Episode 5: Out by Old Man Wilson's Gate

Description

A disturbing confession in a local bar leads investigators to a chilling discovery in the woods, and forensic pathologist Maya Singh, MD, must piece together fragments of a missing woman’s final story.

Cast:

Narrator / Sage Whitlock: Elizabeth V. McLeod, MD, MS, FCAP
Mae: Anne M. Deucher, MD, PhD, FCAP
Milo Renner: Earle S. Collum, MD, FCAP
Eli Stark: Robert Frick, MD, FCAP
Niko Bishop: Jennifer Dien Bard, PhD, D(ABMM)
K9 Handler: Ramya Narasimhan, MD, MBBS, MPH, FCAP
Dr. Maya Singh: Uma G. Krishnamurti, MD, PhD, FCAP
Voiceover Intro/Outro: Robert Frick, MD, FCAP
Technical advisors: Jason V. Scapa, MD, FCAP, and Bobbi S. Pritt, MD, MSc, FCAP, with contributions from Elizabeth V. McLeod, MD, MS, FCAP; Thomas J. Cooper Jr., MD, FCAP; Xiaoyin "Sara" Jiang, MD, FCAP; and Feifan Fred Chen, MD, FCAP

This episode of Case Encounters is inspired by a real-life pathology case submitted by Michelle Aurelius, MD, FCAP, member of The College of American Pathologists.

To learn more about the work a pathologist does on your lab test, visit yourpathologist.org.

Case Encounters is a production of The College of American Pathologists, with creative direction from StudioNorth.

Executive Producer: Robert Johnson

Creative direction by StudioNorth

Produced and directed by Natalie Gregory

Editing, sound design, and original music by Jake Sorgen

Written by Paige Freeborn for StudioNorth

Special thanks to Justin Charlton-Perrin and Clemmie Lozano

Additional production support from Nefsi Williams, Isabelle Ritz, and Anabella Torres

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
This is Case Encounters, a journey into the true medical mysteries solved by pathologists, like the story of June Dawes, whose unfortunate tale was only discovered because a stranger overheard a presumably confidential conversation.
Speaker #1
September gets cold and rainy in Elder Hollow, and the best source for some warmth is a shot of whiskey at the Rusty Bell, an old-timer's bar at the edge of town, flickering neon sign, creaking floorboards, and a jukebox loaded with classics from the 50s, and a man nursing his second glass of whiskey. But not his first shot of guilt.
Speaker #2
Another round, Milo?
Speaker #3
Yeah, sure, May. One more.
Speaker #0
Cold night for September. Evening, May. Whiskey neat when you get a sec, please.
Speaker #2
Sure thing, Eli. Don't mind Milo here. He's been drowning his sorrows and telling tall tales tonight.
Speaker #0
We've all got our demons, I suppose. I'm aiming to drown a few of my own. I haven't seen you here before. You local? Off and on. Me and I go back a few years.
Speaker #2
Eli here's a detective in the city, Milo.
Speaker #0
Is that so? You ever hear something you wish you hadn't, Eli? More often than I'd care to admit. Why do you ask?
Speaker #2
Go on, Milo. Tell them what you've been telling me.
Speaker #3
I'll have another, May. I was out late walking my dog a few weeks back. Old girl has to go all the time now. Wakes me up in the middle of the night. I took her out to Briar Ravine, out past old man Wilson's gate. I heard two men talking in the trees by the side of the road. I'm pretty sure one said, You sure she won't be found? And the other said, Don't worry. No one will ever find her. I stopped dead in my tracks. They stopped talking. I saw them throw some stuff in the back of a pickup truck. Then I heard them drive off. Not sure if they saw me or not.
Speaker #0
Jeez, Milo. You've been sitting on that for a few weeks.
Speaker #3
I know, I know. I just, I didn't know who they were. And honestly, I'm not 100% sure that's what they said. Anyway, it's kind of eating at me now. You heard the reports of that missing woman.
Speaker #0
Okay, listen, Milo. Like May said, I work with the police department in town. Let's think this through. You didn't see them. Did you see their car?
Speaker #3
No, sir. It was dark. I did see them come up from behind Wilson's, though.
Speaker #0
Okay. Stay here a minute. I'm going to make a call.
Speaker #1
And this is how these stories begin. An overheard, suspicious conversation in the dark. One man's guilt becomes another man's lead. And out in the damp, cold September night is where the rest of the story unfolds. Early mornings in Elder Hollow bring a low-level fog with them that makes even the most pleasant scenes. Seen cold and eerie. Standing on the ridge of a silent wooded ravine that might be a crime scene was downright bone-chilling. And that's exactly where we find Detective Stark and the forensics crew.
Speaker #0
Okay, everyone. I appreciate the early start. Bishop here is running forensics today. Bishop?
Speaker #4
Morning, team. We'll grip the area west to east. Start top-down. K-9 unit? You can take the first slow pass along the ridge. Lag us if you pick anything up. You know the drill. Radio silence until or unless you see something.
Speaker #1
June Dawes had been missing for just over a month. A name filed on her routine disappearance. Someone's daughter, sister, friend. Vanished without a trace. Until one man's guilty conscience. cracked the silence. And if her body was down there with the moss and the mud, this team would find her. Because the truth, like the dead. has a way of surfacing.
Speaker #0
I really hate starting a day like this. Sorry to drag you out here so early. After the guy in the bar told me his story, I poked around and got a tip from an informant. It seems he knows a guy who was approached by someone looking for a saw to dispose of a body. And then, he reportedly purchased 11 bags of quick-free concrete.
Speaker #4
Yeah, an early start like this always unnerves me too, Eli. I hear you were in to see Mae the other night. You two still a thing?
Speaker #0
Not sure you'd call us a thing. I mean, we're something. Who knows? Dating a cop is no easy feat. What kind of setup are we running today?
Speaker #4
We've got two cadaver canines out there, ground-penetrating radar unit, the drone teams on standby for overhead grid capture and scanning. We're set up for recovery if we find anything. Hoist, dolly, grinder, concrete tools, the works.
Speaker #0
Good. Let's keep it tight. Last thing we need is contamination or surprises.
Speaker #1
This wasn't just a dig. This was a tactical orchestration. A masterclass in precision and calculation. The search for a missing person is never just about finding what's lost. It's the unearthing of choices someone made when they thought no one was watching.
Speaker #5
Dogs found something. North, east, south. We've got something down at Rush.
Speaker #1
The barrel may have only been partially buried, but whatever was inside was certainly never meant to be found.
Speaker #4
Down here, half-buried, 55-gallon barrel. Thermal shows density variation. Worse pool, solid mass, could be filled with concrete. Seems heavy, though.
Speaker #0
Lift it out whole. Keep it intact. Chain of custody starts now. Nobody breaks that deal. Not till seen. It's her eyes on.
Speaker #6
Detective Stark, I hear we found our victim because of a conversation you were having at that bar your friend owns. Me is it.
Speaker #0
Word sure does travel fast in this town.
Speaker #6
Small town, small bar, big ears.
Speaker #0
Sorry to dump this one on you, Sing.
Speaker #6
What did you bring me, Stark? Doesn't look like a typical specimen sample.
Speaker #1
Dr. Maya Singh didn't rattle easily. Twenty years in forensic pathology will do that to a person. What did rattle her was the anxiety in the air over what might be in that barrel.
Speaker #6
Okay, Stark. Let's see what we have here. Let's cut the outer wells first. Go slow on the lid. I don't want to disturb anything. And watch the grinder backwash. Let's give it away. One more pass should do it. Concrete's poured right to the top. No visual yet. Let's start chiseling the perimeter from the top. Small strikes. Don't disturb anything. And let's document it all.
Speaker #1
Concrete doesn't crack, it crumbles, slowly revealing fragments and sediment of a story trapped inside.
Speaker #0
Hmm, red and tan paper fragments, could be a quick-read bag.
Speaker #1
And the slow untrapping of this story is methodical and delicate. Every splinter, every fiber, every remnant, a new character. in the painful unfolding of this person's life.
Speaker #6
Here we go. Deep breath and mask on. Torso, lightly feeling. Discoloration matches moderate decomposition. Let's keep going. appears to be head down, flexed to the hips and knees. I'm stuck in a fetal position, but, oh boy.
Speaker #1
This wasn't what Sing was expecting to find today, or any other day for that matter. She had prepared herself for what she would likely see, but the whole picture wasn't quite whole yet. For three more hours, they delicately chipped, measured, recorded. Concrete dust floated like ash in a funeral pyre. What emerged wasn't just a body. It was a grim recounting of a tragic story. A story that was both at its end and its beginning.
Speaker #6
Okay, let's lift the torso. Head, feet still not present. Watch the margins, please. Let's get her documented. The limbs have been severed, so has the head. All cut clean. No tissue bridging, no hemorrhage. This was done post-mortem. We've got saw marks here, consistent with reciprocating saw, maybe? This wasn't done in haste. It seems organized. Man, hold on. There's something else here. Entry wound, upper torso, anterior chest wall, small calvin, circular. There's another left side posterior. Pass it through and through. Based on the wound path and extensive hemorrhage, this is ultimately what caused our victim's death. I've got something else over here. Right foot. Still in the sock. Hmm.
Speaker #0
Boy, this stuff really wears me down. Whoever did this wanted her gone. But gone in pieces. That takes time and nerve.
Speaker #1
A body, dismembered and sealed in concrete, isn't just hidden. It's censored, erased line by line. But here, among the fragments, the story still crept through.
Speaker #0
You ever get used to it?
Speaker #6
Bodies in concrete-filled barrels? Nope. It's not something I want to get used to.
Speaker #0
I guess not. What's your timeline like to analyze the markings? Maybe see if there's a bullet lodged in your body. If there's a tag on the Quikrete bag that might tell us something.
Speaker #6
I'll get some help in here today. Hey, there are some artifacts here that should help to move your investigation, folk. You going back to see me tonight?
Speaker #0
You're not going to let this go, are you?
Speaker #6
Not on your life.
Speaker #1
Forensic pathologists don't always get full stories, or living ones for that matter. Sometimes they get fragments, pieces of the person, pieces of their story. Their job isn't to ask why, but to answer how. To take the pieces they get and give them shape before they deliver their chapter of the story. To those who look for a resolution, their patients are still silent, but they still tell their stories. The forensic pathologist just listens differently. With their eyes, their training, with the evidence and the expert judgment that comes only with time and experience. To see the story threads through tissue and bone. And once they start to piece the story together.
Speaker #0
You've been listening to Case Encountered. This story is inspired by a true medical mystery solved through collaboration, curiosity, and a pathologist. Names and locations are fictitious. Until next time, stay curious. The voices you just heard are those real pathologists, the people who work long days... Longer weeks to solve medical mysteries, big and small. To learn more about the work pathologists do for patients, visit yourpathologist.org. For a full list of the pathologists featured in this episode, those who advised the creation of this story, please visit the show notes. Case Encounters is a production of the College of American Pathologists, Creative Support, Studio North. Produced and directed by Natalie Gregory. Sound design... Editing and original music by Jake Sorgen. Written by Paige Freeborn for Studio North.

Description

Cast:

Narrator / Sage Whitlock: Elizabeth V. McLeod, MD, MS, FCAP
Mae: Anne M. Deucher, MD, PhD, FCAP
Milo Renner: Earle S. Collum, MD, FCAP
Eli Stark: Robert Frick, MD, FCAP
Niko Bishop: Jennifer Dien Bard, PhD, D(ABMM)
K9 Handler: Ramya Narasimhan, MD, MBBS, MPH, FCAP
Dr. Maya Singh: Uma G. Krishnamurti, MD, PhD, FCAP
Voiceover Intro/Outro: Robert Frick, MD, FCAP
Technical advisors: Jason V. Scapa, MD, FCAP, and Bobbi S. Pritt, MD, MSc, FCAP, with contributions from Elizabeth V. McLeod, MD, MS, FCAP; Thomas J. Cooper Jr., MD, FCAP; Xiaoyin "Sara" Jiang, MD, FCAP; and Feifan Fred Chen, MD, FCAP

This episode of Case Encounters is inspired by a real-life pathology case submitted by Michelle Aurelius, MD, FCAP, member of The College of American Pathologists.

To learn more about the work a pathologist does on your lab test, visit yourpathologist.org.

Case Encounters is a production of The College of American Pathologists, with creative direction from StudioNorth.

Executive Producer: Robert Johnson

Creative direction by StudioNorth

Produced and directed by Natalie Gregory

Editing, sound design, and original music by Jake Sorgen

Written by Paige Freeborn for StudioNorth

Special thanks to Justin Charlton-Perrin and Clemmie Lozano

Additional production support from Nefsi Williams, Isabelle Ritz, and Anabella Torres

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
This is Case Encounters, a journey into the true medical mysteries solved by pathologists, like the story of June Dawes, whose unfortunate tale was only discovered because a stranger overheard a presumably confidential conversation.
Speaker #1
September gets cold and rainy in Elder Hollow, and the best source for some warmth is a shot of whiskey at the Rusty Bell, an old-timer's bar at the edge of town, flickering neon sign, creaking floorboards, and a jukebox loaded with classics from the 50s, and a man nursing his second glass of whiskey. But not his first shot of guilt.
Speaker #2
Another round, Milo?
Speaker #3
Yeah, sure, May. One more.
Speaker #0
Cold night for September. Evening, May. Whiskey neat when you get a sec, please.
Speaker #2
Sure thing, Eli. Don't mind Milo here. He's been drowning his sorrows and telling tall tales tonight.
Speaker #0
We've all got our demons, I suppose. I'm aiming to drown a few of my own. I haven't seen you here before. You local? Off and on. Me and I go back a few years.
Speaker #2
Eli here's a detective in the city, Milo.
Speaker #0
Is that so? You ever hear something you wish you hadn't, Eli? More often than I'd care to admit. Why do you ask?
Speaker #2
Go on, Milo. Tell them what you've been telling me.
Speaker #3
I'll have another, May. I was out late walking my dog a few weeks back. Old girl has to go all the time now. Wakes me up in the middle of the night. I took her out to Briar Ravine, out past old man Wilson's gate. I heard two men talking in the trees by the side of the road. I'm pretty sure one said, You sure she won't be found? And the other said, Don't worry. No one will ever find her. I stopped dead in my tracks. They stopped talking. I saw them throw some stuff in the back of a pickup truck. Then I heard them drive off. Not sure if they saw me or not.
Speaker #0
Jeez, Milo. You've been sitting on that for a few weeks.
Speaker #3
I know, I know. I just, I didn't know who they were. And honestly, I'm not 100% sure that's what they said. Anyway, it's kind of eating at me now. You heard the reports of that missing woman.
Speaker #0
Okay, listen, Milo. Like May said, I work with the police department in town. Let's think this through. You didn't see them. Did you see their car?
Speaker #3
No, sir. It was dark. I did see them come up from behind Wilson's, though.
Speaker #0
Okay. Stay here a minute. I'm going to make a call.
Speaker #1
And this is how these stories begin. An overheard, suspicious conversation in the dark. One man's guilt becomes another man's lead. And out in the damp, cold September night is where the rest of the story unfolds. Early mornings in Elder Hollow bring a low-level fog with them that makes even the most pleasant scenes. Seen cold and eerie. Standing on the ridge of a silent wooded ravine that might be a crime scene was downright bone-chilling. And that's exactly where we find Detective Stark and the forensics crew.
Speaker #0
Okay, everyone. I appreciate the early start. Bishop here is running forensics today. Bishop?
Speaker #4
Morning, team. We'll grip the area west to east. Start top-down. K-9 unit? You can take the first slow pass along the ridge. Lag us if you pick anything up. You know the drill. Radio silence until or unless you see something.
Speaker #1
June Dawes had been missing for just over a month. A name filed on her routine disappearance. Someone's daughter, sister, friend. Vanished without a trace. Until one man's guilty conscience. cracked the silence. And if her body was down there with the moss and the mud, this team would find her. Because the truth, like the dead. has a way of surfacing.
Speaker #0
I really hate starting a day like this. Sorry to drag you out here so early. After the guy in the bar told me his story, I poked around and got a tip from an informant. It seems he knows a guy who was approached by someone looking for a saw to dispose of a body. And then, he reportedly purchased 11 bags of quick-free concrete.
Speaker #4
Yeah, an early start like this always unnerves me too, Eli. I hear you were in to see Mae the other night. You two still a thing?
Speaker #0
Not sure you'd call us a thing. I mean, we're something. Who knows? Dating a cop is no easy feat. What kind of setup are we running today?
Speaker #4
We've got two cadaver canines out there, ground-penetrating radar unit, the drone teams on standby for overhead grid capture and scanning. We're set up for recovery if we find anything. Hoist, dolly, grinder, concrete tools, the works.
Speaker #0
Good. Let's keep it tight. Last thing we need is contamination or surprises.
Speaker #1
This wasn't just a dig. This was a tactical orchestration. A masterclass in precision and calculation. The search for a missing person is never just about finding what's lost. It's the unearthing of choices someone made when they thought no one was watching.
Speaker #5
Dogs found something. North, east, south. We've got something down at Rush.
Speaker #1
The barrel may have only been partially buried, but whatever was inside was certainly never meant to be found.
Speaker #4
Down here, half-buried, 55-gallon barrel. Thermal shows density variation. Worse pool, solid mass, could be filled with concrete. Seems heavy, though.
Speaker #0
Lift it out whole. Keep it intact. Chain of custody starts now. Nobody breaks that deal. Not till seen. It's her eyes on.
Speaker #6
Detective Stark, I hear we found our victim because of a conversation you were having at that bar your friend owns. Me is it.
Speaker #0
Word sure does travel fast in this town.
Speaker #6
Small town, small bar, big ears.
Speaker #0
Sorry to dump this one on you, Sing.
Speaker #6
What did you bring me, Stark? Doesn't look like a typical specimen sample.
Speaker #1
Dr. Maya Singh didn't rattle easily. Twenty years in forensic pathology will do that to a person. What did rattle her was the anxiety in the air over what might be in that barrel.
Speaker #6
Okay, Stark. Let's see what we have here. Let's cut the outer wells first. Go slow on the lid. I don't want to disturb anything. And watch the grinder backwash. Let's give it away. One more pass should do it. Concrete's poured right to the top. No visual yet. Let's start chiseling the perimeter from the top. Small strikes. Don't disturb anything. And let's document it all.
Speaker #1
Concrete doesn't crack, it crumbles, slowly revealing fragments and sediment of a story trapped inside.
Speaker #0
Hmm, red and tan paper fragments, could be a quick-read bag.
Speaker #1
And the slow untrapping of this story is methodical and delicate. Every splinter, every fiber, every remnant, a new character. in the painful unfolding of this person's life.
Speaker #6
Here we go. Deep breath and mask on. Torso, lightly feeling. Discoloration matches moderate decomposition. Let's keep going. appears to be head down, flexed to the hips and knees. I'm stuck in a fetal position, but, oh boy.
Speaker #1
This wasn't what Sing was expecting to find today, or any other day for that matter. She had prepared herself for what she would likely see, but the whole picture wasn't quite whole yet. For three more hours, they delicately chipped, measured, recorded. Concrete dust floated like ash in a funeral pyre. What emerged wasn't just a body. It was a grim recounting of a tragic story. A story that was both at its end and its beginning.
Speaker #6
Okay, let's lift the torso. Head, feet still not present. Watch the margins, please. Let's get her documented. The limbs have been severed, so has the head. All cut clean. No tissue bridging, no hemorrhage. This was done post-mortem. We've got saw marks here, consistent with reciprocating saw, maybe? This wasn't done in haste. It seems organized. Man, hold on. There's something else here. Entry wound, upper torso, anterior chest wall, small calvin, circular. There's another left side posterior. Pass it through and through. Based on the wound path and extensive hemorrhage, this is ultimately what caused our victim's death. I've got something else over here. Right foot. Still in the sock. Hmm.
Speaker #0
Boy, this stuff really wears me down. Whoever did this wanted her gone. But gone in pieces. That takes time and nerve.
Speaker #1
A body, dismembered and sealed in concrete, isn't just hidden. It's censored, erased line by line. But here, among the fragments, the story still crept through.
Speaker #0
You ever get used to it?
Speaker #6
Bodies in concrete-filled barrels? Nope. It's not something I want to get used to.
Speaker #0
I guess not. What's your timeline like to analyze the markings? Maybe see if there's a bullet lodged in your body. If there's a tag on the Quikrete bag that might tell us something.
Speaker #6
I'll get some help in here today. Hey, there are some artifacts here that should help to move your investigation, folk. You going back to see me tonight?
Speaker #0
You're not going to let this go, are you?
Speaker #6
Not on your life.
Speaker #1
Forensic pathologists don't always get full stories, or living ones for that matter. Sometimes they get fragments, pieces of the person, pieces of their story. Their job isn't to ask why, but to answer how. To take the pieces they get and give them shape before they deliver their chapter of the story. To those who look for a resolution, their patients are still silent, but they still tell their stories. The forensic pathologist just listens differently. With their eyes, their training, with the evidence and the expert judgment that comes only with time and experience. To see the story threads through tissue and bone. And once they start to piece the story together.
Speaker #0
You've been listening to Case Encountered. This story is inspired by a true medical mystery solved through collaboration, curiosity, and a pathologist. Names and locations are fictitious. Until next time, stay curious. The voices you just heard are those real pathologists, the people who work long days... Longer weeks to solve medical mysteries, big and small. To learn more about the work pathologists do for patients, visit yourpathologist.org. For a full list of the pathologists featured in this episode, those who advised the creation of this story, please visit the show notes. Case Encounters is a production of the College of American Pathologists, Creative Support, Studio North. Produced and directed by Natalie Gregory. Sound design... Editing and original music by Jake Sorgen. Written by Paige Freeborn for Studio North.

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