmm, yep. I don't know that you've ever recorded from a haunted place. In the moment, yeah. In the moment. Live. Live. Live.
Starting point is 00:26:46 So if something happens, I've already told the ghost here, I'm like, if something happens, as long as it's on camera, I'm cool with it. Don't touch that medillion dollar painting. I just say, please God, don't mess with the internet. That's all I ask of you. If something happens to your pillows, I'm gonna be starting to scream loudly.
Starting point is 00:27:00 Well, so people be on the lookout, because I said out loud that whoever is here can do whatever they want as long as it's on camera as long as within frame. Hell yeah um I was it made me start thinking actually I was like what a fun little like a secondary series that would be of like just Just recording me in random hotel rooms across the country and just like having like an action cam to see if anything happens across the country. And just like having like an action cam to see if anything happens. Yeah. Or like, because we both know I love traveling. What if I just spent 24 hours in multiple places and while I was there I had to stay in a haunted place and like report on it.
Starting point is 00:27:34 I mean that sounds fantastic. Let's do it. It just has to be hotels like this where there's like like a couple hot spots versus like Queen Mary and And it's like, oh, me by myself and the Queen Mary. That's not, there's not enough cameras in the world for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, we'll shop it. We'll shop it. Anyway, this is the Dunhill Hotel and I am recording in here right now. Let's get started. It's in Charlotte, North Carolina. And in 1926, ghosts, if I say anything wrong, let me know.
Starting point is 00:28:04 Smack M on the head. That would be cruel, Christine. That's not Christian of you. It's Catholic of me though. In 1926, the land for this hotel was bought by two doctors in town. And the plan was that this building was going to be half a hotel, but half apartments for locals.
Starting point is 00:28:26 So it's gonna be kind of pseudo permanent resident housing. Don't you always feel bad when you're going into a hotel and someone lives there and you're trying to figure out the elevator and they're like trying to get to their floor. Yeah, they have all their groceries. Yeah. And they're just like, please, you have to tap the card first.
Starting point is 00:28:40 And I'm like, oops. Yeah. I do always feel, it doesn't happen a lot, but I do feel a little silly when I'm in a hotel in like a place I know very well. And then everyone's like, I wonder what we'll see while we're here. And I'm so jaded. I'm like, you'll see nothing. Can you know, step aside, let me get to my room. So it was originally a 100 room building and it was literally 50 50.
Starting point is 00:29:02 It was going to be hotel rooms versus apartments. Fun fact, the two doctors that founded this or bought this property and had this big vision, they were Dr. Matheson and Dr. Peeler and they founded what still exists today, the Charlotte Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital. Oh, okay. If you care, now you know. Great. And also fun fact, because I know you love to know this information, the land was priced back then at $250,000, which today is over four and a half million. Oh boy. Okay. Which is the price of that art behind me, I'll tell you. So one reason it was so pricey is because the building was going to be in a very sought-after place in Charlotte it was right in the main hub of town and
Starting point is 00:29:48 one of the First architects in town is the one who built the hotel his name was Lewis Asbury senior and fun fact he there's now a restaurant downstairs named after him called the Asbury Oh makes a nice name the if you've got a name like that Use it the Asbury. Oh, makes a nice name. If you've got a name like that, use it. Fun fact, again, you know, I love these. This building was originally called the Mayfair Manor. You know, I love a manor. You love a manor.
Starting point is 00:30:14 I love a manor. What type of house do I want? A manor every time. Only a manor. So it was originally the Mayfair Manor. And some sources I saw were confusing it and calling it the Mayflower, like the ship. Not the same. Not the same. Maybe at some other point in time when it like switched hands briefly maybe it was called the Mayflower but the original name was Mayfair Manor in case you're hearing otherwise. Asbury, the architect, made the hotel so that it would be one of the tallest buildings in town. And his plan, which I think it worked out, is that he wanted it to be seen against Charlotte's skyline. So if you were looking at the skyline, you could see his hotel.
Starting point is 00:30:55 He wanted his mark on the skyline. Exactly. Yeah. Nice. So in November, November 15th, 1929, the hotel opened. Now, November 15th, 1929 is just a little over two weeks after the stock market crashed. Yikes. Oh shit. 1929. Oh my God. And that's as this opened. They're like, great, great, Depression. It's so awkward. Really awkward. It's like now you can't afford to even stay here.
Starting point is 00:31:28 That's like two weeks after COVID started or some other international or national disaster. Like, oh my God. That's a great comparison. It's like, we're gonna open the best restaurant in town. Nevermind, we lost all of our money. We're all really busy about something else, yeah. Luckily though, because this hotel was still in the middle of constructing some, I guess,
Starting point is 00:31:48 last bits of it, and there was a whole need for people to work in hotels, this actually provided a lot of jobs for people in Charlotte who had just been laid off or lost all their money. Oh, okay. That's good. Yeah. So it actually worked out that they needed a job, and it was so new and well known that people were coming in anyway
Starting point is 00:32:06 So I already worked out however by the 50s 1959 one of the doctors who bought the property he died and the hotel was then sold off and it became a pretty common thing It seems throughout its run from 1959 into the 80s that it would get sold off, bought by somebody, sold off, bought by somebody, to a point where I'm not gonna sit here
Starting point is 00:32:28 and bother everybody listening all that. But with each time it was handed off to another person or entity, the hotel quickly was just deteriorating. It was very outdated. It wasn't being taken care of. And by 1980, the property was like, we can't be a hotel anymore. We're thinking about turning it into condos. Even that fell through. And so within the next year, the
Starting point is 00:32:51 hotel officially closed and became abandoned for many years. So a lot of squatters, a lot of homeless people stayed in here. Kind of like I am in my mind, like the Cecil Hotel. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it makes sense like you have all this property, all these rooms, you know, all this space, and it's like just shutting the doors, yeah. And the irony that during the literal Great Depression, like this would be a booming business and any other time it was struggling is weird.
Starting point is 00:33:18 That's really actually a good point, yeah. That's interesting. A manor of all things, you know? Come on. The second they said, you know what? It's not the manner anymore. We're gonna change its name downhill So in 1987 that's six years since it became bacon The hotel was bought again and renovated for six million dollars and eighty seven, which is now seventeen million dollars today
Starting point is 00:33:41 And the hotel was renamed the Dunhill now I think it was renamed the Dunhill. Now I think it was renamed the Dunhill because the company that bought it is called like Dunhill Associates or something. It's kind of a boring reason. I was thinking like there's a big lavish explanation. I thought they were like going Dunhill, down the hill, I don't know. Yeah something I was like at least give me a reason but nope. That's a poo poo on the name but I was really hoping for a fun fact for you. When it did reopen as the Dunhill in 87 or 88,
Starting point is 00:34:10 the hotel now had 60 rooms instead of 100, and it has stayed in business ever since. And as of the 90s, it joined the Historic Hotels of America program, and it has been given multiple awards, including the award in excellence for best historic hotel in the country. Wow.
Starting point is 00:34:27 And it's on hill three store three stars on Google. How I don't understand what's wrong with you people. And that's the history. So I'm going to tell you the ghosts. Oh, hell yeah. So and this is where the ghost should really chime in chime in. Reports started very early on in the hotel's history that there was something spooky going on.
Starting point is 00:34:50 Staff would say that there were rooms that they just could not go in without feeling something really eerie. A quote that I read was about walking into these rooms. They said they would feel shivers that, quote, started in their spines and then traveled over their skulls. Okay, that's a little too specific for me. Like just say like, ooh, a chill down the spine.
Starting point is 00:35:13 Something weird is going on. Yeah, they're like a chill up the spine, not down. My skull is entrapped with shivers, yeah. Forget it. People would hear noises in empty rooms, they would see apparitions throughout the building. And unfortunately, some of those apparitions and sounds were residual hauntings from multiple suicides here. Oh, no.
Starting point is 00:35:34 Because if you recall, the hotel was one of the tallest in the city. Oh, geez. And it opened right after the stock market crashed. Yeah, that too. Yeah. Yeah. So this was quite a space for a while. Which also, talk about the, I don't know what the right word is, the layers involved of opening up this hotel,
Starting point is 00:35:56 somehow it's surviving the Great Depression, everyone's coming here, everyone's making money, it's like a bright spot on a sad time, and on the roof, people are jumping. Like, how do you, if this was their first time managing a hotel, they were navigating a lot fast. Yeah, the hospitality industry is already a very tough one.
Starting point is 00:36:16 I imagine this was like times 10. I feel like they were going into work every day being like, what am I about to walk into? I mean, it's again, like not to keep drawing comparisons, but it's again, like COVID times, like you have no clue what the fuck is gonna happen every day and like what new obstacles. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:33 So now, unfortunately, people claim to see those moments replaying on the property. Ooh. One woman, for example, this was the, oh, I have chills just thinking about it. One woman kept hearing- Up your head? Up your chills just thinking about it one woman kept hearing your head up your skull In my eyeballs actually, okay, they mentioned that in the notes One woman kept hearing heavy footsteps above her despite being on the top floor. Oh, no. Oh, no the roof
Starting point is 00:36:56 Oh, no, and she went to look out her window and at that exact moment saw a man falling past her window from the roof moment saw a man falling past her window from the roof. She freaked out and looked over the ledge and saw a man now on the ground. He was in an old fashioned suit and hat on the sidewalk. She tried to call like the hotel phone for help and the phone wouldn't work. So she ran downstairs and when she went outside to the sidewalk, nobody was there. Oh my. Even though she had just seen a lot of blood. Hey, that sucks too because that's so traumatizing, but like it's not quote unquote real.
Starting point is 00:37:32 Like you're not... So it's like, how do you reconcile with that trauma if people are like, no, but you didn't really see anything. It's like, but I literally thought I witnessed somebody die by suicide, you know? That's such a good point, because I, in one way, first of all, seeing, whether it's real or not, seeing the details of someone die by suicide, die at all.
Starting point is 00:37:55 Anything graphic is traumatic, but on top of it, what you're saying of like the reality part of it, it reminds me of those people who claim that they've lived in glitches in the Matrix, or they have vivid dreams of another family. And then all of a sudden, like there, you just have to live in a space where-
Starting point is 00:38:10 You're like alone, you're like, I don't, nobody else. That was all fake? Totally, and it's like, well, it was real to me, but nobody else, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, a lot of trauma for her, I'm sure. I wonder if it was like a time slip because the phone didn't work.
Starting point is 00:38:22 I wonder if it was like she like entered a time slip and like saw everything happening. The phone wasn't work. I wonder if it was like she entered a time slip and saw everything happening. The phone wasn't the right. Didn't exist back then. Yeah, exactly. Like you're not allowed to use that. That's actually very interesting. Although riddle me this then,
Starting point is 00:38:35 that night after he fell and nothing happened, she just went back up to her room. She was like, I guess I was seeing something. Yeah. For the rest of the night, she saw the man fall past her window multiple times. Oh no. Then laying on the ground below
Starting point is 00:38:51 and then vanishing like nothing happened. I would, I mean, you'd have to think you'd like check yourself in somewhere. Like I would be- Call an asylum. Right, like I would be so concerned about my mental health if that were happening. Yeah. That's- I would, I mean, I wonder what year that was, cause I'd be like, get a camera, get my phone,
Starting point is 00:39:08 call something. It probably doesn't work if the phone doesn't work. You're totally right. Yeah, so imagine not just the trauma that we were just talking about, but now it's happening over and over and you can't escape it. And you know nobody else can see it, forget it.
Starting point is 00:39:21 And I wonder how many times as multiple times, like was it three? I mean, that's enough, certainly. But like, I'm not gonna say only three, really. And it's how many times as multiple times, like was it three? I mean, that's enough. Yeah. But like, I'm not gonna say only three. And it's like, do you close your curtains and you're still hearing it or like the footsteps? Like, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:39:33 That's just awful. Do you hear anything at all? Do you hear like a voice out the window, like screaming or I don't know. I don't know, but it's awful. It's awful. And you hope it's the blueprint theory where this is all residual and not like this person wants your attention.
Starting point is 00:39:50 It's like re-experiencing this or trying to like show it to you intentionally. Right, right, right. Well, so that woman later was obviously fascinated even morbidly by her experience. So she went and looked up the history of the hotel and learned that the night she was staying there was the 50th anniversary of a man jumping off the roof. Oh my God. I'm in that building right now, by the way.
Starting point is 00:40:12 Ah! I just remembered. I was like, oh my God. And then I was like, oh, same roof. You're like, that's so scary. Yeah. So other activity throughout the hotel includes water taps turning on and off by themselves lamps flickering on and off by themselves
Starting point is 00:40:28 Phantom smells which nobody like spoke on I'm like I feel like I would like to know what those smells are But maybe something boring like perfume Temperature changes voices footsteps apparitions that disappear after you spot them apparently there's Voices, footsteps, apparitions that disappear after you spot them. Apparently, there is a lady in white here who I only saw in one source. But apparently, she. You're going to say you saw her. I was like, no, she's there. Unfortunately, no.
Starting point is 00:40:54 She, I guess, appears in the banquet hall and then disappears once you spot her. So there is a lady in white because there's always a lady in white. Oh, figures at the foot of your bed. People claim that they feel something grabbing their ankles when they're sleeping. Just a firm no forever. People hear laughter in the lobby when it's totally empty. The shampoo bottles rearrange themselves. Oh, OK. Which like, do they rearrange themselves when you're in or out of the shower?
Starting point is 00:41:26 That very much depends on how scared I am. For what purpose really? Yeah, again, you hope it's just a blueprint thing where like time slipped into like their world. But yeah, if I was in the shower naked and exposed and I'm watching them move themselves like Casper, we've got a problem. But yeah, anyway. And then glasses move by themselves in the bar,
Starting point is 00:41:49 which I hope is them taking a swig of something, you know? I would hope, yeah. Well, one employee in the office was in the office on her break and she watched one of the office chairs next to her swivel 360 degrees and then stop when facing her. Ah, I'd be like, keep turning away from me. She apparently instead said, ah, and she was like, I'm not sitting in there ever again.
Starting point is 00:42:13 No. One couple kept waking up because they felt something staring at them and they could hear laughter coming through their vents, which you hope is a person. What? You hope it's a person next door, but that also is like super eerie. Because it's always like in a corner or like somewhere up high, like the vent.
Starting point is 00:42:31 Yeah. It's just like, I don't want it coming from the floor or the ceiling. That's just creepy. Also, if it's coming from the vent, it's far away and echoey enough that you're like, maybe is something talking to me? Like, why do I keep hearing voices? Like it's like muffled enough that you can't clearly hear it, yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:48 So apparently the second, ninth and 10th floors are said to be the most haunted. That was the AC, holy shit. It's like I didn't hear anything. I just saw you turn your head and I was like, goodbye. My favorite thing about you, Christine, is that whenever there's a haunted moment, your knee-jerk reaction is goodbye.
Starting point is 00:43:09 It's time to say goodbye to the world. It's always the exact same. Goodbye, cruel world. Yeah. Yeah. Being in pitch black rooms where you did that was, I can't escape it. Anytime I get scared now,
Starting point is 00:43:23 I hear it whispering in the back of my head. I don't know where that came from, I have no clue, but it really is my knee-jerk reaction. What floor, are we allowed to know what floor you're on, or is that something you're gonna talk about later? We'll talk about it in a second. Okay. So the ninth, the second, the ninth,
Starting point is 00:43:37 and the tenth floors are the most haunted. The second floor, I don't really understand why, but the ninth and 10th floors make sense because they're the tallest floors. And the room 906 is the most active. Now, Christine, because you asked. Ah! 906!
Starting point is 00:43:59 I am currently in room 906. Yeah, you are. Did you request it? Of course I, can you imagine? No, I know That's why I was like there's no way in hell. They just did that. No, I just booked whatever because I booked this at like one in the morning Yeah And then I was like i'm just gonna book a room and then i'll just ask when I get there and I was like fat chance
Starting point is 00:44:19 But is 906 available and they said oh, yeah, someone just someone on out, just checked out. And I went, that one please. Someone just checked out running screaming through the lobby. You can have it. A trail of ectoplasm was following them. Oh my God, wait, so you're in the most haunted room? I am. This is so exciting now, wow. Okay, I'm watching so closely behind you.
Starting point is 00:44:41 I know, and this hotel, by the way, is said to be one of the most haunted spaces in Charlotte, which is interesting. Oh my gosh. So it's on all the listicles, so. Damn. So 906, this is things that might happen while I'm here. People say that everything in there feels off. I will say I do feel like I'm being watched.
Starting point is 00:45:00 Okay, I am watching you and so are many people, but that's probably different, right? Good point. Yeah, and I also don't know if it's like, because I walked in primed for that. Right, you're primed, right. I don't feel anything negative for sure. That's good. Yeah, maybe at night I would, but haha, I'm not going to be here at night. So people say everything in the room feels off. People apparently have a hard time sleeping in here.
Starting point is 00:45:23 People claim that they get heart palpitations for no reason. Jokes on them, I brought my propranolol. Okay, I was like, and that seems like a terrible idea. They might be trying and I just can't feel it. So people say that their items go missing. People have had their hotel keys, their room keys stop working for no reason. The one that I'm the most freaked out about for some reason
Starting point is 00:45:44 is the curtains moving on their own. Okay, well that's what I've been staring at this whole time. So I'll tell you if the pillows or curtains move, that's where my eyes have been. This is your moment, ghosts of the Dunhill Hotel. Move the curtains. Imagine I just started screaming. That would have been crazy.
Starting point is 00:46:01 Or if all of a sudden I just heard, shh, you know. Oh, I wish. I wish I had some sort of like Like lever system I could have done well I did There were a few interviews where someone like someone that works here Said that the curtains moving is one of the more Like common things here or the blinds moving and I feel like if you saw that in the room It wouldn't be you'd'd be like, whoa,
Starting point is 00:46:25 and then maybe you'd brush it off. But if we saw that on camera, like that'd be pretty cool because you can rewind and see like, if anybody's touching it, you can see if their air is moving it. Exactly, yeah, if there's a draft, yeah. But I guess that one of the reasons people leave this room the most is because the curtains.
Starting point is 00:46:40 Oh really? And the blinds move themselves. People have literally gone downstairs and be like, you have to go get my luggage because the blinds move themselves. People have literally gone downstairs and been like, you have to go get my luggage because the blinds are just opening and closing and opening and closing by themselves. Ew, ew, ew, I just got goose-cam. I feel something in here now all of a sudden.
Starting point is 00:46:54 Me too, I feel gross now, cool. Welcome, welcome to the recording. The electronics here turn on and off by themselves. TV, this is your moment. Watch the computer just shut off? Yeah, well, that's that's why I came in here and I was like, please don't mess with my computer. You mess with anything else. Anything else, please.
Starting point is 00:47:12 We got to get this episode out there. I just checked to make sure I'm recording. So electronics go on and off. The drawers open and close themselves. Horrifying. And one of the most common things people wake up to, or one of the most common things that happen here is that people wake up to the sound of knocking and tapping on the nightstand, which I am just sitting next to. You've really positioned yourself in the perfect spot for my viewing pleasure.
Starting point is 00:47:38 Thank you. I, it's, it is as one of my first times doing this, it is very weird to be sitting next to the thing I'm talking about. I am loving this. I agree with you that this should be a new thing where you just go, and we can all like watch the background and see like if anything happens. I really like it.
Starting point is 00:47:57 I don't know if you like it, but I think it's really cool. I don't hate the idea of doing some sort of like travel series where I just talk about every haunted hotel. I mean, I think it's awesome and then you can see if anything goes on. I love it Comment below thoughts comment below. Let us know if you see anything move One woman stayed here in this room and apparently pretty much every phenomenon I just explained all happened back to back where she woke up to knocking, then the TV would turn on and off, then something else would...
Starting point is 00:48:30 She said appliances, I'm assuming TV, there's not a fridge in here. She said appliances kept turning on and off, so maybe the lamps, then the water was going on and off, and all of the curtains. And then she basically screamed because she was getting scared and then everything stopped. And when she looked at the clock It was exactly 3 a.m. Oh, it was the night too. Oh, no, no, no The main ghost of the hotel which I was warned of when I checked into 906 by the way, they said oh, yeah Well look out for dusty, but don't worry. He's very friendly dusty
Starting point is 00:49:01 Dusty, you know, I lovey already. First of all, incredible name. Yeah, but fucking kick ass name. If I ever had to be a cowboy specifically and my name wasn't Dusty, I'd say we're trying again. I was gonna say Hank or Dusty and you already have Hank covered. So Dusty is also such a good like little cowboy name. I love it.
Starting point is 00:49:20 Like you're meant to be outside. For sure, tumbleweed step aside. Imagine if your name is Dusty and you just like don't leave the basement. Well, I guess maybe the basement is Dusty. It's pretty Dusty. Imagine if your name is Dusty and you're like a hedge fund. Yeah. Something that doesn't quite fit.
Starting point is 00:49:34 Unless you have to go by Dustin. You kind of have to, unless like it's kind of like, oh, my frat bros called me Dusty, you know, and it's like a thing. You know, he now goes by Dustin, but when his friends from college come into town, they go, hey, Dusty, you know, and it's like a thing. You know he now goes by Dustin, but when his friends from college come into town, they go, hey, Dusty! He's so embarrassed every time. Yep. If Dusty doesn't move your curtains right now,
Starting point is 00:49:54 I'm gonna start crying. Come on, step it up. We're summoning you. Dusty, this is your moment to make a visual sign that you're here. We're all looking for it. Nothing. All right, well. Here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:50:08 He's apparently the main ghost here. I don't know about that. I think he's just the most talked about ghost here. He's known to be very mischievous and prank people. People say that he's like the ghost of the Dunhill Hotel, but I also think maybe he's kind of a scapegoat more than anything because there's so many people who've died here.
Starting point is 00:50:29 There's probably a lot of stuff going on and the only reason Dusty is so popular is because it's the way that a lot of staff excuse weird things happening here. Like it's just Dusty. I think a lot of things happen probably by a lot of different ghosts and they go, oh, that's just Dusty, oh, that's just dusty. Oh, that's just dusty.
Starting point is 00:50:45 And I don't even know how the name dusty came to be. Like we're just making up things at the spa. Okay. Okay. So maybe there is, maybe there is a main ghost, but we don't know that his name is dusty. Maybe there's no main ghosts and this is just the work of several spirits and there is no dusty. I don't know. But whether it's one ghost or multiple, they all seem to be very friendly and just like to pull pranks, and that's about it. So this is the hotel you would want to experience existing. I was gonna say, of all things, it sounds not,
Starting point is 00:51:11 I mean, obviously, suicide replays not outstanding. It feels like the little pranks and stuff are on the more harmless end, I think, I hope. Yeah, the worst thing I saw was that sometimes people get their ankle grabbed, I didn't love that. Yeah, that part's not good. But that also feels like maybe that could still be playful, like, ha ha, gotcha, and then that's like.
Starting point is 00:51:36 Yeah, it's not funny. It's not funny. Makes me so mad, I'm like, not playful, stop it. Alive, if a person did that, I'd go, get the fuck off me. Yeah, you're no longer friends with me. Goodbye. But if that's the worst thing that happens, then I would still pick that over like, you know, a million other hotels that I don't want to be in. Like Possession or like Attachments and shit. Yeah. Or Violent. Yeah, anyone getting like scratched. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:59 True. So, just in case he decides to get a little too mischievous at any point, the hotel actually has a drink named after him here in the bar. And I saw online that it's called ghost cider, which apparently is vodka with ghost peppers. That sounds awful. That's trash. Bye. Maybe they got a lot of feedback like that because I ended up looking at their menu because
Starting point is 00:52:24 I plan on ordering lunch at the Asbury after this of course and I didn't see ghost cider on the menu, but I did see a drink called the dusty Okay, is that a little better? You tell me it's a smoked drink, which I would immediately be out Anytime like this is another one of these things with these fucking bartenders trying to make me fancy mocktails. They're like, oh, I'm gonna smoke it.
Starting point is 00:52:49 And I'm like, you're gonna make it taste like a tree? Why? Yeah. What the fuck is wrong with you? Yeah, it's like charcoal? Yeah, mm, like a burnt anything. Like why would I want my drink also burnt? Anyway, I can't take it. If you ever meet me and wanna make me a mocktail,
Starting point is 00:53:03 please God don't smoke it. Literally my brother and I just did an episode of reviews of cocktails and I went on this rant about you and your mocktails, not you, but like about your experience wearing mocktails and people are like, here's some bitters. And you're like, no, I want juice. Delicious juice. I really, it's so shameful, or feels shameful, it shouldn't have to be, but I feel like the only way to get what I want at a bar anymore is to just say, I want fruit punch. Do what you can with that.
Starting point is 00:53:32 Exactly, which I feel like is fair, you know, people figure that out. Because otherwise people are like, here's some bitters and a lime rind and I'm gonna smoke it. And I'll just smoke it, yeah. A lime rind. And now you feel fancy, and here's, oh, by the way, give me $16. And I'm like, what the hell? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now drink it in front of me and tell me how much you smoke it. Yeah, a lot of times. And now you feel fancy. And here's, oh, by the way, give me $16. And I'm like, what the hell?
Starting point is 00:53:46 Now drink it in front of me and tell me how much you like it. Okay, there have been a few people who are fans of the show. And they want you to like it. Who make me a box sale. And they wanna watch me like enjoy the drink. And they're really trying,
Starting point is 00:53:58 they're really pulling out all the stops. And I'm like, girl, I just want pineapple juice. I don't know what to tell you. I'm so sorry. Yeah, I would have been like, this is the best drink I've ever had because I'm just that. Oh I did.
Starting point is 00:54:07 Oh you did good. I was like, this is incredible. And then I just like hoped they weren't looking when I like didn't finish it. And you hope they're not listening right now. I'm sorry if it's you. You tried really hard and I appreciate that. We're just too socially uncomfortable
Starting point is 00:54:19 to like say it out loud in the moment. You had the right spirit. It just, it just wasn't. But you also had the wrong spirit. Yeah, my mouth wasn't super pleased, but my heart was. You had the right spirit. It just wasn't. But you also had the wrong spirit. Yeah, my mouth wasn't super pleased, but my heart was. You know what I mean? Oh, that's nice. So the Dusty is a smoked drink. And tell me, smoked or not would you drink this? Rye? No. Okay. Bitters, sugar, and cherries. Oh, so it's like an old fashion. I guess so. Rye whiskey. Yeah. Rye bitters sugar and then it has
Starting point is 00:54:47 Amarena cherries, which is different apparently than Luxardo cherries, which I'm a massive fan of. I love a Luxardo cherry. If you are gonna make me a mocktail, if you just give me a cup of nothing but Luxardo cherries, we're in business. Just put the jar in front of you. Just give me the jar and a spoon, holy shit.
Starting point is 00:55:00 Just put that in a bunch of vodka and I'll be happy too. Apparently, Amarena cherries are different than Luxardo, but they look the same. Okay, it sounds good, except for the rye. And the bitters. And everything else. Everything else I'll drink. Can you imagine if I call down in five seconds, because I can, and I'd be like, can I actually have the dusty, but no rye or bitters? And they're gonna be like, so sugar and cherries? And I'm like, yes, please.
Starting point is 00:55:23 Sugar and cherries in a cup. Don't smoke it, please God. Yeah, God, please don't smoke it. Well, okay, so these are some of the things Dusty is said to do most often throughout the building. Like these are the things that the staff are most often going, oh, that's Dusty for you. He will move your items around. The doors will open and close.
Starting point is 00:55:43 He loves to open and close the blinds and the curtains. That's like his big old thing. Okay, well, you're welcome to do that, Dusty. It's not my room, but I'm giving you permission. Watch my curtains fucking close. Like, I'm like... Your curtains. That's so horrible. Now I'm scared.
Starting point is 00:55:58 The other big thing is that he is known to open and close elevator doors at random, on random floors. it doesn't matter. He just likes to fuck with the elevators. Okay. So because he's known to take control of the elevators, many think that this ghost is of a man from 1988 who was found in the elevator shaft.
Starting point is 00:56:20 Oh no, oh no. So remember I told you back in the 1980s when it finally got bought after being vacant and there was like this big several million dollar renovation. While that was going on, crew was, were sweeping out the elevator shaft, the old elevator shaft, and they found remains of a human skeleton. Oh no, that's sad. And that has now been attributed to dusty, even though we have no evidence of that.
Starting point is 00:56:47 It's just we had a ghost and we found a body, let's put them together. For the longest time after looking at this body and bringing in authorities, forensics could only determine very few things about this set of remains, which was that it was a white male with a limp and a deformed left hand.
Starting point is 00:57:03 I don't know if deformed is the right word anymore, but there was something going on with his left hand. Okay. And apparently they said he died within the last five years. That's the best they could do. Back then in the 80s? In the 80s, yeah. They said he died by...
Starting point is 00:57:19 1983 was the earliest he could have died, and this was in 1987, 1988 that they found him. Around that time, back in the 80s, remember, it was vacant and a lot of people were squatting here. So they assumed it must've just been like a homeless person who lived here, something happened. I don't know if it was like the elevator fell on him or if it was just like,
Starting point is 00:57:40 oh, he was sleeping in the elevator shaft and just died. We don't know. But anyway, that's how people assume that Dusty got here and we didn't have any more information other than that. But a few years ago in 2022, the remains were reexamined with DNA collecting and Ancestry.com, your favorites. And the remains were traced back to a World War Two Army vet named Oliver Mundy, who went by O.D.
Starting point is 00:58:05 And his family was notified. They confirmed that OD went missing back in the 80s and he was last seen without proper housing. So there's a chance that he would have been squatting in this building. Wow. Technology is crazy. So maybe this is where I kind of I'm like, is dusty even real? Maybe this ghost is OD. Maybe neither of them exist.
Starting point is 00:58:26 Like it doesn't really matter. But how cool that we at least know who the person was and he could be like put to rest. Contact the family and say like, hey, we like, oh wow. And they found his relative through Ancestry because they, I guess, figured him out elsewhere and then looked him up on Ancestry and they found his niece, I think.
Starting point is 00:58:45 Wow, and that makes it so much more relatable. Like, it's so easy to say, unfortunately, it's so easy to say, oh, people were squatting and like unhoused folks were in there and you know, somebody died and they found... But like when you say like, oh, this was a vet and this was his family and like he'd gone missing. And I mean, it just like adds such a human element to it.
Starting point is 00:59:07 Yeah, it was just someone's uncle. Yeah, it's really sad. So that was a major, I think, spooky element to this building for a long time, like up until 2022. Finding a body in the walls, in the elevator shaft, that's terrifying. Yeah. And as of only three years ago, that missing person's case is closed. But that certainly, I think, was a big narrative
Starting point is 00:59:33 that people drove about like, oh, and that's how Dusty came here. But we don't know much. We just know that he's the most popular ghost here, now that the body has been cleared that it's not Dusty. We don't know how he got here. We don't even know if he's just one ghost or many like I said despite all the deaths on the property he's usually blamed for most things so honestly if he's a random ghost named dusty and he keeps getting
Starting point is 00:59:56 the heat for everything I feel bad for him too. Yeah he takes that and just runs with it and is like yeah you think I'm doing it well fine maybe I will do it. That would almost embolden me to just be worse. I'm like, well, you're gonna blame me anyway. I'd be like, watch this, exactly. Anyway, anytime something spooky happens, we don't know. There's, it's just- Good old Dusty. Good old Dusty and a lot of people died here, unfortunately,
Starting point is 01:00:17 so we don't totally have any information outside of that. But that is the Dunhill Hotel. This is room 906. We'll see what happens. I can't believe it when you showed me the key card with 906. Ah, ah! Isn't that fun?
Starting point is 01:00:32 Isn't that fun? Ah, anyway, that's my story. So how long are you gonna be staying there? Just for the day or you're not staying overnight, right? No, I just rented a room and I'm pretending it's my office for the day. I mean, I just rented a room and I'm pretending it's my office for the day. I mean, I love that. I love that you and Dusty are doing one of those co-working spaces.
Starting point is 01:00:51 Me and D-Dawg, we work, you know what I'm saying? We working with D-Dawg. It's stupid. The 906 gang, what up, what up? 906, oh my god. I love it. I love it. Well, I'm gonna be staring, I'm gonna be so distracted during my notes,
Starting point is 01:01:09 just like trying to watch the curtain. Every now and then I might just do like a little scan for people. Yeah, we do a pan. Yeah. When things get too tough during your story, it's like maybe we just do a quick little peruse. It's like we'll just do like a little visual cue. Wow, that was fun, Em.
Starting point is 01:01:22 I kinda like this idea that you go to haunted hotels and I just watch you at them. I like it a lot. And it gives me a reason to go travel. You know I'm gonna miss traveling when I'm four. I know, and I like to be home in my bed. So you know what? It's perfect.
Starting point is 01:01:34 Perfect, okay, everyone start commenting other hotels I should stay in. Just tell us what to do. Don't make them super complicated, please. Yeah, like table Iceland for now or Tokyo. We'll go there another time. Table the Crescent Hotel because that was a big one. Like give me like a,
Starting point is 01:01:48 where there's a notoriously just one room. Right, manageable one. One room at a time. Good point. We'll work our way up. Attention renters. That used to be us no longer, but man do we wish this had been around. If you haven't heard of BILT, you are about to thank us.
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Starting point is 01:03:12 but we were just talking about how Mint Mobile on the tour iPad has been such a blessing in disguise. And I was saying, even though we're not on tour, I still use it. Like we were on a trip recently and I needed desperately to get an episode for Leona, because you know how a three-year-old is and you know how their parents are, just frantic.
Starting point is 01:03:30 And I was like, wait a minute, the tour iPad, it's got Mint Mobile. They've saved us not only there, but when I'm on stage and forgot my notes also. So thank you, Mint Mobile, for always being there and making life easy. In all situations, Mintmobile is there. You can say bye-bye, or if you're Leona,
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Starting point is 01:04:35 Alrighty, so I have a story for you today. This is the story of Amy Gellert, born Charlotte Gellert in 1973. Kind of cute, named after her mother, but neither of them went by Charlotte. Amy herself went by Amy, which was her middle name, and then her mom went by Bunny. Love that.
Starting point is 01:04:56 You know how we've talked about nicknames and how Bunny is like one of the best and worst of all the nicknames? Like it's such like a, it feels like a country club grandma. You know? Yeah, it sounds like... Like Skip and Bunny or something.
Starting point is 01:05:10 You certainly aren't, it's weird because it implies youth, but I don't think I would ever associate it with a younger person. No, right, true. True, it's always like somebody with Capris. Yes, with only white capris, only white. Yeah, that's interesting. And they have like a 401k. Ah, you know. Yikes. What's that? Just kidding. OK, so anyway, two Charlottes, neither one of them is Charlotte, Bunny and her daughter, Amy. When Amy was three years old, her parents divorced. She grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida,
Starting point is 01:05:45 with her two brothers, Ryan and Mark, and her mother, because her mother was a single mom. The three of them were inseparable, they were thick as thieves, and some of Amy's friends, looking back, think that Amy wanted to be more like her brothers, but her mom wanted her to be a girly girl type of daughter, like a feminine daughter,
Starting point is 01:06:03 and she didn't quite fit the picture is what some of her friends said. Amy wasn't a very girly girl. She was pretty rebellious. She often pushed her mother's buttons and with a mom like Bunny, I imagine that feels like the perfect mother daughter kind of situation. You want your daughter to be a girly girl who's in a makeup and then, sorry bunny. My mom can relate to bunny, let's put it that way. Yeah, let's just put it that way.
Starting point is 01:06:33 In more ways than what, by the way. The Capri's not with Sandom. My mom, that woman loves a white Capri. Yeah, loves a white Capri. So that was kind of the dynamic, at least according to Amy's friends. Ryan, her brother, said Amy was the perfect friend and the perfect sister. And he started to cry when he said that, and it made me sad.
Starting point is 01:06:54 When Amy was five years old, Bunny remarried and Amy got a stepfather, and his name was Bob Layton. He joined the family and they became a pretty solid family unit, the five of them. But soon after this, Amy became seriously ill with encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain. Oh shit. Yeah, and so encephalitis is often caused by a viral infection or other primary issue that then leads to the swelling of the brain.
Starting point is 01:07:23 But we don't know what preceded the encephalitis. If anything, we don't know how it happened, but we do know that she suffered from it and she survived, but the illness left her with learning disabilities that made school really difficult for her. And her mom and others who knew her said she really, really struggled, not only academically, but also socially, because she had to be held back a year. And it was just kind of hard for her at that age to like reconcile getting pulled back from her friends
Starting point is 01:07:54 and you know, the whole new world. Despite her struggles and this like life-threatening illness that she defeated, she still seemed to be bubbly and happy. People were always drawn to her. Her high school best friend Andrea O'Dell said Amy was the most special person she'd ever met. She just was a very unique and good friend. But Amy's parents didn't necessarily feel that way because the friends she brought around were not always ones that they approved of. Oh, okay. Amy hung out with some teenagers that other people called rough rebellious. You know, we're talking like the late 80s, early 90s. So you can probably exactly picture
Starting point is 01:08:37 what I'm talking about. Grunge punk. Yeah. Uh huh. Grunge, that kind of thing, like smoke and pot, you know, The devil's lettuce? No. The devil's lettuce. You know what's... Bunny would for sure call it that, you know. Are you still gonna get your hot one? Your hot tattoo? Oh, yes, absolutely.
Starting point is 01:08:55 What's his name? Hot one? Hot stuff. Hot stuff. You realize if you get hot stuff, we are the devil's lettuce. Oh! Isn't that fun? That's lettuce. Oh! Isn't that fun? That's crazy.
Starting point is 01:09:08 Isn't that silly? That's crazy. And I am, by the way. I am getting it. I'm excited. She wrote to me that she... I don't know if anybody remembers this, but I was supposed to get a tattoo in Vegas. And then, unfortunately, the...
Starting point is 01:09:21 And it was all these, uh... What do you call it? I was gonna say conspiracies. I mean coincidences. And then unfortunately, it was all these, what do you call it? I was gonna say conspiracies, I mean coincidences, synchronicities that led up to it. And then the morning of the tattoo, I got this email being like, oh, she was in a car accident. And it was like, what the fuck?
Starting point is 01:09:38 And like so scary. And then I said, well, maybe sometime I'll be back in Vegas to reschedule. And they're like, well, she'll be in Northern Kentucky, in Covington, Kentucky in August. Does that help? And I'm like, am I being scammed? Anyway, I was not being scammed
Starting point is 01:09:53 because I just wrote in and we got it on the books and she's coming to Covington, which is like right down the street. And I'm getting my hot ones in August. Perfect. So we'll be the devil's lettuce. Very fun. Just in time for the spooky season.
Starting point is 01:10:07 No problem. That's a good costume. We should do that. I would love to be dressed up as lettuce. That'd be silly. I would love to dress up as the devil. Perfect. Okay, great. And the devil, I guess, smoking marijuana. I think it fits the bill. We should just both be like a Cheech and Chong version of devil and lettuce. Devil and lettuce. Cute. Anyway and Lettuce, cute. Anyway, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your story. No, no, no, it's fine.
Starting point is 01:10:28 We're trying to find the pockets of tangent. I'm sorry, I know people sometimes get annoyed. It just, it's gonna get sad, so let us have a moment in the light. It is how we speak in real life. It's like you just have to follow along on the path. The winding roads, they're all detours. Hang in there long enough and you'll be sad, don't worry.
Starting point is 01:10:48 Don't worry, we will get to it, unfortunately. Yeah. And we will take that part seriously. So, Amy was one of those people that had a lot of friends across the social, you know, board. So, although all her friends called her a great friend and somebody that they loved to be around, her parents did not necessarily feel the same way
Starting point is 01:11:10 about all the people she brought around. So she hung out with kind of a tougher crowd and she started smoking pot, speaking of which, she started smoking pot. And, you know, obviously even today, that is something that parents and kids have major issues about and tension in households and things like that.
Starting point is 01:11:33 But back then, the late 80s, early 90s, we're talking satanic panic. I mean, literally devil's lettuce, like, that is the vibe. Yeah. So her mom is really, really, really not about it. And according to her mom, you know, I don't know, I didn't hear anybody else's kind of take on this, but according to her mom, she was very heavily into pot.
Starting point is 01:11:56 And she even said Amy was someone, and this is a quote, someone who would sell her soul for pot. That's what she said about her daughter. So I'm like, I mean, I don't know exactly. It's like how on the nose is that? Yeah, and you know, is that like, oh, she was actually selling... I don't know how specifically how that translates,
Starting point is 01:12:17 but apparently she really was pretty dependent on it, and her mom got desperate. Her mom was like, I gotta get her off this stuff. So unfortunately, I gotta, I gotta get her off this stuff. So unfortunately, back then what was considered a pretty, at least at the very least legal action, she sent her daughter to a sort of wilderness camp or one of these. Oh, like the like the scare straight kind of programs. It's actually called straight kind of programs.
Starting point is 01:12:45 It's actually called straight is the name. Sorry. Sorry. That's not funny. But it's not funny. It's just so on the nose. It's just so like you actually accidentally said the literal name of the program. Like that's how absurd it got. The only way it would be better is if it was like
Starting point is 01:13:05 a gay conversion camp, you know what I mean? I mean, exactly, and I bet you there are those also called straight, you know? Horrifying, okay. Oof, okay, so her mom enrolled Amy in a so-called rehabilitation program in Orlando called straight. It's just all of that is a painful sentence
Starting point is 01:13:27 How much weed was she smoking? I don't know like what because bunny was the only one who ever gave kind of a Like evaluation on it like a an amount or a number or an idea like her friends did say oh, yeah she was like, you know smoking pot and and She it affected her in some way, but we don't know really like the extent of it. Right.
Starting point is 01:13:51 But for whatever reason, Bunny thought it was worth sending her to this rehabilitation program and it was called Straight. And Saoirse, our wonderful researcher, wrote this note here. The documentary on this case only identified the program by the name Straight, that it was in Orlando and that the program was quote, controversial. You don't say. Yeah. I looked into youth rehabilitation programs in Florida called Straight at that time.
Starting point is 01:14:17 And I am, this is Saoirse speaking, and I am making an educated assumption that Amy attended a program with Straight Inc. was the name of it. Straight Inc. was one of many rehabilitation programs that have exploited families through the troubled teen industry, is what it's being referred to as now. According to the Unsilenced Project, countless abuse allegations and $15 million in lawsuit settlements shut down Straight Inc. in 1993, which was not long after Amy was in the program.
Starting point is 01:14:48 Ooh, okay. So thank you, Sergio, for going down that rabbit hole. It's always a dark and sad and scary one. We've covered a few cases of different wilderness camps coming into play. Not even wilderness camps, sorry. Like the scared straight camps, the rehabilitation quote unquote troubled teen camps. I guess they're sort of like a boot camp type thing.
Starting point is 01:15:14 So I guess I shouldn't need to say this, but just to clarify, Amy did not want to go to this program. Like she really didn't, she didn't consent to it. She was angry about being removed from her whole world, her home, her social life. And Ryan, her brother said that she blamed their mother for that, obviously. Well, yeah. I mean, I've never had one of these experiences. But I can assume that one of the reasons I was an angsty teen is because I didn't have, I didn't feel in some way, there was something going on with my relationship
Starting point is 01:15:45 with my parents, I'm sure, and that's why I came across as angsty. And there's no worse way to mend that than giving me another reason to fuck and hate you. Pushing you and torturing, I mean, not torturing in this necessarily, I don't know what happened at this camp, but in some of them, literal torture,
Starting point is 01:16:01 no sleeping with a sleeping bag, no food, water, you know? And it's like, but I guess, and you know, to that point also, there's so many documentaries on this, so don't take my word for it, but a lot of the parents claimed that, you know, back in the 90s, they didn't even realize, like if they knew, they would not have signed their kids up for something where they don't get a blanket
Starting point is 01:16:21 and they're 13 years old and they're sleeping outside. Or they're being like physically harmed or something. Or they're being physically abused. So I'm not saying the parents intentionally chose that, but the programs themselves ended up being a lot worse than anybody kind of realized. And a lot of them are still around, so it's disturbing. around. So it's disturbing. Yeah. So she went to this camp, not by choice. And she went and returned in 92, which again, this camp had been shut down in 93 permanently after $15 million in lawsuits. So like, this was its last hurrah, I guess. So she comes home in 1992 and everybody says she actually seemed like she had a better head
Starting point is 01:17:09 on her shoulders. Like she seemed more like herself, she seemed more grounded. She had come home with friends from the program and started to think about her own future. So, you know, whatever that, who knows what that had to do with anything, but I'm just
Starting point is 01:17:25 going to take it at face value. Sure. So she started thinking about the future and being someone who was passionate about music her whole life. Her dream, her like life dream was to be a roadie for a rock and roll band. Okay. Hell yeah, brother. That's what's up.
Starting point is 01:17:42 Oh my God. We'll get this. What? She did get a job as a roadie for the rock and roll praise band at her parents' church. You know, that's a happy middle ground, isn't it? I fucking love it. It's like, and she loved it. Like, I just think that's so kick ass, you know?
Starting point is 01:18:00 Bunny was probably like elated. Like finally we found our common ground, you know? Yeah, yeah, totally. I mean, it's totally. So it's so fun. I love it. So she she got a job basically touring with this rock and roll praise band at her parents church. And she was their sound engineer at Calvary Chappell's recording studio. So she made quite a few new friends and suddenly she's in this like totally different crowd than she was before. And even though, you know, her parents are relieved, her family's relieved, they're seeing her kind of step away from the kids they felt were bad influences, that kind of thing. However, she didn't totally, strictly stick to her new life. She did see her old friends from time to time, the kind of more questionable ones according to her parents, and she didn't completely stop smoking weed, which she would buy from
Starting point is 01:18:54 friends that she met in the straight program. Okay. Ironically. I assume that's- Certainly. I assume that's an example of irony. I mean, it's a lot like going to like a conversion camp and like everyone's like connecting with each other. Right, exactly.
Starting point is 01:19:07 It happens. Yeah, like getting a boyfriend, right, exactly. So in 1993, this guy named Scott Manley reaches out to Amy and this would have been like a year after the program. He was two years older than her, but they had met while they were both in straight and he wanted to reconnect. Scott struggled with substance use disorder and he used, unlike Amy, much more dangerous drugs than just marijuana.
Starting point is 01:19:35 So he was using crack cocaine and Amy's family was anxious about this guy being around her daughter, especially because she had been trying to, you know, pull away from the marijuana use. But Amy, you know, she was somehow able to juggle those friendships. So she had her friends from the program and the friends who were supplying her with weed. And then she also had her church friends and was doing, you know, sound mixing for them. and she also had her church friends and was doing sound mixing for them. And she seemed happy overall. So we're now fast forwarding to late March of 1994,
Starting point is 01:20:11 and Amy had just turned 21. It seemed like she was really getting a feeling for what she wanted to do in life. She was doing better than she had in a long time. March of 94, you can imagine Cocoa Beach, Florida was hopping Good time. Yeah, I imagine that was that was a riot and
Starting point is 01:20:39 Somewhere I would probably have been scared to go. Somewhere I would have thrived. I know I know it's so funny, man I would have man I would have watched that reality show of you just floating around at one of those spring break, like MTV shows, you know, just floating around. Hurting my cats that are all the drunk friends that I came with. Yeah, you're just gossiping about everything and just like watching, just like drinking a little mocktail. Yeah, totally. A good one.
Starting point is 01:21:00 A good one. Okay. So, busier than ever. Everyone's flocking to the beach. I feel like 90s were like prime Florida spring break vibes, at least from my memory. Totally. MTV spring break wasn't always at Orlando. It feels like it was, yeah, somewhere.
Starting point is 01:21:18 Yeah, that sounds right. Again, I didn't watch it. I was scared. Okay. But I'm sure you know. So, Ryan was home from college, Amy's brother, and he said she was having a good week. On Sunday, March 20th, she went to church in the evening.
Starting point is 01:21:33 She saw her parents there. I didn't realize this until now, not now, now, but like now in the research when I was reading through everything that her parents' names are Bunny and Bob. And and I just like that is quite a power couple name so I like the alliteration but I am mad that he doesn't have an animal name too. Bunny and Bob. Bunny and Barry. Yeah something like that that's true. Hmm I could see Bunny changing her name to something later like Foxy like something like
Starting point is 01:22:05 like once like like revamp herself but with a different animal name and it'd be you know all the Foxy was an older an older sound anyway so. Jazzy no I don't know yeah there's something there. Kitty maybe Kitty. Kitty's good. We'll shop it we'll talk to Bunny. We'll talk to Bunny because I think Bunny though I feel like once you're a Bunny, like, it's hard to un... It's hard to be cast as anything else. Yeah, you can't... You can't unlight that match. You can't. That's beautiful. That's beautifully said. Just tell Bunny. Oh, my God.
Starting point is 01:22:35 Okay, so March 20th, Amy goes to the church in the evening. She sees her parents there, Bunny and Bob, and she says, Hey, I will be driving home separately, but I'll see you when I get there. Okay. Bob and Bunny get home. They walk into the house and they see a man step out of the darkness wearing a ski mask and gloves. Oh my god. And he is holding a gun in one hand and a dagger in the other. Oh my god! I forgot for a second this was a horror story. We were having so much fun talking and I realize now how impending this doom actually was. I think I thought we had more room to banter and play around in space and then all of a sudden it was not. Oh my god, I obviously can't imagine.
Starting point is 01:23:25 Oh my God. Yeah, fucking terrifying. Okay. They see this guy step out of a room. He's wearing a ski mask, gloves, holding a gun and a dagger. He orders Bunny and Bob to their knees. He forces them to crawl through the house until told to stop.
Starting point is 01:23:47 Bob is made to lie down on his stomach, and Bunny is told to lie down on top of him across his body, sort of forming like a T-shape. Interesting. So apparently, they found out later that this is actually a commonly used tactic for controlling captives, because stacking people kind of perpendicular like that makes it a lot more difficult for them to move without creating sort of a commotion. Oh my God.
Starting point is 01:24:14 I did not know that, but apparently that is something you learn in sort of either military or police training, that kind of thing. So the intruder told Bunny and Bob that he got into the house because they left one of their doors open and presumably unlocked. We're not sure. And told them they shouldn't do that. Oh my God. This is when it starts to feel like, like just, I mean, just true movie of all time.
Starting point is 01:24:39 Yeah. No words. He asked who lived in the home and Bunny said, it's just us and our daughter. The intruder asked them to hand over any money they had and Bob pulled out the cash from his pockets. And as they're listening to this guy speak, he seems to speak in a tone that's, like he's affecting a higher pitch to try and sound like a different person so that his voice doesn't sound the same. So he's talking in this weird way. He's also, according to Bob, trying to sound comforting. Like, it just, everything about this
Starting point is 01:25:16 gets creepier by the moment. And also a high-pitched voice, like, this is not meant to be funny, but like, if all of a sudden, like, it's somehow even fucking creepier it's way scarier and it's like if you're trying to sound comforting and you're not sounding that way obviously because you're literally attacking these people oh my god just the the the contrast between that is so horrifying oh it's it's chilling. So Bob says that, yes, he felt like this guy was trying to sound kind and comforting
Starting point is 01:25:49 and raising his voice to be gentle. And meanwhile, obviously acting completely differently, forcing them on their knees and on the ground. Well, you hope he's just gonna rob you and leave. Exactly. Maybe he is trying to be comforting of like, I don't wanna hurt anybody, I just wanna steal your fucking money. Like, I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want to steal your fucking money.
Starting point is 01:26:06 Like I don't know. Yeah. So hopefully that's yeah, that's like the best possible outcome I would say in this case. So he told them, just like you said, he didn't want to hurt them. He was only here to burglarize them, but he was pacing back and forth nervously and they're offering him everything they're saying. Take money.
Starting point is 01:26:24 Apparently Bunny was wearing $5,000 worth of jewelry, and he was like, no, I don't want that. He didn't want the watch. He didn't want the jewelry. He... They were offering him cash. They said, take our car. He just wasn't going for it. And I think that was also starting to, obviously, raise even more alarms.
Starting point is 01:26:42 Like, if you're here to burglarize us, just do it and... Yeah. And you you're here to burglarize us, just do it. Yeah. And you know the pacing is him wondering like, if I leave them here, then there's like a chance of like the police being called. Like there's like a- Yeah, you know he has to be like pondering something
Starting point is 01:26:58 or like deciding something. Like they know too much. Yeah, it's like you just want this to be over, you know? He kept pacing back and forth pacing back and forth and They were asking, you know, take this take that he said he was waiting for his ride Okay, so they're like, what the fuck this guy's pacing around apparently waiting for his ride Then he asked them. When will your daughter be home? Fuck. I know. She's not, she's in, she's at sleepaway camp.
Starting point is 01:27:28 She's not coming back. What? That's what I would have said. I would have been like, she's gone. Oh, oh, right, that she's not here, right, exactly. So he asked when their daughter would come home. They're like, take one of our cars from the garage, please. Just take our car and go, you know, get out of here.
Starting point is 01:27:43 He asked if the cars were stick shifts, and they said yes, and so he just kept pacing. And it's like, well, fuck, you know, like, of all things to go wrong. They asked him if they could go outside and like stand, stand out there within his view, where it would be impossible for them to run away, but where they would at least be like outdoors. I think they just wanted out of the them to run away, but where they would at least be like outdoors. I think they just wanted out of the house at this point, but he refused. So he remained that way pacing while they laid on the ground,
Starting point is 01:28:13 kind of like perpendicular on top of each other. Yeah. And eventually headlights shined down the driveway. And instead of feeling relieved, like his ride was here, he seemed to snap. He leapt on top of Bob and Bunny with a dagger in his hand, and he brought the blade down with full force and stabbed Bob in the head. Next, oh my god, I mean this is a lot of Next, oh my god, I mean this is a lot of graphics, so just a warning, trigger warning. He cut Bunny across her throat and then he stabbed her in the back and then he stabbed
Starting point is 01:28:55 her again in the neck. He attacked her so ferociously, again trigger warning here, that she could feel and hear bones in her neck breaking or crunching. God. And the way it was described is that it was so without warning. It was like he was just pacing around and then like in an instant,
Starting point is 01:29:21 he flipped on a dime and just went ballistic. I feel like he just he panicked realizing that someone was gonna find out something exactly just full-on panicked and He hadn't even been like shouting there was no there was no warning that this was coming at all But he thought it was as if a switch inside him flipped and Bob at this point, still alive, he has to get outside and scream for help. That's all he knows. He makes a break for it while this guy's still there.
Starting point is 01:29:58 He runs outside through the driveway and makes it somehow to a phone to call 911. He tells the police he and his wife were stabbed multiple times they were bleeding badly. The attacker meanwhile fled on foot sort of following Bob out after he ran kind of noticing that Bob had run but then he ran off. So he tells the police, please come quickly. We've been stabbed. We've been attacked. Thank God, emergency services arrived. Bob and Bunny are both transported to the hospital and incredibly both survived. Oh my God. I did not see that coming. I know, me neither. And they actually recovered in that, you know,
Starting point is 01:30:45 they're able to kind of use all their faculties. Oh my God. I really thought this was gonna turn out a different way. So the whole ordeal, which I mentioned just to give you an idea of like how, I mean, I guess just how quick this all happened, 25 minutes from start to end. From when they got to the house, saw this guy,
Starting point is 01:31:11 to getting the ambulance on the scene was a whole 25 minutes, which is just crazy, mind blowing. So they're in the hospital, They're both alive, thank God. But a pastor arrives to speak with Bunny and he tells her he has some bad news. Amy had not survived the attack. Now, Bob and Bunny are confused because as far as they knew, wasn't even home and so they're thinking right impossible you're confused you know yeah but detectives inform her that as it turns out the headlights that had triggered the intruder to attack had belonged to Amy and she had just gotten home like her parents she had no suspicion that anything was wrong. And when Bob ran outside for help right after the headlights appeared,
Starting point is 01:32:08 the intruder had followed him out, had spotted Amy behind her car. Meanwhile, Bob was in survival mode. He had not seen Amy behind her car. The attacker, Bob thought, had fled into the night. And he had, but not after stabbing Amy first. And after the attack, Bob thought had fled into the night and he had, but not after stabbing Amy first and killing her. So just the idea, I mean, to think of he's chasing Bob
Starting point is 01:32:36 and then he sees Amy and stops and he turned around and went to attack Amy. And again, all of this was a total of 25 minutes. Her parents didn't even know she was there. And now they had to find out she was dead because the same attacker. I can't imagine having already the worst night of your life and thinking how am I gonna recover from this?
Starting point is 01:32:58 And the shock. Oh, actually, the worst, the only thing worse than that actually also happened. Exactly, the shock of that would be horrific. No, I wouldn't recover. Yeah, no. I mean, it's really unthinkable. And she was just standing behind her car. She had no clue what was going on.
Starting point is 01:33:18 And all of a sudden the attacker turned and Amy struggled with him. He actually cut slash marks into her backpack. Then he stabbed her and she broke away and she ran across the street to an apartment complex but she collapsed there in the lot and even though police responded within minutes she had already succumbed to her wounds. So investigators are looking at this and they're thinking, well, we're going to solve this quickly. Like this is crazy violent.
Starting point is 01:33:46 This is like clearly personal. This is targeted. You know, we're going to figure this out. Also violent crime in this neighborhood was not normal, not usual. And so they figured, oh, well, certainly we'll find a motive quickly, you know? So the motive turned out to be, unfortunately, much less clear than they thought, because we obviously know by now the intruder
Starting point is 01:34:10 didn't seem interested in the money. You know, they were offering him jewelry and cash, and he didn't want it. He took a little bit of cash, he took a couple credit cards, but he didn't take any valuables in the house. Investigators noted that their house was one of the nicest in the neighborhood. It was right beside the beach and it would have been the ideal target for a burglary.
Starting point is 01:34:30 So why not take something or take things, you know, if you're going to go through such trouble, so to speak. And also like, what was the motive for such a violent attack? You know, he didn't need to be so brazenly, you know, violent and brutal. And just snapping out of nowhere, the pacing, I mean, all of it is very odd. It doesn't fit a normal, you know, quote unquote, normal burglary.
Starting point is 01:34:58 Detectives did find a gun magazine at the scene, which the intruder dropped, not like a magazine to read. Right, right. I was confused when I first heard that and I went, a gun magazine, maybe they're a fingerprint, whatever, anyway. Like NRA's weekly. NRA weekly, top babes of the year. NRA digest.
Starting point is 01:35:15 Calendar, yeah. Yeah. So they found this magazine from a gun and apparently this guy did not mean to drop it because when they found it, it appeared to have fallen during his struggle with Amy and the magazine came from a prop gun. So now they're thinking, okay, wow, this wasn't even a real gun. However, it looked real. It looked like a real gun, which means it was probably designed for use in play theater plays or films.
Starting point is 01:35:48 Because otherwise, you know, you wouldn't have such a realistic looking gun at hand. So police inquired about the prop with local theaters, acting groups, but nobody was missing a prop weapon. None had been loaned out. And so that felt sort of like a dead end. But the murder weapon itself was that dagger that I mentioned. Bunny and Bob described this
Starting point is 01:36:12 dagger as having an ornate decorative hilt that looked like interwoven gold chains. Wow. Okay. So it's very specific. Yes. Very specific, very unique. Actually here I have a picture of how they drew it. The sketch artist drew it, you know, to show what it looked like, and it has this. Oh, wow. Rated sort of. And, you know, this is done in black and white, but it was a gold, an ornate gold piece above the hilt.
Starting point is 01:36:43 And they weren't able to see the hilt because the man had his hand over it the whole time and he was wearing gloves also. But they did see that and that dagger has never been found nor has the prop gun. So just a heads up. So if anyone's curious, take a look because maybe you've seen it. The killer himself was described as average height, medium build, and Caucasian, because he was fully covered up, but they could see the contrast between the black mask
Starting point is 01:37:14 he was wearing and the lighter skin underneath. And so he was Caucasian. Bunny noted that he seemed to have an accent from the Atlantic coast, specifically Maryland or Pennsylvania. She knew that, I believe, because she had lived up there for some time, so she recognized the difference between people she knew locally in Florida and that Atlantic accent. Meanwhile, investigators believe he may have had military or police training because of
Starting point is 01:37:39 the way he made Bunny and Bob lie down on the floor. Police are taking all this into consideration and they begin to look into a man called Jeffrey Anderson. Okay. He was a burglar involved in a police chase the day after the murder. And when they caught him, he was driving a stolen car. After the chase, Bunny's stolen credit cards
Starting point is 01:38:02 were found nearby on the side of the road. And so they're thinking, oh, he must have thrown them out the window during the car chase so that they didn't connect him to the crime. But neither Bob nor Bunny picked him out in a voice lineup. There was no evidence to link him to the cards or the crime. And so that was kind of another dead end. They looked at another angle, which was the fact
Starting point is 01:38:24 that Bunny and Bob were both therapists and so a variety of clients, right? So they're thinking, hey, maybe this is a former patient with a grudge, who knows? Or just, sorry, I was gonna say, or just someone who's struggling with mental illness, period. Or someone struggling with mental illness. Yeah, exactly. And they looked into that thinking, is there anybody who's maybe unstable or who would have some motive to harm you? But looking through everything and talking to both of them, there was no evidence to support this theory,
Starting point is 01:38:55 not a single patient would fit the bill. Investigators began to suspect now that the motive was Amy to harm Amy. Her arrival was the thing that triggered the attack and the murderer let Bob go to target Amy even though sensibly, I mean not that you're- He already had someone locked in that he could have hurt. Yeah exactly and also you know Bob has heard him speaking and would be maybe more of a risk to let go. Could it have been like a drug deal gone wrong if she got back into like weed? Very well could have been.
Starting point is 01:39:35 Someone from Strait that like, because wasn't it that one guy who got back in touch and he was like doing some hard drugs? Interesting, Em. You are, you are, you are... and he was like doing some hard drugs. Interesting, Em. You are, you are, you are. It's almost as if you mentioned him for a reason. It's almost, okay, no, give yourself more credit. That was a very good angle because we are absolutely gonna get there and you're onto something.
Starting point is 01:40:00 You're onto more than something. Okay. So, you know, now they're thinking, okay, well then obviously it seems like Amy might have had something to do with that, with the attack. Worth noting though, that when Bunny told the attacker that she lived in the house with Bob and their daughter, the attacker never mentioned Amy by name.
Starting point is 01:40:18 He only said, your daughter. And so, you know, it didn't rule out that he knew about Amy. Like, maybe he just didn't know her name, or maybe he was pretending not to know her name or not using it on purpose. But either way, he didn't say Amy. He just said, your daughter. Okay.
Starting point is 01:40:38 So they looked at people in Amy's life. Her friend Scott became a person of interest just hours after the attack. He was the guy that had gotten in touch from the Strait program and had been into a little more than just weed, including crack cocaine. He had actually been at Amy's house earlier that day and was the last friend known to have visited her before her death. You don't say. And interestingly, 30 minutes after she was killed, Scott left a voicemail on her answering
Starting point is 01:41:10 machine. Just coincidence. Just catching up without any awareness of what's going on right now. He said, quote, Gellert, it's Scott. It's like 930. It's too late to go out. I'll give you a ring about later this week. See ya."
Starting point is 01:41:25 And that was a voicemail. Fishy, fishy. Very fishy. So the day after the attack, well, the police officers, I don't want to say, I want to say like fishy from not just our perspective, but actually from investigators. They were like, we don't believe in coincidences necessarily.
Starting point is 01:41:42 Like this is a little too weird, like to be a coincidence. So anyway, to give us a little bit of cred here, you know. So the day after the attack, Scott spoke with police because they're like, well, you called her right after she was killed, you know, no coincidence, explain it. He said, oh, well, we had plans that night, but they fell through. Now, interestingly, Amy's...
Starting point is 01:42:06 Of course they fell through. She died. Yeah, well, that too. Exactly. But Amy's best friend Andrea said, no way did they have plans. Amy and I had plans to walk down the beach, and being her best friend, I would know if she had double-booked herself, or I would know if she also planned to meet Scott.
Starting point is 01:42:26 Like she was like, no, she didn't have plans to meet Scott. And I don't know, I don't know about you, but I trust the friend who is like, hey. I'm her best friend. I'm her best friend and I had plans with her that night. So interestingly, days before she was killed, Amy had actually asked one of her brothers, Ryan, to drive her to Scott's apartment
Starting point is 01:42:44 because he owed her money. Hmm. And he lived there with his parents and she wanted to stop by. And the theory is, in this case, that perhaps she was scared to go alone and wanted her brother to go along with her because she needed to confront him
Starting point is 01:43:04 but was scared to do it solo, which makes sense. I don't believe that drive ever happened. It's a little unclear to me whether they actually went to the apartment. But when police heard this that Scott potentially owed Amy money, they of course asked Scott about it. Here's what he said, in his version of events Scott, they didn't come to his house, Scott told his dad, hey dad I owe my friend Amy 30 dollars, can I borrow 30 bucks? And by the way I also need a ride to her house. So apparently Scott's dad
Starting point is 01:43:48 Apparently, Scott's dad, according to Scott, gives him $30 and a ride to Amy's place. But then, Scott's like, but actually, I kept the $30 for myself, because I wanted to buy drugs. And that's his story of how he was, why he was at her house that night. And it's very unclear, like, what he's trying to accomplish with that story. Like it doesn't make him look good. I did borrow money, but I didn't give it to her even though I did owe it to her.
Starting point is 01:44:13 Right. But also I didn't do anything. To do drugs, but that's the only reason I would have been at her house to trick my dad. It's just so weird. It's so weird. And anyway, of course, he's like ringing off alarm bells. With police, he tells them he spent the evening using drugs and driving
Starting point is 01:44:32 around town and that he got home before 9pm. And his parents confirm the story, which, you know, can't necessarily be the most convincing alibi, but whatever. Sure. Investigators, however, did not find any blood in his vehicle, which would have been difficult because this guy was literally cutting Bunny's throat and stabbing them in the neck and the head. I mean, there would have been blood.
Starting point is 01:44:56 Everywhere, yeah. Yeah, and so it seemed unusual that there was no physical evidence because nothing linked him to the crime. There was no blood on his hands. There was no sign on his body of a violent struggle. And Amy had fought back. So it was unclear if he was at all connected.
Starting point is 01:45:15 And if so, how? So time just continued to pass and Amy's family had to both recover from the attack and also wait to see if they can figure out what happened to their daughter. In 1995, Scott, from just now, was accused of kidnapping his girlfriend's child for money to buy drugs. Oh my. And when he was brought in for questioning, they asked him again about Amy and he continued to maintain his innocence. He's still not looking like a great guy, but he still claims he had nothing to do with her death.
Starting point is 01:45:50 Then a year after Amy's death, a tip led investigators to someone new. This was 21-year-old Dominic Kanika. Dominic was a local cook from Pennsylvania who had recently moved to the area with his girlfriend, Julie Flounders. One of Julie's coworkers made a tip to police claiming they overheard Julie say her boyfriend was possibly involved in Amy's murder. He had recently received training in the Marine Corps, which would kind of align with how they thought he may have military training.
Starting point is 01:46:23 And considering he was from Pennsylvania, he may have had that Atlantic accent that Bunny was talking about. So that would make some sort of sense. Even more interesting, the day after the murder, Dominic had stolen a car and left town. So that's also a weird coincidence. Certainly fishy, as we said earlier. Investigators tracked him down all the way in Pennsylvania. And guess what? He admitted to being at the crime scene the night Amy was murdered. He is bad at this.
Starting point is 01:46:58 They're so bad at this. It's like. He didn't even try? Did he do that thing where? Because I mean, the last guy, he panicked. And could this guy just panicked and been like, you're right. You're right. You got me. He didn't say he did it.
Starting point is 01:47:14 He just said he was at the crime scene. Okay. Well, and he is. Hey, hold your horses. Don't get ahead of yourself. Okay. They're like, he's like, I was at the crime scene. And they're like, wait, what, really?
Starting point is 01:47:29 And he's like, yeah, well, I was on my way home from work when I saw police lights and fire trucks in front of Amy's house. So I pulled over to see what was going on. And then investigators, I'm not even making this up. This is literally what he said. I mean, he's making it up, but I'm not. Mm-hmm. He told investigators that he assisted the deputy on the scene in putting up crime scene tape.
Starting point is 01:47:52 No, you did not. Like, no, you did not. Stop. And also, if you did... Don't be ridiculous. There is... Then where is that person who could confirm that? Literally, nobody... They weren't able to prove it's true, but they also weren't able to prove it's
Starting point is 01:48:08 untrue. So it's like, what the fuck? And I'm like, it's not true, please. Basically investigators say it would be extremely unusual. I think it's like one of those cases where they can't see say it would be impossible because a lawyer would say like, well, would it be possible? Would it be possible? And they'd say, sure, but extremely unlikely for first responders to just allow passersby
Starting point is 01:48:33 to, like, put up crime scene tape. I mean, maybe... And, like, potentially ruin a crime scene too, first of all. Or just, yeah, just get involved at all. Like, that's, like, step aside. This isn't for you. I don't know. So, I'm gonna tell you now. But unless maybe there's, like, frenetic. This isn't for you. I don't know. So I'm going to tell you now. But unless maybe there's like frenetic energy and maybe he jumped in. I don't know. I don't
Starting point is 01:48:49 want to say like for sure for certain, but nobody- I got me a feeling Christine, he's the one. I'm just telling you now what my bet is. Your theory so far. Okay. I like it. They also checked his time sheet at work and guess what? He hadn't clocked in that night and so, hmm, very weird that he said he was driving home from work and he didn't go to work and then he was at the crime scene. Weird. Great point, great point, Christine.
Starting point is 01:49:14 Yeah, thanks. I didn't make it, but it is a great point. I know, I'm the best. I'm happy to be the messenger though. So for whatever reason though, they never did a voice lineup with this guy. And so, well,
Starting point is 01:49:29 that sucks. Could you really though, because they would just say, do it in a higher pitch. Oh, that's true. And you'd have to like affect your voice to, yeah. If you're already making up a voice, you can just make up another voice, you know? I guess, but you could say like, say this sentence in a comforting way or something.
Starting point is 01:49:43 And then like, that's true. Hear the different, even even I don't know, I don't know. They did it with the other guy so it would have been nice to do both. You're right. But whatever. And again, this guy's the one from Pennsylvania so it's like, hey, even better reason to do it. That's a good point. You know? So in 2013 we have another guy, so we're fast-forwarding now. 2013 this other guy comes on the picture. He is called Hugh Popple and he becomes a suspect because he had once been in a relationship with Amy. Years later he died in a hit-and-run accident and apparently somebody made a comment that
Starting point is 01:50:20 it was quote karma for what he had done to Amy. What now? Yeah. OK. Yeah. OK. It's an interesting thing to say. It is. And so of course, this gets brought to police. They do an investigation. They look into him, but nothing links him to the freaking case. It's just like it's all these immediate, like these alarming statements and then like, nothing.
Starting point is 01:50:48 Yeah, that was very, it felt telling to say something like that. It did, but it's like maybe that person just had a theory and it wasn't true, you know? But so, investigators have considered maybe the murderer was a neighbor or somebody the family knew. It did seem like he obviously planned to kill the family, but then he also was wearing a full mask, right? And so they were thinking, well, maybe he didn't want the neighbors to see him. Maybe they would have recognized him.
Starting point is 01:51:20 Sure. If he had already been planning to kill the whole family, why would he have had to wear such an intense disguise? And so they thought maybe he didn't want other people around to see in case they recognized him. It's unclear. In 2014, Cold Case investigators began re-interviewing persons of interest in the case. They spoke to Julie Flounders, who was the girlfriend
Starting point is 01:51:45 of that Pennsylvania chef Dominic, the one that you said you think is the best bet so far. And she's the one who allegedly was overheard saying her boyfriend may have been involved in Amy's death. Julie had originally denied having ever said Dominic might have been involved in Amy's killing, but when they talked to her 20 years later, she said she may have made a joke about it back then. Ha ha. Ha ha. But she insisted it was just like a side comment,
Starting point is 01:52:14 like a joke, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, and that he never actually made any confession to her. And when they look back on the original paperwork with Dominic, it turns out he had originally told investigators he was driving Julie's Jeep the night of the murder and that he told Julie he had been at the crime scene. Remember, doing the crime scene tape. But two decades later, Julie was like,
Starting point is 01:52:40 I'll be honest, I don't remember. I don't remember if I loaned him the jeep. Julie! I know, I don't remember if he stopped't remember if I loaned him the... Julie! I know, I don't remember if he stopped at the crime scene or whether he told me about it. And it's like, what the fuck, dude? Which, like, you have to hope that that's a good sign that she doesn't really remember. That's true, that's true, I guess.
Starting point is 01:52:59 If he said something really dastardly, she would remember. Yeah, however... however, get this. Because you're right, you would be right in one aspect. However, in a CBS 48 hour special that covered the case, Julie initially agreed to speak to reporters in an interview, but then she backed out because she claimed to be afraid of Dominic. Because at the time of the production he was in prison for drug possession and robbery. So you know maybe she really doesn't remember or maybe
Starting point is 01:53:30 she's afraid and you know I can sort of understand that angle as well. You know maybe maybe she's just not speaking up because she's she's she's afraid. Okay. So Dominic himself had also agreed to speak with cold case unit investigators, but when he did speak with them, he really didn't have anything else to offer to the case. He just kind of wanted to talk about everything else, they said, just like about the weather, about the day, I don't know, just chit chat.
Starting point is 01:54:04 And so that was not really helpful. So now the shady friend, Scott, who had stopped by her house the day she was killed and who had left her that voicemail 30 minutes later, he also agreed to an interview with the 48 Hours News team, but he bailed while they were on the way to see him, which always feels to me like kind of a power trip. You know?
Starting point is 01:54:27 Like they've already like flown in and they're already driving there and then you bail. I don't know. Yeah, it does. It feels like you get to be the center of attention for the day. And instead he ended up writing a letter, maintaining his innocence in the case
Starting point is 01:54:42 and his desire for the real truth to come out. So whatever. He basically wrote, the fact that anybody thought I could be part his innocence in the case and his desire for the real truth to come out. So whatever. He basically wrote, the fact that anybody thought I could be part of such a horrible crime nauseated me. Okay. So the investigation remains open. Detectives on the case continue to try to put pieces together until something clicks.
Starting point is 01:55:00 Here's one interesting theory, which I feel like is one that is currently being looked into, or it hasn't been dismissed yet. So Scott's dad, Scott is the one that I just mentioned who was at the house. Yeah, voicemail guy. His dad said Scott had actually once had a job interview at the restaurant where Dominic the chef worked. Shut up.
Starting point is 01:55:22 Dominic the cook. And it could be a coincidence, but investigators have considered that Scott and Dominic knew each other. And also I will say, in the documentary, they mentioned one other employee recognizing both of them and saying, like, I've seen that guy come in for an interview. So there's been overlap. So there has potentially been very, very potentially close overlap. Maybe sort of kind of.
Starting point is 01:55:46 Yes, and so they have looked into this and they're thinking maybe if they themselves didn't kill Amy, remember Scott didn't have any marks on him or blood in his car, maybe they were involved or maybe they know who did, you know? Sure. Because they were both acting a little weird that day. There is however no known
Starting point is 01:56:06 evidence to prove this theory so for now it's just a theory. DNA was discovered on the prop guns magazine but it has not been identified and detectives told reporters that it might not even belong to the intruder because again he was wearing gloves and like it's a prop gun maybe somebody else was using it or handed it to him or or got their DNA he could have gone I mean it could be as random as he went to a theater and stole it like exactly yeah could just have somebody else's DNA on it so they were like we can't rely on that DNA because it might be somebody else's you you know? Sure. So the anniversary of the attack, of course, still haunts Amy's family, especially because the case is still technically open.
Starting point is 01:56:51 So in an interview, Bunny said, and again, this is a little bit of a trigger warning here, it's hard to listen to, but she said that she could still vividly imagine the sound of the attack of the knife in her neck, and she says that really really like, I mean, talk about PTSD. You would only ever hear that again. Yeah. Hearing that sound over and over.
Starting point is 01:57:14 Amy's brother, Mark said that not a single day goes by that he and his family don't think about Amy. And Ryan said Amy's death changed them profoundly, both as a family and as individuals. Yeah, there's no other way. It would just turn everything upside down forever, you know? Bunny finds comfort in her faith. She said she knows where Amy is and that brings her peace.
Starting point is 01:57:35 But the trauma of the attack, it's like, I mean, just, it's so crazy to hear of a story where it's not only the trauma of having a loved one, a child, going through the attack, but then being part of the attack. Just all of it is so shocking. And you also have to hear that maybe she suffered. Yeah. Yeah, and fought. It's really horrific.
Starting point is 01:58:00 And that they survived and didn't even know she was there. I mean, it's just all of it is layers of that. So like I said, Bunny finds comfort in her faith. She said she knows where Amy is, that brings her peace, but the trauma of the attack and the loss is something that of course never goes away. When asked whether the grief ever becomes easier to manage, she said, quote,
Starting point is 01:58:21 "'I don't think it comes in equations like easy or hard. I think it comes like you don't want to forget that person. You don't want to ever get over them. We wouldn't want to get over Amy. Yeah, it really makes my stomach hurt. It's just terrible. Investigators are confident that somebody out there still living has crucial information
Starting point is 01:58:42 that will finally resolve this case and bring justice to Amy and her family. somebody out there still living has crucial information that will finally resolve this case and bring justice to Amy and her family. Amy's family, they're very private. They really don't like to be outspoken except for if it's in honor of the cause of keeping Amy's name out there and the case out there. They hesitated to the 48-hour special
Starting point is 01:59:03 that rekindled public interest because they are so private, but they decided to do it with the hopes that it would ignite somebody's memory or some sort of flashback or some click in their mind that would maybe inspire them to make a tip that could lead to solving this case. I am presenting it with that same hope, so I will give resources in a moment of where you can check out more specific details about the case, pictures of the dagger, drawing of the dagger, that kind of thing, if that sparks anyone's memory.
Starting point is 01:59:43 Detectives working the case did receive some phone calls after the 48 hours special aired. Some were from former military employees who said the type of prop weapon used in the crime was also used not just by theaters and filmmakers, but by military personnel for training. And they were used specifically that model in the decade that Amy was killed.
Starting point is 02:00:04 So that actually, and remember they looked through all the theaters in town and nobody was missing a gun, a prop gun. And so I think that's a really good theory too, that this person would have had the gun from military training sometime that decade. Well, it's also the stacking, like you said. Yes, exactly. And so that kind of really aligns. So that's something else to consider if you're thinking about this case. And so that bolsters the theory that he had military training.
Starting point is 02:00:34 Despite the tips that came in after the special aired, the case still remains open. It is vital to the cold case team, to Amy, Bunny, Ryan, Bob, Mark, that the memory of Amy and her case remain in the public light until answers come. And on that note, if anybody has information, you are asked to contact either the Brevard County Homicide Unit. You can call them at 321-633-8413 or email them at majorcrimesatbcso.us or you can contact the Central Florida Crime Line 1-800-423-TIPS. And it's also important to note that you may remain anonymous if you do make a call or write an email.
Starting point is 02:01:15 So thank you for listening to that story. I know it was sad and we got in our laughs in the beginning, but- We got them in there. of, you know, we got in our laughs in the beginning, but... We got them in there. It pretty much devolved into just sadness as usual. So that's the story of Amy Gellert. It's pretty tragic and it's really not very well known. And it's just, it's always hard to hear that a family doesn't have answers yet, you know?
Starting point is 02:01:43 Yeah. And then to live in fear, like you've been attacked by that person. I mean, I've... to hear that a family doesn't have answers yet, you know? Yeah. And then to live in fear, like you've been attacked by that person. I mean, I've- And they're still out there. I've said it so many times and not that that's like a, I'm just, I would, if I were in that situation,
Starting point is 02:01:58 I would constantly be petrified every time I was alone in a room ever again. I would, where's every exit? How do I get out? Is everything locked? I mean, you can't even leave your house. You can't leave your house, and then when you do, you're petrified of going back,
Starting point is 02:02:11 and you're still thinking the whole time, could someone have gotten in? I'm always amazed when people are able to be as, you know, healed and functional and, like, with it as they are. And, you know, I've heard it said, too, like, and like with it as they are. You know, I've heard it said to like, hey, we have to be like, there's not a choice. And I'm like, I understand that too. Like, you have other kids, you know,
Starting point is 02:02:35 like you just go into full survival mode. I mean, some people maybe can't cope, but I feel like a lot of times it's almost like just an instinctive, like you just have to power through, because there's no other way. Yeah. It's just horrible. It's horrible. Yeah. There's, there's, I don't think I,
Starting point is 02:02:54 I mean, I guess, again, like you said, you have to be strong, but I don't know if I have it in me. Like I, I guess nobody knows if they have it in them until they're already there. Exactly. So. Exactly. Anyway, I don't know what to say, Christine. Good story. But wow, talk about traumatic.
Starting point is 02:03:11 Yeah, yeah, that's a that's a wild one. And you know, doing more kind of cold cases and other things. I don't know. I've been I've been. Back on my little rabbit hole game in the middle of the night, looking for different stories and unsolved things. So, yeah, we'll keep at it. But in the meantime, you can come join us at our Yappy Hour, where we decompress,
Starting point is 02:03:37 we change the subject a little bit, we talk about Hank and his beautiful genetic makeup. I can't wait. If you wanna do that, you can check your app of choice, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or you can sign up on Patreon, patreon.com slash atwwdpodcasts and you can stream the Yappy hour audio straight to your phone on your podcast player you have to just import the RSS feed or it
Starting point is 02:04:10 shows up automatically and that's that yes please come decompress with us we could use it I'm sure you guys could too and that's why we drink

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