Love Trapped - Come Over | EP 2

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

The truth about what happened the night Clayton Echard and Laura Owens hooked up is only known to them. You’ll hear Clayton’s version of events. But as Laura begins to make pregnancy claims that don't make sense, Clayton asks himself — Who is Laura Owens? And what does she really want?  If you would like to reach out to the Love Trapped team, email us at [e-mail] and follow along on Instagram @glasspodcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the, Cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be... Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed, I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Ellen's, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. The lesbian. Michael Marantini. My mind was blown.

I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How could this have happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that. A shocking public murder.

This is one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics. I scream, get down, get down, those are shots. A tragedy that's now forgotten and a mystery that may or may not have been political, that may have been about sex. Listen to Rorschach, murder at City Hall, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I got an email from Laura. The email said, urgent. I opened the email, and she's like, I'm pregnant. and it had a positive pregnancy test embedded in the email. And now I'm seeing proof of something. I just remember thinking, oh, fuck. About 11 days earlier, former bachelor Clayton Eckerd hung out with a woman named Laura Owens.

They hooked up. But here's the thing. We never slept together. We never had sex. When Clayton received that email from Laura saying she was pregnant by him, he was in disbelief. He didn't believe the photo of the test could be real. So he invited Laura to his apartment again. The reason I invited her over was to get her to take a pregnancy test right in front of me.

Laura agreed to come over, but she was a step ahead. She'd already emailed Clayton the photo, but she brought the positive pregnancy test with her to show him in person. It was one of those at-home tests where one line means not pregnant and two lines means pregnant. On the test Laura brought, Clayton could see One very, very present line and the other one was like slightly there.

Clayton did not see that coming. Well, I was having a hard time believing it because we didn't have sex. So I wanted her to take a test in front of me so that I could see it with my own eyes. Clayton told Laura he'd already purchased a test of his own and asked her if she'd mind taking a second test. I figured once I pulled out that surprised pregnancy test, she would decline to take it,

that that would be the end of it all. But unfortunately, that's not what happened. When he asked her to take the second test, she was like, okay, yeah, I'll do it. Laura went into the bathroom, took the test, and for the next few minutes, all Clayton could do was wait for the truth to come to light. It was a torturous five minutes that felt like an eternity because I knew that a line either was or was not going to appear. And that singular line would dictate the outcome of my life. I'm Stephanie Young, and this is Love Trapped.

We're going to go back to the night in question. the night when Laura Owens came over to Clayton's apartment for a hookup. Clayton didn't know it at the time, but that night would change his life forever. It would set off a chain of events that would lead to a criminal investigation, and it would lead me, a curious podcaster, to Clayton Eckerd's door. Hi, Clayton, it's good to see you again. Hey, Steph, it's good to see you. So I should probably tell you how I got here, right?

Let's go back to May of 2023. Clayton wasn't in a good place at the time. He was despised by Bachelor Nation and what felt like the entire internet. He also had just met up with his ex, Susie Evans. He met her on The Bachelor. They dated for almost a year after they filmed the show, but eventually broke things off. Clayton was still torn up about it. And I thought, man, maybe this was a mistake to break up.

Maybe in another world, if we didn't experience all this pain, we could have made it work. We've all been there, right? You see your ex, and you suddenly start wondering if breaking up was a mistake. I was struggling, and I remember I was crying my eyes out. This wasn't just any breakup. Clayton and Susie had announced their split on a joint Instagram post a few months earlier. Nearly 100,000 people liked this post. I definitely remember just the hate vitriol that people had for me.

The comment section was particularly, brutal. I remember reading comments like, oh, this man got to have his cake and eat it too after everything he did. He didn't have to suffer at all. Susie deserves so much better than this guy, this monster, this mess, this loser. I mean, I saw all of it. It was like as if she was dating the worst man alive. Clayton had taken a hard fall from Grace and was adjusting to his new life as a real estate agent in Scottsdale, Arizona. There, he was a big friend. fish in a small pond. But his experience on The Bachelor left him feeling hollow. You come off the show and it's like your dopamine goes from being at like maximal level to

just nose diving. I was depressed. I was basically like having withdrawal effects. To help him cope, he turned to weed. Sometimes I was getting high to feel that intense high that I felt when I was the Bachelor. It wasn't always weed. Sometimes it was sex or pears. and on a good night, a combination of all three. Dopamine releasing activities, which is typically eating really good food, having sex. I just mash them all together so I could get something close to that feeling. I was surprised at how honest Clayton was about this period of his life. But as we heard last episode, that's Clayton.

Honest, maybe to a fault. In this case, his oversharing tendency is actually helpful because every detail of what happens next is important. It all started with a message on LinkedIn. We've had it read by a voice actor. Hi, I'm looking to connect with similar-minded young entrepreneurs in Scottsdale. I see that you work for the... And I actually contacted them recently.

They were going to connect me with someone who could help me find investment properties, but haven't yet. Let me know if you can help. Laura saw that Clayton had just started as an agent and reached out. Clayton shared his phone number to get the ball rolling. Laura reached out. She was looking to buy an investment property, and I had just got my realtor license,

so I was looking to secure my very first deal. Clayton sent over the screenshots of their initial messages. They spent a few days texting, and during the chat, Laura mentioned that she was a competitive equestrian. And then on Saturday night, May 20th, She sent me a photo of her standing by her horse. In the photo, Laura has her backside turned to the camera.

She's petting a dark brown horse. She's wearing a crop top and beige riding leggings. And just call it for what it is. She had a nice ass. When I first heard about this photo, I really thought it was going to be way more revealing than it was. That's the mind of a man right there for you. It doesn't take much.

The imagination takes us the rest of the thing. the distance. Clayton was at home, assembling IKEA furniture. He'd already popped in edible. I saw the photo and I was high. And so my mind, you know, wasn't thinking clearly. It was more so just thinking about what's in front of me in that moment. But I was like, look, why don't we just hang out? Laura agreed to come over that night. I asked Clayton the obvious. This was a hookup, right? Yeah, it was. Around 8 p.m., Laura was buzzed up. up to Clayton's apartment. He opened the door to find a small woman smiling up at him. She had long, dark hair, and she was dressed casually in a t-shirt and leggings.

By the time Laura arrived, Clayton was stoned. He'd taken 10 milligrams, which would send me to outer space. But that was his baseline. It just makes him chattier and makes the night more enjoyable, more chill. That's what he was after, a relaxing evening. He offered Laura an edible too. I said, hey, if you want one, I took one, you're welcome to have it. And she said, yeah, sure, I'll take one. So they got high together and started talking. The conversation wasn't exactly for play. It was actually pretty intense. We talked about mental health and how, you know, I'd struggled with feeling like I was enough. And she also struggled with feeling like she was enough in her life with her family because her family was super accomplished. And she always felt like

She was in the shadows of her father and her mom and even her sister who has a kid and is married. And so she feels like she has to live up to those expectations. And so that's caused her to feel like the black sheep of the family. And so I told her like, I felt the same way in my life. But my middle brother, he was the superstar athlete. I was the one in his shadows, always trying to measure up to his success. They bonded. And after an hour or two of talking on the couch,

I told her to like come over closer to me and she did and then that's when we started hooking up. And if you're wondering why we're about to go into this level of detail, I promise it becomes important to the story. She gets on top of me, but then she stopped me and was like, hey, I don't want to have sex tonight. And I said, oh, okay, yeah, that's totally fine. She's like, not on the first night.

We can do it at a later point. This just gives you another reason to like see me again. Laura was still down to hook up, but wanted to keep penetrative sex off the table for the first night. According to Clayton, they headed to the bedroom and had oral sex. When we lay there, we fall asleep in the bed. And a few hours later, we wake up, start making out again, she does oral again, and then she ran to the bathroom, like immediately after. The next morning, Clayton was hit with a wave of regret.

Laura was his client. This could be his first real estate deal, and he might have just blown it, so to speak. He started kicking himself for crossing a professional boundary, but Laura was still interested in working with him. In fact, the two of them made plans later that afternoon to look at a couple homes. She ended up staying overnight, stayed until the early morning.

She then left. I went to church, cleared my mind, and then ended up meeting back up with her to show homes later that day. Clayton wanted to keep Laura as a client. So at the end of their home tours, she's all in his happy mood and I felt really bad. So I was like, we got to talk.

Sitting in his car, he found the right moment to finally tell her what was on his mind. I feel bad because I didn't explain my intentions last night. I'm not looking to date. And my intentions were to just have a fun night. That was just a one-time thing. and I want you to know that because I don't want there to be miscommunication going forward. She quickly jumped in and said, no, no, no, I have to apologize at all.

Like, I'm so grateful. I'm happy last night happened. I had so much fun. Clayton had fun too, but he felt like he'd crossed a professional line, and that wasn't how he wanted to start off his real estate career. So he offered to make it right with Laura and find her a new agent to work with. She said, no, no, I want to work with you.

It's not awkward at all, but like, you know, can you just keep an open mind, like, that maybe there could be something between us. She wasn't getting the picture. So at that point, he had to make himself crystal clear. What happened the night before was never happening again. After telling Laura, no, like, there's no future here between us. The tone had shifted.

And then she started to cry. And I remember that moment. It was this kind of like, oh, oh, wow. This is way more intense than I anticipated this would be. I mean, I just met this woman, and now she's crying in my car, and she's telling me, well, hey, I really thought that we have a lot in common. We both have struggled with self-confidence and self-love, and so I really feel that I can help you find that within you and also within myself at the same time.

And it was, it was just such an intense but, like, awkward situation because I did. didn't feel at all the same way that she felt. I was trying to be mindful of her emotions and say, hey, this is how she feels. So I need to give weight to this scenario, but there was a disconnect because my brain was telling me, you've not even known this woman long enough for this to be like an actual realistic response. Like, this is way out of the norm. It had only been five days since Laura's initial LinkedIn message. And yet Laura kept pushing, almost begging, for.

Clayton to give her a chance. I finally got annoyed. I said, Laura, no means no. And when I said that, she went from crying to her face going completely stone cold. She stared at me and just shakes her head and goes, no, I get it. Thanks for letting me know. Have a good rest of your day. Gave me a weird smile, opened the car door, closed it, walked off. Something about her reaction was deeply unsettling. I remember just getting chills over my entire body.

When he told her he didn't want to hook up again, it was like a switch flipped. Something was off because that look she gave me, it's like the lights went off in the house and she was no longer there, not the version of Laura that I knew up until that point. Clayton knew he'd made a mistake, at least professionally, but he had no idea what he was. just stepped into. I sat there as I watched her walk back to her car and I go, I don't know what that was, but whatever that was, that's not the end of it.

There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield. And in this new season of the girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man.

A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target.

He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Ago Wadam. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry.

about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat.

Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth.

You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Gregalespian and Michael Marantini.

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona.

Listen to a love-trapped podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Nora Jones, and I love playing music with people so much that my podcast called Playing Along is back. I sit down with musicians from all musical styles to play songs together in an intimate setting. Every episode's a little different, but it all involves music and conversation with some of my favorite musicians. Over the past two seasons, I've had special guests like Dave Grohl, Leveh, Mavis Staples, Remy Wolf, Jeff Tweedy, really too many to name. And this season, I've sat down with Alessia Cara, Sarah McLaughlin, John Legend, and more. Check out my new episode with Josh Grobin.

You related to the Phantom at that point. Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom in that. That's so funny. Share each day with me each night. Each morning say you love me. So come hang out with us in the studio and listen to Playing Along

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The two biggest questions I get when I tell people about this story are, was Laura a contestant on Clayton's season of The Bachelor? Which is an easy one to answer. No. That's usually always followed up with.

Then who is Laura Owens? Truth be told, that's the question I've been trying to answer for the last six months. I've reached out to her former friends, teachers, attorneys, colleagues, and I'm either met with people who don't want anything to do with this, or they don't respond at all. And of course I reached out to Laura herself. At the time I'm recording this, she hasn't agreed to an interview,

but she did send me a long email. We'll get into that later. I want to start by playing you Laura's side of the story. What you're about to hear is the real Laura Owens, telling the court her version of what happened with Clayton Eckerd. He was my realtor to start with, and then we were intimate one night in May of this year. After that on June 1st, I found out that I was pregnant, and I figured he probably wouldn't believe it. So I went to urgent care and had it confirmed there by a doctor, and then I told him. I hadn't been intimate with anyone else since March of 2022.

I've tried to get Clayton to accept responsibility and figure out a parenting plan with me. But that's really been it. It's not like it's been a dating relationship. And we've communicated via email for the most part. I wanted to get a picture of who Laura is outside of this case. That turned out to be more elusive than I expected. The good news is, Laura's been posting online for the better part of 15 years. She's appeared in videos and podcasts.

She's written medium articles and was actively replying to comments on Reddit. One of the most interesting things she's appeared in is a series of YouTube videos where she's talking with one of her attorneys, David Jingris. We will be playing audio from videos David posted to his YouTube channel, which have since been pulled down. Fortunately, we were able to obtain a copy before they were removed. Here's the start of one of those videos. you'll hear David first. I think we need to have the public get to know you a little bit better.

We need to do this a bit more often and try to take some control back of the narrative. In the videos, Laura's attorney asks her get to know you questions. I feel dirty like asking these questions because I just feel like it's nobody's effing business. But let's go ahead and talk about it because I think you're okay with it. So let's talk about your high school dating career. I mean, my high school dating career is pretty damn exciting. Let's hear about yours. Mine was, I'm sure, the opposite of yours.

I had no boyfriends in high school. I didn't have my first kiss until the week before graduation. It's pretty uncommon for a lawyer to make social media content with a client, especially a client involved in a high-profile scandal. I mean what I say as far as, I want both sides of the story to be out there, and I don't want people to be mad at anybody. You shouldn't be mad at Laura. I mean, Laura, look, obviously, if you lied and made the whole thing up, you know, you deserve some punishment.

I've said that all along, that if that's what the facts bear out, I'm not going to stand by your side. I'm not here to defend people that do stuff like that. In these videos, her attorney David does most of the talking. You're a little different. You know you're a little different. I've said that you're a little different. I think you suffer from having an unbelievably high IQ. I think you're very, very bright girl.

and I think you're just a little different. Laura Owens grew up in San Francisco, where her parents were local celebrities. Good morning. I'm Ron Owens, KGO Radio, Monday through Friday, 9 until noon. And today we were also on C-SPAN. Laura's father, Ron Owens, is a radio hall of famer. He hosted a popular radio talk show on KGO in San Francisco. It ran for over 40 years.

Ron was definitely at the top of the heap. He was a very trusted voice. That's longtime Bay Area reporter Martha Ross. I called her for some more context about Ron Owens and his show. He would always have the best political leaders on or like a movie star coming through. And you always felt like you would learn something. Laura's mom, Jan Black, was a drive-time news anchor at two local radio stations, KGO and KCBS. When Laura was a kid, her parents were.

kind of a media power couple in town. They would go to all the best restaurants, and when Ron was out at restaurants, he'd be recognized by fans. When then Senator Obama was starting his first presidential campaign, he went on the Ron Owens report. It's hour number two, Ron Owens, KGA Radio, in the studio, Senator Barack Obama, not much of a buzz around you, but it's interesting to have you on, and it's very good to meet you. Ron Owens got an hour with Obama. I spoke to a former producer at KGO, who told me about how other local reporters lined up down the hallway to try to get a clip from Obama afterwards.

All that to say, Ron Owens, was a big deal. If you're president, 90 days, I get the interview in the Oval Office with you. It's got to be in the Oval Office. I need to check with Secret Service. Is that allowed? You will get an interview. You will get an interview. How's that?

In the first 90 days. Her dad's fame is a big part of Laura's origin story. Here's another clip from Laura and her attorney. Your dad had a hell of a career. Is that him and Obama? Wow. Yeah. I had no idea when I got involved in this case, you know, what kind of a career.

I didn't know how significant of a broadcasting guy your dad was. While she never fully got into radio, Laura co-hosted a podcast with her mom, Jan Black. It was a self-help podcast, and Laura's mom worked her media connections. They had famous guests on the podcast, like Bob's. Sagitt, Elizabeth Smart, and Dr. Drew. Welcome to Nobody Told Me. I'm Jan Black. And I'm Laura Owens.

We are a mother-daughter duo, and today we're a mother-daughter trio, as we're joined on this episode by my other daughter, Sarah Owens, my older daughter, who is also Laura's sister. The Owens family is exceptionally tight-knit. Laura's 35 now. She lives with her parents. From what she's posted online, she's said, talked about feeling socially isolated.

Here's that video with her attorney again. It wasn't like I was the least popular kid in school or anything. I just really kept myself and I was just obsessed with the whole like horse showing, starting a business, doing like flipping horses and stuff. I was very different from everybody. When she says flipping horses, she means as a business. The Owens family runs a company called Quartet Farms. They buy, sell, and lease.

high-end horses. You obviously are a horse person. When did that start? That started when I was eight, and there was a stable that was just 10 minutes away at the time in Golden Gate Park, so it was convenient. These show horses can cost up to $80,000. They can be a risky investment. But Laura's family seemed to have the money.

Here's her dad, Ron, in a 2013 interview. My daughters are 22 and 24. The younger one is very much into country music. and horses, which have enabled me to go broke, pretty much. And I'm very proud of her, but damn, that's expensive. She's been competing in horse shows for her entire life. She's actually really good. She's won numerous competitions.

Card one, 400 in it, Laura Owens. The Owens family clearly has a soft spot for animals. Here's a clip from Laura's podcast with her mom. They had her dad on for a Father's Day episode. What were the first things that we talked about? That you and I talked about? Probably horses. Animals, probably animals.

Animals because you loved every animal, and you have really done a number with me because now I'm as bad as you are. I just look at every animal and I get every dog. Yeah, just bring them on. I talked to someone who works at a San Francisco dog rescue. They told me that over the years, the Owens family has adopted 11 senior dogs

near the end of their lives. Here's Laura showing off her senior dog to her attorney. Let's see the dog. Here's one of the dogs. What's his name? This is captain. He's the one who's a million years old. In terms of her career, Laura's mostly worked for her family businesses,

either the horse farm or the podcast with her mom. At one time, Laura's LinkedIn profile listed her as a radio dating and relationship expert and songwriter. My younger daughter is on the cusp of becoming a country music singer. She has written songs, and she is in the midst of mastering this first song, and I got to tell you, it's phenomenal. That was Laura's dad Ron, talking about Laura's singing career in an interview. She's posted some of her music online. Here's a clip from one of Laura's songs.

It's called Dawson. The truth is you rescued me. You rescued me. Laura and I are around the same age, and honestly, on paper, she had it all. She had the kind of privileged upbringing people dream of, and yet I got the sense that she was still searching for something. What really struck me during my research, though, was the silence. In the bachelor world, there's almost always someone will.

willing to stick up for both sides. But as I reached out to people, hardly anyone would go to bat for her. There was one person who gave me a substantial response about Laura. It was a former friend of hers. This friend asked me not to use her name. She didn't want to participate in the podcast, but in response to me, she wrote something cryptic. She said, I'm not really the type to follow this stuff, but I do know, innately, that people are fighting their own battles. And I think compassion, even in the face of deep frustration, goes a long way. I think she's referring to battles Laura's facing internally.

Battles that would soon be on full display. My name is Laura Owens, and I just feel like it's important for me to speak out and say that this is how I'm feeling as a result of what they've done to me. And this is how it looks like if you've been cyber bullied, as I have and mischaracterized for months. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.

You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield. And in this new season of The Girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck.

I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the Girlfriends. Trust me, babe.

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like,

and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the grand. I'm working my way up through and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know. The cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice in so-ins, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfected.

They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Gregalespian and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues,

news, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Nora Jones, and I love playing music with people so much that my podcast called Playing Along is back. I sit down with musicians from all musical styles to play songs. together in an intimate setting.

Every episode's a little different, but it all involves music and conversation with some of my favorite musicians. Over the past two seasons, I've had special guests like Dave Grohl, Leveh, Mavis Staples, Remy Wolf, Jeff Tweedy, really too many to name. And this season, I've sat down with Alessia Kara, Sarah McLaughlin, John Legend, and more. Check out my new episode with Josh Grobin. You related to the Phantom at that point. Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom in that.

That's so funny. Share each day with me each night, each morning. Say you love me. So come hang out with us in the studio and listen to Playing Along on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Clayton was sitting in his car, trying to process the conversation he just had with Laura. He told her he wasn't interested in continuing any type of romantic relationship with her. When he said that, Laura said, no, I get it.

Have a great day. She got out of my car. She slammed that car door. I remember just getting chills over my entire body. Clayton drove away, and he was relieved, but disturbed. It was a very, very unsettling feeling. And I just remember thinking, I don't know what that was. But whatever that was, it's not over.

There's something more that's to come. from all of this. Within a couple of hours, his phone began blowing up with texts from Laura. She's like, well, what if we just go out and grab drinks? Let's just like not jump too far ahead, you know, and I said, hey, like, we can go out and grab drinks once we end up getting the deal done. But Laura wasn't getting the message. She kept asking for a chance.

Her texts are being read by a voice actor. I honestly didn't expect to like you as much as I did. I'm very sad that you pretty much close the door. I truly have no expectations except to see if that naturally develops without you're halting it. I'm just asking you to consider it pains me that you won't even consider giving me a chance. You've tried a lot of things, but you haven't tried me who actually empathizes and has been in dark spots like you've been in and got... What if you just honestly and openly gave it a week to be open to something maybe eventually happening with absolutely no expectations? Clayton let Laura down gently again, apologized to Laura, and reiterated that he just wanted to be friends.

She was texting me a lot, and it was just overwhelming, but also, like, really weird. Clayton told me he started to feel uncomfortable, but he was still trying to make his first real estate sale, and Laura was still adamant about Clayton being her realtor. She asked to look at another property, so Clayton set it up and met Laura there a couple days At the time, I was new to real estate, so I didn't know what to look for as far as understanding how serious someone is at purchasing a home. There are obvious signs. People will, like, open drawers, they'll, like, close every cabinet, see if it's soft clothes. But they're looking behind every little corner. She wasn't doing that. Laura seemed less interested in the house

and more interested in Clayton. We were walking through the house and I remember it had a couch that I end up sitting down on to talk with her about the house if she liked it. She ended up sitting down right next to me, like as if we were dating. There was no distance between us. And she ended up like resting her head on my shoulder. As you can imagine, Clayton was frustrated that she wasn't respecting his boundaries. She wasn't listening to what I was saying. But again, I wanted my money.

He's talking about the real estate commission he would get from the sale. I just need to get through this next. month and then it's goodbye, I have a great one. But once they went their separate ways after seeing the property, the texts continued. Would you be really mad if I told you that you looked super handsome and that combined with you being super confident and smart about everything, made it hard to keep my hands to myself? If that makes you mad, I'm really sorry. I want to respect your boundaries, but I didn't know if that was maybe a somewhat reciprocated

feeling. And I can't stop thinking about how much I want to do to you what I did the other night. Laura was ignoring the lines Clayton had drawn. So he told her, Let's keep this friendly amongst one another. Like only talk to me in the way that you would talk to me as if I were a friend. Despite being frustrated with Laura's behavior, Clayton was really trying to give her the benefit of the doubt so he could help her buy investment properties. The real estate process was typically pretty easy to navigate. Honestly, writing a real estate contract, putting an offer on a house is very simple.

You go see the house. Then afterwards, you sit there with your realtor and you say, I want to write an offer at these terms. So you put down the amount of money you want to offer, whether you're doing cash or loan. And that's really it. And you say, I'd like to close on this date. And then you take that formal document, you email it. to the listing agent, and there you go. You have an official offer.

This process with Laura wasn't simple. She told Clayton she wanted to make some offers and asked him to write up the contracts. But she continued to complicate things. She said, thinking about it, like, if you're not going to give me a chance, there's so many other agents out there that I could work with instead of you.

By now, Clayton was convinced Laura had no interest in actually buying property. He told her, get the contracts ready. But because he didn't trust her, he hadn't actually done it. I knew that she wasn't actually serious about buying the homes. She was just using the contracts to stay in touch with me and to try to continue a connection. That's when Clayton hit his breaking point. So I said, you know what, Laura, I'm going to make a decision to cut this off. I'm going to send you to one of my coworkers and they can help you from here on out.

Laura did not like that at all, so she took matters into her own hands. She messaged the selling agents directly to check the status of her offers. And since Clayton didn't actually submit her contracts, she was given the news that they didn't exist. And there went the first, oh shit moment. She's clinging on to this contract, and that opened the door to the pressure that she could put on me to be like, why are they saying this? Why don't they have offers? You said you sent them. Did you lie to me because you'd be violating your fiduciary responsibilities?

And now, because I'm not dating her, she's going to try to get my license for a vote. And to make a long story short, that's exactly what Laura did. A few weeks later, she reached out to the Arizona Department of Real Estate to file a complaint. On paper, I violated a fiduciary responsibility. I lied to a client, which I admit I did. But I told them with good purpose, with good reason. I sent them over all of those text messages I had up until that point. And it was very apparent that this woman was just trying to date me and she had no intention to buying real estate.

And while the Arizona Department of Real Estate believed his side of the story, they also found him in violation. With that information, they stated that, yes, while you were in the wrong, we will not be pursuing any type of punishment. So I got off basically without any bumps or bruises. Clayton had his suspicions about Laura and felt he needed to dig a lot of. little bit deeper. What he found on her Instagram validated his beliefs. She followed only athletes and celebrities and good-looking guys. She was absolutely targeting a man and had a particular type that she was after. Clayton removed himself as Laura's realtor five days after they hooked up. At this point, he had rejected her romantically

and now professionally. He told her he would not be responding to any further texts from her. That didn't stop Laura. She immediately responded with a long text message. We've had it read by a voice actor. I have one final thing to say that I think you might find important and have nothing to lose by sharing it with you. I have been in a dark place, as I said yesterday, and emotionally tortured since we hooked up

because I felt like I didn't know how to bring this up to you. But at this point, I might as well. I have not been on birth control since 15 months. months ago. There hasn't been a reason since, as I said, I hadn't done anything with anyone since then. Being sexually responsible was not on my radar after taking the gummy and our clothes coming off. When I went to the bathroom afterwards, some of your fluids were down there. That is Laura's version of what happened in the bathroom after her hookup with Clayton. Later, her account of this night would change dramatically. But her text continued.

with Laura saying, In all honesty, I was planning to take Plan B when I got home, but then when you said you were going to church, I realized you had a strong faith base as well and questioned whether or not it was a sign that I should. Then, after we talked in the car, I felt even more so like both of us had a deep belief in God and like it was a sign.

I should just leave it up to him and not buy it. Laura was now bringing religion into the conversation. I knew what she was doing. I mean, she was trying to weaponize Christianity against me. She wanted me to start to think, like, what would God think about this? Laura's text continued on. The next paragraph included a kind of forewarning. My podcast had a fertility test kit as a sponsor, and so, yes, I know I'm fertile.

At this point, for my overwhelming research on Plan B since Sunday, it's most effective three days after, but can still work five days after. meaning this is the last day I could take it and have a hope of it working if it needs to. If you have any thoughts about this, I'm open to hearing you out if and only if you are kind and respectful. This has been extremely stressful on me. If I don't hear back from you, I'm not going to take plan B. When I read the full transcript of their texts from these early weeks, I was overwhelmed. There's an increasing urgency in her tone. and she's starting to set conditions and deadlines for Clayton.

He told me that he tried to remain calm in his replies and give her as little emotional response as possible. He felt uncomfortable being asked to make a decision about Plan B. She knew her own body better than he did. To me, it's a woman in her body, so ultimately I don't really have much of a say in it, and I never really push. I'm just like, hey, if you're comfortable, then yeah, yeah, take it.

It would make me feel more comfortable. And that's usually how it goes. it's very simple. So this was obviously way, way different. Laura was being very odd about it. Putting way too much on me to make the decision. She concludes a text message with, You're obviously free to think that I'm full of shit, but I'm not.

I'll take it as a sign that you don't care what happens either way, and we'll just allow God's will, whatever that is, to be the determining factor. If I do test positive in a few weeks, though there is a 0% chance of it being anyone's but yours, I'd take any test to prove it. And at that point, any input from you won't matter. Clayton's response was direct and simple. I gave her a really quick answer. Just take the plan B. I support that.

After Clayton sent that message, Laura responded with another lengthy text that was similar to the one before it. That's when Clayton blocked her. But shortly after, she messaged him from another phone number. This is where it was a whirlwind of text messages. She just probably text me 25, 30 times a day. It was getting ridiculous.

Hi, it's Laura, and this is my work number. Having issues with my personal number when I tried to send this. If you think I'm trying to hold on, you need to check your ego. I'm not lying, and if you think I haven't been tortured about whether or not to take. Plan B, you're crazy. I think you're confusing me with girls who come from a very different background than mine. Don't tell me I can't keep my story straight when I don't have one. I have the truth, which isn't changing.

I wasn't quite as high as you were and definitely remember what happened and what I felt. I googled it because I didn't know if it was possible to get pregnant without intercourse. It is. I think we're both panicked and not in the right mindset. You're not acting great, but neither am I. If I am in fact pregnant, blocking my number won't prevent you from knowing about it. Trust me, you will find out right away despite that, and I won't be having an abortion under any circumstances. It felt like Laura was getting ahead of herself, since at that point, she didn't even

even know if she was actually pregnant. Clayton decided to block her other number as well, but Laura didn't let that stop her. She had promised he'd find out the news one way or another, and she stayed true to her word. 11 days after they met up, she sent him an email with the news that she was pregnant. If I remember correctly, I was in my apartment and the email comes through and I open it. And it's as if, like, everything went blank. I couldn't make sense of what I was reading. I didn't think that it was real.

Clayton was hell-bent on the fact that he and Laura never had sex. So this really didn't make sense to him. At this point in my life, this isn't my first hookup. It's not my first rodeo. Clayton was spiraling and decided to switch gears. He asked Laura for permission to speak with her mom, Jan Black, which Laura agreed to. So Clayton called Jan to tell her what was going on with her daughter.

I said, here's the main sticking point. Your daughter is telling me that she is going to have a child unless I date her. So if I date her, she'll get an abortion, but if I don't date her, she's having a child. At this point, this was Clayton's understanding of Laura's demands. It made him uncomfortable, which is why he wanted to speak with her mom. I said, it's her body her choice. Clayton explained to Jan that he respected Laura's decision to keep the baby or not. He made it clear that he did not want involvement in Laura's life, which also meant raising the baby.

But the biggest point he wanted to make in all of this to Laura's mom was the following. Here's the problem I have, and I think you would agree with me that, like, she shouldn't have a child based on whether or not somebody wants to date her. He expected Jan to understand his concern. After all, this was her grandchild in question. He wanted Jan to speak with Laura and help her come to a decision. Her response was, well, you know what, to be honest with you, that's just really disappointing to hear because, you know, you are responsible for impregnating my daughter, and she's a really great girl.

I think you would see that if you were to give her a chance, but you just haven't given her a chance at all. And so I'm just really, you know, honestly disappointed that this is the route you're going to go because my daughter has a lot of great qualities, and you haven't given her any chance to prove that to you. Clayton was almost too stunned to speak. I think I said something along the lines of like, excuse me? I'm like, you're telling me that you think that's okay?

And she goes, yeah, again, my daughter's an incredible woman, but you're not giving her any chance, which I think is so unfair. And so I was just like, okay, I'm like, well, this isn't at all how I thought the conversation was going to go. Thank you for your time and have a great rest of your day. This phone call made him feel like he was in the twilight zone. And I hung up. And I was just like, are you fucking kidding me? Clayton reached out to Laura's mom, hoping for a lifeline that never came.

Feeling backed into a corner and panicking, his gut told him this whole thing was bullshit. He stayed firm in his belief that there was no way he'd impregnated her. But he needed proof he could see with his own eyes. A week later, he invited Laura over again with one goal in mind. He wanted her to take a pregnancy test right in front of him. She brought one with her, but Clayton had purchased one of his own, just to be sure. So she goes into the bathroom and she goes to close the door and I go, oh, no, no, I said, I want to see you pee on the stick. She goes, what? Oh my gosh, no, I can't do that.

There's no way I'll be able to pee if you're watching me. As suspicious as Clayton was, he was trying to make sure she wasn't altering the test in any way. But he understood why it would make her uncomfortable. I used to have to do drug test in college when I played football, and we would literally have to drop our pants and have somebody stand there and look at us pee. Like someone's standing right over our shoulder, and it was so uncomfortable. Clayton said Laura agreed to a plan, where he'd close the bathroom door once she started to go. She finishes and she walks out, and she's like, all right, it takes like five minutes.

If you've ever taken a pregnancy test or had a partner take a pregnancy test, you know that waiting for the result, whatever result you want it to be, feels like a lifetime. I'm hunched over the sink. Laura's standing right off to my left. And it was just quiet. It was just her and I, just the two of us, looking at that pregnancy test and waiting for the results. one line shows up right away.

His stomach dropped. He sat there, staring at it, waiting to see if the second line would appear. It was one of the scariest moments of my life because you're looking at a little indicator and either your life changes forever or doesn't. If two lines show up, my life is forever changed. and there's no in between.

It's literally one extreme to the other. And then the second line starts coming in. The test was positive. Laura started to console Clayton. She's just like, how are you feeling? She starts rubbing my back, because I'm leaning over at this point. I'm leaning over the sink, and I'm just in disbelief.

I had my hand pressing against my forehead, and I'm just like elbows on the countertop. I just remember staring at the lines and seeing that's positive and thinking, oh my gosh, I am going to be connected to this woman forever. With Laura standing right behind him, Clayton felt the last bit of hope slip away. There was no more arguing with the evidence. Like, holy shit, like she's actually pregnant. This is really real.

Or at least that's what I thought at the time. But in the coming months, Clayton would begin to question everything. Something doesn't seem right with this story. The dating contract. Stalkerish behavior. She sent me over 500 emails and text messages. She makes up all these characters and she creates fake personas. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you.

This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's just chaos. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to follow Love Trapped on Apple Podcasts, the IHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a review. A five-star rating helps others find this show. We're grateful for your support. If you would like to reach out to the Love Trapped team, email us at Lovetrappedpod at gmail.com. That's Lovetrapped, P-O-D at Gmail.com. Love Trapped is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group,

in partnership with IHeart podcasts. This show was executive produced by Nancy Glass, Andrea Gunning, and Ben Federman. Written produced and hosted by me, Stephanie Young. Our story editor is Monique Laborde. Additional production support from Sidney Gladu and Todd Gans. Our production manager is Kristen Melchiri. For IHeart Podcasts,

Ali Perry was our executive producer. Audio editing and mastering by Anna McLean and Matt Delvecchio. Additional editing support by Zach Proto. Thank you to our voice actor, Leslie Talley. This podcast was developed in collaboration with Danny Passman and LeBeromoff at Crybaby Media. The love trapped theme is composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by Mib Music. A special thanks to Carrie Lieberman, Will Pearson, Jessica Kreinscheck, Ali Kanter,

and the entire IHeart podcast team. And for more podcasts from IHart, visit the IHart Radio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat, just, Hang in there. Yeah, it would not be... Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed, I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Ellen's, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg Gillespie and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown.

I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have happened in City Hall. Somebody tell me that. A shocking public murder.

This is one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics. I scream, get down, get down, those are shots. A tragedy that's now forgotten and a mystery that may or may not have been political, that may have been about sex. Listen to Rorschach, murder at City Hall, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.