Sword and Scale - Episode 295

Episode Date: May 24, 2025

When 23-year-old Ellie Weik vanished from her West Chester, Ohio home on July 29, 2018, her journal entries and messages revealed a dangerous presence in her life. Over the course of a month, detectives unraveled a web of deception, catfishing, and stalking, all leading to someone she already knew.

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spooky stuff. It is spooky stuff, isn't it? We like spooky stuff around here, don't we? Assholes. Hello! Happy Thursday! Welcome to your favorite podcast, Sword and Scale. Season 12, episode 295, the show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. ["Sword and Scale TV Theme"] Well, if you haven't checked out Sword and Scale TV, you know, I don't know what to tell you.

We got one out right now that's pretty intense. And you might want to take a look if you're interested in the true crime genre, because these things are... Whew! It takes a lot out of me to make one of these episodes. It really does. I mean... wow. I'm Jeff from Schneider & Pollock Wealth Management. Some investors want hands-off portfolio management. Others want regular updates.

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Life here isn't exactly exciting, so you chase excitement wherever you can. Parties, festivals, raves, do they still do raves? New faces and old acquaintances. Some days you barely know half the people you're with. You smoke of course, you dance, you draw, and for a few hours you let the music drown everything out. You're a free spirit. But eventually the music fades. The lights go off and you're back in your bedroom,

feeling that ache of deep loneliness that you just can't shake. Your room is a mess, littered with sketches, collages, and little scraps of ideas that don't quite come together. You feel like an artist, but you live like a homeless person. The faint scent of weed lingers in the air, mingling with the smell of incense. Probably a few hints of patchouli as well. Gale, your gecko, is asleep in her tank. You write little reminders to love yourself and keep

going. I mean, somebody has to. Even when you feel like you don't matter, which is becoming a more frequent occurrence. You scroll big letters into a bullet journal filling page after page after page. Anyone that wants to date me wants to hurt themselves. This is just how things are. You try not to think about it, but it's there. This feeling that you're not worthy of happiness or love. That somehow everyone you meet will leave you in the end. Weird, I thought I was the only one who felt that.

It starts in January. One cold night, you're mindlessly scrolling, checking messages. You're used to chatting with people you know. Random party friends, the guy from last week's smoke session, etc. But then a message comes in from someone new a guy named Kun Joe Who the hell is Kun Joe? You don't know him, but you're curious So you accept his Facebook friend request and start chatting at first. There's nothing out of the ordinary You're used to people hitting you up out of nowhere like this, so you don't think much of it a

used to people hitting you up out of nowhere like this so you don't think much of it. A few days later after some casual banter with this guy he sends you another message. This one makes your heart skip a beat. Just want to show you it's not that hard to find someone unless they don't want to be found. I worry about my privacy as well. My social and personal info is on my license. That's why I don't share because you could show that to anyone. And if I'm not sleeping with you, it's hard to trust you." After this message is a screenshot of your address,

this person knows exactly where you live. Just saying. If anyone goes missing, it's not hard to find. LOL. What does that mean? That's what you're thinking at least. A few days go by and more messages come through. I can't stop. You seem like the type that likes to be choked, force-fed, and held down. Your stomach turns. He's included a photo. It's a collage of your own selfies overlaid with a sea of penises. Does this person know that you like to do collages? Is this their twisted way of turning something you enjoy into something disturbing?

The next message isn't from Cun Joe. It's from a random text me number. I will never get you. Was it real? Who could be doing this? And why? Could it be someone you knew be doing this? And why? Could it be someone you knew at another time in your life? Could it be someone you've never met?

They're obviously dedicated to the con because the creepy messages don't let up. It's April now and you're sitting at your dining room table with a big poster board laid out in front of you. As you meticulously glue and place each new image, you get another message. It's the same text me number, but this time they've sent something new, something much scarier. You don't want to look, but you can't help yourself, can you? but you can't help yourself, can you? The video opens and your heart sinks. It's you right there sitting at your dining room table. The camera is low like the voyeur was crouched

just outside the patio furniture, filming you through the window. You You feel your heart pounding in your throat as you replay the video again and again. You look at the angle and the way the camera dips slightly as if the person holding it was crouching. They were there. Right there. Only feet away from you. And you never even knew it.

That's it. This isn't someone just being weird. This is dangerous. This is someone making unwanted contact. You close the tab and click the phone icon, frantically punching in 911. You tell them everything. The messages, the video, how it feels like you're being hunted. They listen and you file a report, but it doesn't make you feel much better, does it?

So you grab your journal and you start writing. Why can't I stop the thoughts in my head? I don't want to look. I don't feel safe. I don't feel safe. I don't feel safe. No one loves me. These are the words of 23-year-old Ellie Wyke. Don't ignore your gut or red flags. You can sense evil. Stay in tune with your senses. She wrote it, but it wasn't enough. She still felt the weight of the anonymous voyeur pressing down on her every day. There is no comfort. There is no safety.

Only acid in my rain. The world will go on without me. I don't matter, but sadly I do exist. For Ellie, the fear wasn't just in the messages or the video. It was in everything. The way she thought about herself. She felt like no one could help. She felt completely alone. And the truth was, she was alone. No one was taking her seriously. The cop who filed

the official statement was supposed to be in charge of Ellie's case, but he failed to log important evidence and the whole thing was on a path to nowhere. Some cops are better than others, I guess. In the middle of this, Ellie was still looking for connection. Something to hold onto in the chaos. She was talking to a lot of people. Some of them were guys she liked, but nothing was panning out the way she'd hoped. That's when Nate Peters texted her. Nate Peters wasn't a close friend, but they'd hung out before. They'd smoked together, they'd gone to a few of

the same parties. He was familiar, and in this moment, familiar felt safe. Hey, stranger. Who dis? Nate? How's it going? New number, my bad. Nate who? Peters. Do you know a lot of Nates?

LOL? Yes, actually. Hoping it was you, though. For Ellie, these conversations were a small escape. Over the next few weeks, they kept in touch touch and by late July, they were making plans to meet up and rekindle their friendship. What you doing later? Like what time later? I have no clue. Probably late, so I shouldn't even ask.

Yeah, if my mom's home, I wouldn't want you to come over. In the early morning of July 28th, 2018, when they both knew Ellie's mom wouldn't want you to come over." In the early morning of July 28th 2018, when they both knew Ellie's mom wouldn't be around, Nate suggested they hang out. Ellie agreed. I'm not bringing my phone. Is it cool if I just knock? Bring the doorbell a few times all at once. See you soon. Ellie left her house that night, unaware that everything was about to change. The streets were dark and empty, just like her life had felt for the last few months. It was late, and she was tired. Tired of being scared, and tired of feeling alone.

There, in the stillness of the air, she convinced herself that this was just another hangout, that Nate was just a friend. The alarm bells in her head fell silent. She didn't know at the time that sometimes the familiar can hide the greatest danger. Sometimes trusting the wrong person can be a fatal mistake. Squinting through bright days? Back to no. Struggling with glare? Also no. What about sunglasses over regular glasses? Big no. But prescription sunglasses from Pearlvision? That's a huge yes. They're a must-have for enjoying the signage style. Choose from designer frames like Ralph Lauren, Coach, Michael Kors and more. Arrange an eye exam at pearlvision.ca and get 40% off lenses. Some restrictions and exclusions may apply.

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uncertainty of young adulthood in Westchester, Ohio. You know, the entertainment hub of the US. Just kidding, don't ever go to Ohio, it sucks. Anywho, Ellie longed for connection, filling her days with art, journaling, and fleeting friendships. But beneath her vibrant exterior was a growing sense of fear. For months, Ellie had been targeted by an anonymous stalker. Unsettling messages had escalated to invasive, voyeuristic videos. Her world, once chaotic but manageable, was becoming dangerous. Despite making a report to the police, Ellie's cries for help went unanswered. Her journal entries reveal the depth of her fear and isolation.

Still, Ellie tried to move forward, clinging to hope that familiarity could bring comfort. When an old friend, Nate Peters, reached out, Ellie hoped she'd find that comfort. On July 28, 2018, the two made plans to meet up. After sending the text messages that arranged their meeting, Ellie was never heard from again. At first, her absence didn't raise alarms. It wasn't unusual for her to disappear for a day or two. She was, after all, a so-called free spirit and had a tendency to drift between friend groups. But when Ellie's mom returned home on August 1st after spending a few days with her boyfriend, she couldn't reach her daughter. The house was eerily quiet. Ellie's car had not moved and she wasn't answering

the phone. That's when her mom made a call to the Westchester police. The investigation began slowly. Ellie's lifestyle made it hard to pin down where she might have gone and at first the police treated her disappearance like a young adult who'd simply walked away. Apparently none of the detectives working the case thought to connect the stalking report to her disappearance. But Ellie's friends reminded them, offering up text messages where Ellie had told them each separately about her stalker. To one friend, she said,

-"That person started sending me texts again." And she sent this to someone else. -"Did I tell you someone's been stalking me? Like they've been taking videos, looking inside my house, watching me, and then sending them to me. I can't afford to move right now and I'm probably gonna delete my Facebook.

I'm also buying a Taser soon. My problem is the person stalking me is anonymous, so I decay how much danger I'm in. Police began pouring through Ellie's phone records and buried within them was a name. And now we're gonna play a little game called, am I smarter than the average sasshole? Can you guess what name it was?

I mean, we've only mentioned one and it wasn't Leroy Jenkins. It was Nate Peters. Nate had been in contact with Ellie just hours before she vanished. Naturally, he was the best place to start. down at the time. We've hung out like a total of maybe three times and then like outside of the Zach situation but even then it was only maybe for an hour or so. Okay. I knew she had bipolar or other mental issues and stuff so she

was prescribed to pills and things but that's about all I know. Like I said we weren't like we weren't really close or anything. So what do you think about all this? I have no idea No, I hope she's okay. Yes, I wait. I haven't seen her in Six seven months something like that. Okay, what's the last time you talked to her? Probably not last time I saw her was the last time you had phone conversation Probably longer than that. I should'll call me but i usually text okay when's the last time you texted with her oh i attempted to call her um as soon as i came out

past that what day was that the second okay okay yeah like as soon as i found out my phone doesn't have anything to ask or try to ask. So it's been, you know, minimum six months since I've actually talked to her. Though Nate was adamant about this, the text messages suggested otherwise. So detectives pressed him. It made sense that he'd use a texting app

to make these final plans if Nate was the reason for Ellie's disappearance. We do investigations before we're done talking. Sure. So some of these questions I'm asking you, I kind of know the answers to. Yeah. I'm kind of trying to see if you're going to be honest with me or not. Sure. Okay. So would it surprise you if I told you that you were using a text app at some point to communicate with her?

Kick? I don't know if I... Maybe text now? Do you have to have text now? I don't know. Text me? any of that So you had no plans to meet up with her over the weekend before she went missing? Wow, okay, what I'm dealing with some feeling a lot of social media and a lot of upset hides who people are

Yeah, with me. Yeah And I just I'm not quite sure that some of the stuff you're telling me is completely accurate at this point I think you've had more contact with her text wise But you know, I don't I don't know that for a fact as the interview went on Detectives noticed that Nate seemed to be trying to steer the conversation It seemed like he wanted to shift the blame onto someone else. I don't know if she wanted to pack up and run away or if she got... Did she say anything like that to you? Mm-mm. Like I said, I haven't talked to her since before March.

You guys have more than friends? You never slept with her? I mean, there's nothing wrong with it. Yeah, no, no. There's a lot of indications that she was free with herself, which is fine. Not against... That's what I've heard. But no, because she had also talked to me about how she'd been

like raged and stuff. So I wanted to at least be that sort of guy that would not press that sort of thing. Who raged her, if you will? The only person that I know was a guy named Michael Strauss. But that was like years and years ago and I haven't seen him and even longer than that. Okay so did she have any concerns about him hanging around here recently? Not that I know of. Okay. You know kind of concerns me because she had told me that he had done that to her and then she had mentioned she had family members that had done that to her and then it

and like one of her ex-boyfriends she said said it's on a tour and it's one of those seems like, you know, at what point do you say is this person actually crying wool or is they just like an anomalous person that constantly just gets raped? So this Michael Strauss guy was the next person to be hunted down. But in the meantime, the police planned to take Nate's phone in for evaluation. The next time they saw him, they had a search warrant in hand. We get lied to all the time. We definitely know quite a bit about the iOS system as well.

And we have resources to show us that if an app's been deleted or not, we have resources to show us deleted information from a phone but is there any way we could be could arrange a time uh... today but you took down a certain information off of your phone within a within this time frame to cut that to verify that you know what you're telling us is true was that something that you would be that you would even consider a no private feature no i understand understand and that's that's that's well within your right night and i respect your

program for knowing your rights uh... what i what i would have to tell you though is is that's i do i do have a warrant to make your problem but i've been fully up front with you i'm not lying to you know the reason that i gave you is is is totally honest someone is trying to use what I believe,

someone is trying to use a number associated with you or at least linked to you to show that you had contact with Ellie much more recent than you're telling us. Someone is trying to use a number associated with you? Why is this cop trying to give away their game plan? Why is he acting like the suspect's defense attorney? I mean, I'm all for citizens having rights, but do we really need to handhold and spoon feed suspects their only possible defense strategy? It's almost like he's saying, hey dummy, say that you didn't have your phone on you. Hey, dummy, say that you didn't have your phone on you. Say you gave it to a buddy or something." Despite these detectives seemingly really wanting to give the suspect some helpful legal tips during the interrogation, their actual job now required them to gather information

on this new lead, Michael Strauss. To better understand him, they reached out to someone who had known Michael for years. His neighbor. I'm a BCI agent. Nice to meet you. I just wanted to sit down with you and ask you some questions. Did you go with Tristan or Michael? I really can't say. Not Tristan. Oh yeah.

Do you know, are you friends with anybody that lives over there? Yeah. They're like family to me. With all of them? Do you know, are you friends with anybody that lives over there? Yeah, they're like family to me. All of them? Tracey and Noah, not Michael. Yeah, so I'm not really asking about them, okay? Oh yeah. I'm asking about Michael.

This kid, also in his early 20s, had grown up next to the Strauss family for over 15 years and was close friends with Michael's brother. But Michael? Not so much. Those two are like my best friends and I mean I know Michael. Has Michael been living there the whole time or? Pretty much. He lived in California I think for like three months.

And that was recently. Okay. When did he come back do you know? Like a month or two ago, within the month. Yeah. Have you ever seen who drives which car? Like which car does Michael drive specifically or later, I see that. I don't think he has a car or...

He probably doesn't have a valid license if I had to guess. I mean... What do you know about him from me now? You're smiling. He's an interesting character. There's you know about him for me now? You're smiling. He's an interesting character There's a lot about him This stuff in his room is kind of weird like I guess he like Doesn't like the government and stuff like that

He used to have like in his basement like a flag that said Marines and then like he wrote like lies on it And then like one that said like US Army and it said like deception or something. Okay. Stuff like that. What the neighbor says next would become crucial information for detectives once they had Michael Strauss in an interrogation room. Like in high school he played football but he seemed a lot more I guess normal in high

school. Yeah. I mean, I guess he's not that crazy, but. What do you know, what about- Most people think he is. What about him is crazy? The stuff that he wears, the music that he listens to, stuff like that.

What does he do for a living, you know? I don't think he's had a job in a while, but he always has some story that we know isn't true about like some job that he's doing or something. But he actually, it's hard to tell. It's hard to tell the truth from the non-truth because he actually, when you went to California, I know he did something there.

Like, man, you wouldn't believe the amount of stories this guy says. Like, at one point he said he was going there to roll blunts for Snoop Dogg. like man, you wouldn't believe the amount of stories this guy says, like, at one point he said he was going there to roll blunts for Snoop Dogg. Um, he said like, he said he's gonna be an actor, he said he's gonna be a film director, tattoo artist, cause like Tristan and Noah, they think it's funny, and especially Noah

will like tell me everything he says just cause they think it's funny, like tell me his stories me everything he said. Just that he think it's funny. Like tell me his stories and stuff like famous people that he's met that we know he hasn't met. All the time. Does he seem to believe it? Like he travels like yeah, he does. He seems to believe his own mind. Yeah. And he gets really really defensive if like somebody calls him out for lying like more so than most people would I think. But I mean. Huh.

But I mean... They're just hard to believe? I mean, you probably know about like the flashing incident that he had a few years ago. Right, yeah I do. And how'd you find out about it? Actually, uh, there's a video of it on the internet, um, that all you gotta do is type in a name and it pops right up. This, um, flashing incident wasn't just a strange rumor. It was a documented crime.

Michael Strauss had been convicted of jerking off in a grocery store parking lot, an act that landed him a year of probation. To Michael's neighbor, it was just another odd chapter in his long history of strange behavior. But for detectives, it was something they'd tuck away in the back of their minds. And yet, despite his oddities, Michael could come across as completely ordinary, at least on the surface. Does he ever say anything weird about women or? No, like when you're talking to him, he seems pretty normal when you're talking to him other than just the crazy stories.

When the time came to bring Michael in for questioning, they already knew what to expect. A man who couldn't resist spinning stories. Pretty quickly though, detectives realized that Michael's neighbor had not been exaggerating. I was producing and now I'm kind of directing and making my own stuff and everything. I drive a lot. It's fun. I've been living in Cali for a while and then I just moved back. It was my family and all that kind of stuff. And then I go back there in like a month. The plan was just to let Michael talk.

Detectives wanted to get to know this strange guy with long dreadlocks piled on top of his head. They wanted to make a false connection, making him feel like you could trust them. You can't. You can't, by the way. You can't trust cops. This was the same approach they took with everyone they interviewed in this case. If they scared anyone away, they could lose a potential lead. And Ellie may never be found. I wake up and I draw every day. Sure. Even if it's the littlest thing, I always say don't have no zero days.

Always be doing something. What did you draw today? Yep. What did you draw? Guitar player. Dimebag. That's one of my favorite guitar players. Pantera.

But he died in front of me when I was like 14 years old. I was there when he got shot on stage. All right. All right. Do you guys believe that? Me neither. Perry, I'm going to seat you up. Is everything OK?

Yeah, so we'll kind of explain everything that's going on. You're about to talk to two of the Lowesky people. OK. You talk to, which is just, which is, we've both worked in the detective section. And we've got this case of Ellie White who's missing and they came to my house already about it yeah like I told the detectives that came to my house it's like I haven't seen

this girl I haven't talked to her in about five years four or five years right what we do when we gather we get names and we start comparing us we start looking into things and a couple things I broke down, I don't really understand, I don't really think it was that good of an interview. Or with me? Or with? In general, trust me,

this is the first of many we're going to do. Okay. So, you got your own place out there? Yeah, I'm staying with my girl, but I'm dating. Oh, cool, cool. So what kind of movies you into? I mean what kinds I like horror movies, but I like that's I don't know that they have always makes people I don't know that makes it judgmental or not, but like fan horror movie and then I did a documentary so I'm doing

More so your thing, but I would you like it, But I don't want to be like pigeon holders do that. Oh, absolutely. You know, so like I have a few ideas and do that. And so it's like crazy, crazy, horror stuff like psychological stuff. I don't like the excessive, like goofy slasher type. You're not a song kind of guy. So it's cool. I said a couple of Berg, Mark Berg is the producer.

So he started a franchise and he helped work with me and I kind of started to name drop or anything. producer, so he started this whole franchise and he helped work with me and all that kind of stuff, trying to do the ink drop or anything. No, I like it when you say that. I know that guy. So do you travel with, I mean. Not always. How do you, do you, does that call,

do you fly out there? Yeah, usually. Okay. Yeah. So I mean, doesn't that, that must cost, would he gotta package that, oh, do you just like pack, do you ship it out? I make pretty good money lately.

I've been, I actually made more money last year than I've made in my entire life. Oh, cool. So yeah, I'm finally getting reward from all the hard work. BCI, or Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, sat with Michael for hours. This was no junior varsity interrogation. These guys knew what they were doing

as they took their time to build a rapport with them This was a psychological chess match and the detectives were the only ones who could see the board Like dude, can we get by? I guess it's illegal, but I don't know. You've never been intrigued to do that type of thing? No, because I don't really glorify celebrities. I don't really think it's that important. And I think it's harassment. You're following people around. There's been car accidents. So according to Michael, following someone around with a camera is harassment. Got it.

I wonder how Scarlett Johansson feels about that. Well, it's too. It's sometimes it's like, well, when you're behind the camera, too, you're probably thinking you look at things. So my mind works with like, I just look at everything like a big canvas, you know, so you don't look at every little individual right now. So, I mean, everything that I don't mean to totally get on top of it, but I just think it's so interesting. Sometimes, though, but when you look at things,

it's almost like you're, I don't know, are you like mentally filming? Or like... It's a filter, you have like a filter, you just like... This would look good on camera, and then you just start imagining that that's what you're... Pretty much. I guess.

Yeah, you get it. Like it's like, you're like, oh, this is interesting. Like something can happen to you, and you're like, oh, that would be interesting to jot down it. Like, it's like, you're like, oh, this is interesting. Like, if something happened to you, and you're like, oh, that would be interesting to jot down, or that's an interesting visual, or you know what I mean? Like, so like, when you see photography,

like, you see things like, oh, okay, that's a good shot. You know, like, that's really all I've moved on to. So, I love photography, and I have a camera. I can tell, like you said, you're now, like, you can get it. But I don't always carry my camera with, I don't always have my camera. And you wish you had it, you're like, I wish I'd typically. Yeah, well, sometimes there's something I have my camera. And you wish you had it, you're like, I wish I had a typical camera.

Yeah, well sometimes there's something I know I want to take a picture of, so you know, I'll snap it with my phone and I might like geotag it to know where, see, I'm like a 21st century guy now. But you can mark it and then you can come back and maybe try to compose the same sort of thing. That's too un-worked. Well that's what I really just do it in the moment, like I said, like just take it in the moment, but I'm sure by now you can see exactly what these detectives were doing. They weren't just making small talk, they were laying out the groundwork, connecting Michael's words to pieces of Ellie's case that we already know. The voyeuristic videos, the terrifying, intimate knowledge

her stalker had of her life. But while suspicion mounted against Michael, there was still another loose end to tie up, Nate Peters. Detectives had taken his phone in for evaluation, and now they were ready to return it, having learned some surprising information. And then on, let's see, on May 28th, having learned some surprising information. replied with surprise I think you say WTF and then she responds that the subject is sending her a call for use of another female asking if it's her meaning asking if it's

Ellie. So my question is is that we know that not only did Ellie text you but she also I think called you a few times was there any ever was there a follow-up conversation or a follow-up phone call saying who that might have been, trying, reporting to be you? No, and I'll tell you- Do you remember that conversation though? No, not at all. I tell you, like, I, you know, scouts on her swear the last time I ever remember

actually talking to her, you know, which is what surprised me if that was on my phone in the first place, because now I'm actually kind of blown away. Yeah, if you want to look at it, it's um So if you go to your text messages from her You have to scroll again obviously all the way back to 2017, but you'll oh from okay. Yeah, it's 2017 Wow, when you guys are still kicking Why and that's why it's kind of important if someone's trying to be you all the way back to 2017 We want to know who it is. What the crazy I know I know, right? That's what I'm saying, man. It's just,

it's kind of spooky stuff. Ah, now I get it. He's tricking him. Wait, he tricked me. I take it back, this guy's really good. At this point, detectives were pretty certain Michael Strauss had been the one not only stalking Ellie using anonymous phone numbers, but also the one posing as Nate Peters. So they start by explaining Ellie's story to Michael. They tell him about the night she received the creepy video of herself shot through the window. It was like a self-therap therapy thing. She would make collages, cut pictures out of magazines. I did that too. About how she feels good, put them together.

All of it's like an art. Like an image. Well, I guess it is. Arts. He put it to probably some sort of therapy. And the video is over. So we started looking around, we keep researching things and I want you to hear this whole thing out. So we have these text messages that included the video link and the number those came back to, but when we researched this number,

we found that the most commonly called number was your mom. Okay. So we have the link from the video and your mom, and there's some number that's in common, okay? So she called my mom? Somebody, whoever contacted her, not saying Ellie did, but whoever contacted her also contacted your mom

Not looking good Michael Not looking good So I don't know if someone's like creeping you or what so we got this sound right? I got this number and I've seen it. I so see connection. And the number, when they, the number got researched and comes back to like, Doom Studio, or Doom Dread guy. So now I'm wondering if someone's setting up a profile, I don't know if someone's setting up a profile with you.

Say for Dread. That sounds like my old email. Right, that's what I'm, that sounds like. Now you're starting to get why you're here. I know someone's posing as you, okay? Hear this whole thing out. Yeah. So, I got this and I've got someone watching her backyard.

So what am I looking at? I'm looking at maybe a trespassing. I'm looking at maybe a voyeurism. Stocking has to be a pattern of events to do that. So that's like, hey, I got robbed, someone broke into my car. That's not robbery. It's not really stocking. They're misdemeanor charges.

It's not a big deal. I need to rule out without a doubt before I can really go any further because I need to figure out what's going on I had people make a fake Facebook with me one time that had all my pictures and stuff in my name and it wasn't my Facebook and I reported to Facebook and they got it taken down. Okay. So but that doesn't sound... So you need to be engaged with me on this okay and you need to... I know you keep looking at the clock. I can't

worry about the time right now because I gotta get through this. Okay. Either someone extraordinarily dedicated to the ruse was creeping on Michael, or you could live in reality and choose to believe that the simplest explanation is probably the correct one. Michael's life had become a shadow of Ellie's. Spent watching, waiting, and anonymously weaving himself into her world. Michael Strauss had stalked her. Michael Strauss had planned this whole thing. a stranger and I know Ellie, I fish. Do you fish? Not really. Ellie took the bait.

Okay. Ellie took the bait. The others might have been like, hey, what up, whatever, I don't know. It was Ellie took the bait. And yeah, I probably did do something like that. All right, I swear. And I probably did, like I said, I messed around.

I did mess with people and the thing is, I don't have names to numbers. I messed with a bunch of numbers. And I prank called before. I don't do refrigerator running or whatever. That is kind of funny. Just a classic. That is a classic. But, that's not... I'm not trying to like... I'm not a, I'm not lying, but like that's, I would never send a video. Or are you? So tell me about, tell me about the sending out of the, like the text blast, Hey stranger.

So were you, I mean, you were casting out. I'm like, well, it's when I'm in, it's when I'm out in the alley or whatever, I text people and I just like, I'd be like, especially if either they're old, I have like a whole stuff of like old phone numbers I used to have or whatever. And I don't know, it's from my old contact list.

Okay. He has an excuse for everything, doesn't he? Dude, I'm not trying to say you're like a, you're the serial... And it's only an issue because you're missing right now and that's the problem. It becomes an issue so when you did that and she kind of took the bait so to speak. Yeah. Because I think we're both understanding that that was you doing that. So yeah, but it wasn't... It's was really really obvious it was you doing it I don't want

to insult anybody's intelligence or whatever but it's not like you but you weren't talking to her as you know I know that I go is nobody there was somebody you know you were you know I mean I like it's hard like oh the name and then I'll be like oh yeah that's her I'd be like, oh yeah, that's her. I'd be like, oh it's Ben. Well the name you came up with was Nate Peters. See, I don't even remember that. Well, I'm telling you. Okay, okay, okay.

Here's the one thing going on in the room right now. You have absolutely 100% no reason to doubt what I'm saying. Okay, yeah, yeah. So I just want to throw that out there. I'm not the guy that, I don't bluff and I don't bullshit because I don't want to. So you were Nate Peters and I think you I think you know Nate Peters and when you said hey, no, when you said hey stranger, she said who's this and you said Nate Hey stranger, she said, who is this? And you said, Nate. And she said, it's Nate who? And you said, LOL. What do you know a lot of Nates? Nate Peters. And she's like, Oh, hey, what's up? Starting a conversation.

And then as that conversation progresses, that initial conversation, you ask her, I hear you're being watched. Now we've established that this is you talking. So I don't know if you've heard from someone, I don't know how that could happen. I heard someone's watching you. And she says, you know what I'm talking about? I know what you mean, I know what you mean. She says, I heard someone's watching you,

and she's like, hey, I don't wanna talk, don't ruin this, that creeps me out. And you're like, okay, because, so now we've established that you, so as those conversations are going on, there's nothing inappropriate about them. There's nothing, let's take this white elephant out of the room.

Yeah. You weren't necessarily honest when we first started talking. Because you said you hadn't contacted her in five years, but I know you'd contact her up all the way until July 29th. I guess, yeah, I haven't contacted her as myself, and it was a joke, and it looks bad, I get it. Yeah, so it looks horrible. We know the thing about it.

We know it looks bad, we know it looks horrible, but we have to get by the optics of things. I've got a text number that is being used for this app and it's contacting her posing as somebody else. And I don't know how you got, like, have you ever called Nate, I mean, how Nate Peters? I don't know. I guess it's someone, the name that came to mind. Cause that's, I mean, that's like freaking the most random thing in the world. I mean, why not?

Freaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. How would you even know? Like, here's what I was wondering. Did you ever think that the real Nate Peters would contact her like at the same time? Probably. That'd be funny. I mean, I don't know.

That's weird. Like, what the fuck? I guess you don't, it That's weird. Like, what the fuck? I guess you don't... It's... you probably... it's hard to see the humor in this because this is a missing persons case, but like... I can... I know what you're talking... it's like that... crank yankers or whatever.

I get it. I get it. I get that. Okay. I don't think the CIA... You don't think people are out to get me. You think I might be conspiracy nut or something. Well, no. I don't want to come off like a big conspiracy thing. I know. So I'm not... you know, but I'm... Also, coinc, no, I don't want to come off like a big conspiracy. I mean, I'm not a so I'm not also coincidences are I don't

Sometimes you really got to beat me over the head with stuff to convince me and in this line of work Coincidences and just that conspiracy thing is is just it's just rare Yeah, and if it happens once in a lifetime where someone goes out of their way to totally Do some know what your own range, but I got this video. That's a that's a view once in a lifetime where someone goes out of their way to totally do something I don't know what you're on range but I got this video that's a that's a view on my account. Your account? My email's been used, my phone number's been used, all this stuff is going towards me. Your phone number that's attached to the IP address that comes back to the WiFi in your house. And I'm trying to show you that,

I don't know how this is being woven. Yeah. There's a commonality between all of those things I said. They're the way things are on paper, they're the way things really are. Dude, look, if you stood in your backyard, and if you stood in your backyard, jerked off and filmed it, what the fuck ever.

Okay, okay. It's embarrassing, I get it. I can't say I condone it, I'm not going to put it up on a billboard, whatever. It happens. And it's just so tightly linked to stuff. I don't want to run down that rabbit hole. I don't think, here's what I don't think happened. I don't think someone decided, let's see, who am I gonna, hmm, Michael Strauss. I'll set up a number, I'll contact people, I'm

gonna get a video, I'm gonna somehow plant it in his... but when you put that, when you go to bake a, and you got a list of 10 ingredients, and you got eight of them, you don't get a cake. It comes out with some shit. You don't know what it is. You know, if I if I were to take out one of these things, I'm doing so makes sense. But with all of these things together, man, it looks like a cake." As the hours dragged on, it became painfully clear.

Coaxing Michael Strauss into a single honest answer was like pulling teeth. Every lie they unraveled seemed to take an eternity, and they hadn't even broached the serious questions yet. The ones that could take this from an interrogation to a real confession. My car needed repairs, but I could only pay for half of them. An easy loan through Lamina.ca made the difference between stressed out driving and a smooth ride to work. Mark went the extra mile on his repairs with a loan from Broker's Lamina at 1-800-NEW-CREDIT. It's easy to apply over the phone or online at Lamina.ca.

Load up to $1,500 and get funds in an hour with no documents or credit checks and pay back over 3 to 7 months. Prop up your purchase and apply for a loan now at lamina.ca. Detectives had spent hours dancing around Michael Strauss' lies, playing a slow game of psychological chess. Every question, every comment, every seemingly innocuous detail was meticulously designed to chip away at his defense. Despite the mounting suspicion, Ellie was still missing. For her friends and family, the clock was ticking. The groundwork

had been laid in his interrogation, and now it was time to confront the truth head on. Detectives started to introduce more and more of the damning evidence they had gathered. Ellie Wyke went missing on July 29, 2018, but her phone turned on for a brief moment on July 31st. It turned on just long enough to ping off a cell phone tower. If this is a cell phone tower and the cell phone tower covers an area this big and where this phone hit I'm able to isolate that that phone hit an area this big and your house is here. Yeah that doesn't make sense to me. That that phone hit an area this big okay, and your house is here No, so not being a believer in circum in coincidences

With with everything I'm looking at I'm like the phones there It could be or like she's a driving So tell me how it could tell me how it could be there She was on road car her car is her car has not moved her cars at the house I don't know and that's something that see that's why I don't know why that's the accusation that I do not know an accusation It's total fact that I'm not a cute I wouldn't have her phone. I want to turn it on I wouldn't yeah, I'm not Scooby-Doo, but it's like I just don't know what meant kids, you know, like was there's I don't know who helped her get out I don't know. You know what I I don't know you know what I mean like right thing the stuff that I did

Year ago or prior to that the messages yeah, that's one thing, but I don't know That's the stuff we have to get answers to clear up Absolutely have so it's so freaking embarrassing, but it's whatever It's a little freaking embarrassing, but it's whatever. It's the truth and I'm glad. I'm glad you guys know. Well, it's like I'm glad you guys know and knowing it's like talking on the phone is different than actually like, hey, let's go do this, let's go run away together.

You know what I mean? Like I would never run away with someone like her. I would never hurt anybody like her. You know what I mean? So it's just like, I don't know. I don't know what else to tell you guys. But the fact of the matter is someone out there knows and what happens is a lot of times when you have these conversations, real summer like the video thing, is someone knows something and they think such worst case scenario.

You probably thought if you said that you made that video, the next thing that was going gonna happen was put your hands up on the fucking wall You're going to jail. You're gonna be on the news No, not that level just feel like you're making it seem like I knew more than I do and I got telling you right now But you did no I'm saying but the stuff that happened in the past. Yeah, right the past. Yeah, well the current day I don't like I said, I don't know what to tell you. Right, but we're calling the past July 29th. Sure, yeah, yeah. So it's not really, you're like, To me that felt like a long time ago

because I've been dealing with a lot of crap. I didn't, you know, like it's, okay, but. But it's not like we're talking like, you know. Sure, and yeah, it seems like, yeah, it's too close, the timeline's too close for something like that, for what I did and for what has happened. So that's concerning to me. OK. You know?

I totally understand. At this point, the conversation cools down, and the two detectives leave for a minute to grab some water. Michael is only alone for a short time, but as soon as the door closes, he's talking to himself. What a stupid... Why am I so fucking stupid for that? Why did I do that? When the detective comes back into the room, they propose that Michael take a polygraph test. They're still very cautious with their wording, and they reassure him that he's not a suspect.

They even tell him confidentially that they know he'll pass the test, reassuring him. They just need to clear him. Get it out of the way, you know? Of course, they want to push this investigation as far as possible before he fully realizes he's in deep shit. And finally asks for a lawyer, like he should have done to begin with. Kind of shocking he hasn't realized it yet, right? But, like I always say, criminals are dumb. That's why they're criminals. I've got about three or four things, other things I wanna talk to you about.

And by law, if I wanna ask you those things, I have to feed you and there's food coming. I need to know more about your, where your room is in your house. Do you sleep in the basement? Or do you sleep in an upstairs bedroom? I sleep upstairs bedroom. Okay, so you have a bedroom.

So I have some people that were over at your house. It's just being thorough and it wasn't clear where your room is. So you're searching my house? I'm not, I'm here, I don't know. That's in this way, I got like computer guys walking around, I don't know what they're doing. But there was some confusion as to,

because I think there's stuff there and I don't want to screw anything up or take something that belongs to somebody else or do whatever, so. We have some reason to believe that there's a white car involved and there's a white car at your residence, granted it's not registered to you or whatever, but I think you've's a white car involved and there's a white car at your residence granted it's not registered to you or whatever but I

think you've operated a white car before and then when I look at it even deeper I think well yeah you've operated a white car before and not all the time matter of fact not even not even a my parents ask them right not even a not even a fraction of a percentage of the time you were in that car and you were videoing women. And this is once again swaying on paper. You were videotaping joggers and then when we looked at the search history there's videotaping joggers, there's a search where you mentioned the woman's name in Mason because it's probably

on the police report. Yeah, I was thinking about it. It was like, that was all research. How frustrating is this guy? These detectives are very, very patient. This is insanity. Dude, I know, but you can't do what I'm saying. I can't put that on the warrant.

I'm just telling you, I'm just trying to spell to you what it is, why we're doing it, because you want to know why your parents asked. At this point, detectives think maybe he's got something to do with the other case, too. Back in January of the same year, a woman in Mason, Ohio reported to police that a guy wearing a hoodie grabbed her from behind while she was jogging alone. She screamed and he let her go. Why would Michael be researching this specific case? jogger, forcible rape, ambush rape, porno video, I'm not saying they're all related

but when it comes to... Don't get this straight, not known rape or anything like that. Not saying they do it. Parasectual harassment or anything like that. Okay. But it has her name and then it's like, jogger, rape, ambush, rape, women joggers, where do women jog in Westchester, something else and then... I don't think I ever searched where do women jog in Westchester.

I'm sorry, that's not, that can't be a search. That is. I searched maybe like where to jog in Westchester. But maybe jog. I never searched where do women jog in Westchester. Maybe you did, and I would never do that. That wouldn't be part of this research. Maybe you, maybe I read into that,

it's just senior. I'm sorry, that's something I know. I would never Google, and that's the thing. It's like when I did that research for the script, it was after that because people said she was lying about being attacked. And then it said, I didn't know if it was rape or not, so I searched if it was rape or whatever.

Where this all goes back around is I got the videos in the white car in Mason of women joggers and I got the searches, and I was saying the searches are sequentially, and they end up with a porn video, and I didn't look at the video, so I don't know what the video was of, and I don't really want to know right now. I watched a lot of types of porn. If that's the... Look at what? I watched a lot of types of different porn.

Like, I'm sorry, that's the conversation, where watch different types of those different types of genres of porn. Yeah, Michael, we already know you're a giant perv. The point they're trying to make is that you searched for information on this local jogger attack, and then you opened up a new tab and started masturbating to porn. Immediately afterwards. You get it? Oh, I know. I like to sex suit. It's for a movie. It's a movie outfit for a script. It sounds like American. American Horror Story.

Yeah. It's like that. Okay. But it's like, yeah, it's one of the costumes I actually do in a short film. These searches, I don't really use against me because it's like, that's. Well once again, they can be explained. Yeah. It's not using against, but when the theme of those is whether it's for research or personal

whatever and they're sexual in nature, that fits right back into the circle of there's a, well that sounds like someone that would do this video that would do that and then if I want to say stock terrorize whatever to send it to this person, thank God you didn't send it the part where you're doing it. No. Taking it to business, because that would have sent her off the over the edge. Taking the video, going, clipping it out,

send it to her, asking about her what her reaction was to it, posing as somebody else while you're talking to her. And the first part of that conversation is about, hey, I heard you're being watched. So it's kind of bringing it back up and it kind of stimulates you. I was really going to stop the conversation there.

That's when I was like, eh, whatever. It kind of stimulates. I fear it's that whole thing that we have this. So I had a piece added to me. And I don't know where it fits in. What's the piece? Well, they found her ID in your room. So, Micah.

Her ID? Yeah. Her driver's license, that was issued in July. I would not know where that is. That doesn't mean, that can't be true. You can't say that's true. Yeah. Yeah, we're not making that up.

They found her ID. Locker. They found a lock for air. Makes sense. It's in, uh, when your art portfolio bonders. And I got team guys looking at stuff. Now look. Makes sense, man. I know. So here's where I say this.

See, that's where you're like... It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. And I need to make sense of it. Why would she have... why would she have her license on me? I can't even begin to guess why. There's a book on Ted Bundy, and there's all kinds of stuff. And then I've taken a lot of classes on it. I'm not a self-proclaimed behavioral analyst by any stretch,

but I understand that people do stuff and people do stuff for dumb reasons and I'm a trained interviewer and I'm a trained interrogator and tell me what you think I didn't I would do something like do you think I'm a serial killer or a kidnapper or anything like that I didn't I didn't I didn't start this yesterday and there's a lot of things I hear. And what I hear is, you want me to explain why that driver's license and why that hair is in your house. You have no reason to.

You want me to explain. I can't do that. Knowing full well that I can't explain why it's there. And when you say there's only one reason. What's the one reason? Well, I mean the one reason is that someone put it there. Someone not me, someone that access to the house. Not fucking me, it's not yet.

And like I said, I always home, so I don't know how that would get, you know what I mean? Well, we gotta get to the bottom of this. We've gotta get to the bottom of this. You know, I don't wanna get to it. There's no bottom, it just keeps going. Well, the next thing you know, there's gonna be like fingernails in my attic or something like that.

And like, it just doesn't sound fucking real. Well, I don't think we'll look for that, but you know, we're gonna exit, and you know, we have standards from her. Standards, what do you mean? So we have like known samples from her. We have known samples of the hair. Um, it's...

It's like putting myself on a chopping block. Like, I want to keep evidence of stuff around my house. You asked me why, you asked me why, why to keep it. And I guess if you're asking me hypothetically, why would a person keep something like that, it would be a memento of what's happened. And one of the reasons I went through all that book is there's some dudes that do that. They keep a driver's license, they keep an earring.

Some of you think getting gaslit by your partner is a rough ride. Imagine being gaslit by a rapist murderer for 12 hours straight. Then tell me about defund the police and all that nonsense. She's been off the grid for 23 going on 24 days. I don't think once again, I don't think it's a pathetic good. But I don't think that's good at all. I don't think the quantum leap think that she's not a lie. I have never Never have I ever

Heard of a situation where someone would have gone to such great pains to frame somebody other than TV Ever or to the length of me doing something That's what I'm asking like would you ever think that I would or anybody would just out of the blue decide to be like oh I'm taking someone's license taking have gone to great lengths to develop some sort of mental relationship with somebody that ends up resulting in somebody's death and they take a memento of it. Okay, so that's unbelievable. Along with her driver's license and a lock of Ellie's hair, detectives found a small pink stone.

All this was inside a little tin deep inside of a crate in Michael's basement bedroom. His super secret stash where nobody will ever find it, you know? It was sandwiched between old art portfolios. Ooh, I guess the cops will never find it there, huh, Michael? What an idiot. As they looked over the case evidence, they noticed the same pink stone hanging around Ellie's neck in an old selfie.

But they couldn't get him to admit to anything. Not wanting to scare him out of another interview, they took his phone for analysis, took his DNA and told him that they talked to him again when he came to pick it up. When the next day came, a cruiser showed up to Michael's house and arrested him for stalking. He doesn't have jurisdiction. Yeah. We'll sort this out.

You can pick and choose. If there's something you don't want to talk about, you're like. Well, this is what, it's a lot, a lot's changed. Okay. I've thought about a lot since we've talked in the last 12 hours. All right.

And that's why it's like, I spent this morning talking to my family. Okay. And kissing them and showing's like I spent this morning talking to my family. Okay, and I kissed them and showed them how much I love them And I found like emotional. Hey man, you're okay, but just think about what you think about this If you if we if we start going into something that you don't feel comfortable with Dude, I want your help. I don't want to make you upset. No, a lot of things but

Me being out for it. I just don't matter. What it matters. I know well, we're looking out for you So it matters a great deal to us. And like I said, I know actors. I know when people put on an act You see very upset man. What's up? Like my mom? I love my family I get that. We know you do Then Michael finally starts to open up. I get that. We know you do. Then Michael finally starts to open up. He explains that, get this, he makes porn movies in his free time.

And that Ellie apparently wanted to star in one of his porn films for payment. That's what he says they plan to do the night they met up. You know, the night that she thought she'd be hanging out with nate peters that's why i said that night when i was texting her to come over i did what night are we talking about um 20 to 28 28 29 yes yes i left my house i took my parents car i go and leave and get her in the car and I get in and go over there Okay, you just drive over to her house. Mm-hmm. I didn't bring my phone or anything like that. I just brought my GoPro camera We I knocked on the door and was you were gonna make the video or you're gonna like hey

You want to make a video? I didn't mention to her at that point. Okay, and then I knocked on the door She let me in. We went inside and we talked about, I was talking, she's like, I'm waiting for my friends to get here. I'm waiting for my friends to get here. Am I okay? And I'm like, hey, you want to shoot this?

You want to shoot something? I just showed her the camera and she's like, how much, how much? I said, one 30 and a eighth of wheat. And she's like, give me a quarter, no, give me an eighth and smoke a joint with me. And I said, I don't have a joint right now, but I'll give you a quarter.

And then she's like, okay, this is so messed up now. It's all right. And then she's like, all right, so we, I'm like, we should film it in your house. And I took in, we had the GoPro camera and she like ran up the steps. And I had like the cameras chasing her up the steps, POV and all that,

runs into her room, and da da da, and I jumped on her bed, and I had handcuffs, and I was like, oh, I'm like, what's up, you know, what's da da da da, and I locked her, it wasn't playful, because I was yelling at her and stuff,

and she was like, no, no, no, no, and there was nobody there, there was nobody home. And so we were all, she's like, no, no, no, no. There was nobody there, there was nobody home. And so we do that and we have sex after the work film in. And then yeah, she's like, she's like, it's like a strangle, like oh, you know, and bad and all that kind of stuff. Do that, she sits there for a little bit and she's like crying and like, are you

okay? She's like, yeah, I just had a bad day. I've had a long day. I miss my mom and all this kind of stuff. I'm like, where is she? She goes out of town with her boyfriend all the time and talks about that and everything. And we've already talked about that so she's just repeating it. And I guess she just goes on and on. And then we go outside on the porch, smoke again, and their friends are sitting in the car. They get out of the car, and they're like, come on, they're parked right three houses down from me.

And they get out, and she goes with them. And that's the last picking diamond smaller. Even just as it felt like they'd get a confession from him, it was just another dead end again. Michael claimed that when the police first came to his house to ask about Ellie, he had destroyed the SD card holding their quote unquote consensual sex tape, complete with handcuffs, strangling, and oh yeah, a bag over Ellie's head, according to Michael himself. I think she was falling asleep. Oh, okay. Oh, so is this like snuff torture porn? Kinda, yeah.

Okay, so did it end with you choking her? Yeah. And then that's? She's just like, dead. And then whatever, she's there and she's dead. And that's the end? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

And like, that's what we always do, we might just like, cover her head up, poke holes, wear noses, and act like she's not alive anymore. It's really fucked up. Oh, okay. I'm just trying to get it. So you put a bag over her head again? Towards the end? No, no, no. Oh, okay. She's actually, she dies from being choked.

He gets so close to telling the truth, but then it's almost like he's incapable. Like he's unable to see himself as what he really is. I wonder if that's contagious. He describes this snuff torture porn video that he planned to sell and the details of what he admits he did to Ellie add to the case another dark coincidence, he says. After hours upon hours of painstaking interrogation, even without a full confession, Michael had revealed enough cracks in his story for detectives to piece together a detailed picture. August 24th, 2018, was the date of Michael's last BCI interrogation. And on the same day, Ellie's body was located in a ditch near the corner

of a farming field. She was found within a quarter of a mile of Michael's house. Her shallow grave was concealed by shrubbery, with a barbed wire fence dividing it from the rest of the field. A square shovel was discovered nearby. Ellie's remains, mostly skeletonized, told a story that was heartbreaking and horrifying. Wrapped in a bedsheet and a purple blanket, her arms and legs were bound with duct tape, and a bag had been tied over her head. A cord was also entangled with her body.

The coroner determined her cause of death to be asphyxiation, so it's possible this was the murder weapon. Though Michael hadn't spelled it out, he'd said enough. Enough to lead detectives to Ellie and charge him with her murder. Meanwhile, as law enforcement swarmed the field, gathering evidence and preparing for the removal of Ellie's body, a bright rainbow stretched across the sky above the crime scene. Everyone noticed it. People cried and took photos. 29-year-old Michael Strauss eventually pleaded guilty to all his crimes.

His sentencing brought to light the horrific reality of her final moments, something that her family had not understood up until that point. During his sentencing, Strauss appeared in court with two black eyes, the work of his fellow inmates. The judge handed down a maximum sentence, 15 years to life for murder, plus an additional two and a half years for stalking and abuse of a corpse, with no possibility of parole for at least seventeen and a half years. Strauss will spend the better part of his life behind bars. On the day Ellie's family laid her to rest, something remarkable happened. As mourners

gathered at the church to say their final goodbyes, a bright neon rainbow stretched across the sky. It was just like the one that appeared the day her body was found. For Ellie's family and friends, these rainbows became a symbol of light piercing through unimaginable darkness. Her mother described them as a sign, a reminder of Ellie's enduring presence, even in her absence. Ellie's story is one of loss, but also of resilience. In her journal she wrote about her struggles, her fears, her dreams. Though her life was cut tragically short, her words remain

a testament to her spirit. Don't ignore your gut. Or red flags, she wrote. You can sense evil. Stay in tune with your senses. It's a lesson for all of us to trust our instincts, to protect one another, and to remember even in the shadows of the darkest storm you may find a rainbow. Well, that's AI Mike, signing off. Can you believe some idiots online think this is AI? They think I'm AI? Like how fucking dumb do you have to be? AI would never be allowed to say all the shit I say. But, uh... There's no shortage of stupid in the world, so there's that.

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