1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:11,479 Speaker 1: Hello, Hello, Oh Hello, Do you know who this is? Yes, Stevie, Yeah, 2 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:11,960 Speaker 1: you got me. 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 2: You have a pretty recognizable voice. 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: I have to say. 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 3: It has sort of like a pleasantly deep registered wow 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,240 Speaker 3: in a nice way, but it makes your voice very distinct. 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 4: It's funny you should say this because, Yeah, one time, 8 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 4: when I was like in middle school, my friend called 9 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 4: my house and I picked up the phone and I 10 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 4: was like, hello, and she thought it was my dad. 11 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 4: She was like, hi, Rob, is Stevie home? And I 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 4: just pretended that, in fact, I was my father, and 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 4: I was just like, uh yeah, let me get her. 14 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: You didn't want to contradict your friend. 15 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 4: I think I was just so embarrassed that I could 16 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 4: possibly be mistaken for an old man. 17 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 5: Well maybe with respect to your dad, he maybe he 18 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 5: kind of sounds like little girl. 19 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 3: Hello, Stevie Lane, stads speaking. 20 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 4: I'm Stevie Lane, and this is Heavyweight Today's episode forty 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 4: four photos. 22 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: Right after the break. 23 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 4: There are places, according to Celtic folklore, where the boundary 24 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 4: between our physical world and the spiritual world is porous, 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 4: where Earth and the otherworldly are separated. 26 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: By no more than a few inches. 27 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 4: At these places, strange unexplainable things can happen. These places 28 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 4: are called thin places, and this is a story about 29 00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 4: one of them. A few years ago, Jordan Kissner wrote 30 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 4: a book about thin places. She wanted to send it 31 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 4: to her friend Amy. 32 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 2: So it was April seventh, twenty twenty one, and I 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 2: went to the USPS that was a few blocks away 34 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 2: from my apartment at the time. 35 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 4: Jordan bought a brown padded envelope, put her book inside, 36 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 4: and handed it to the postal worker and that was that. 37 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 2: It was a really uneventful post office visit on a 38 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 2: pretty normal spring day in Vegas. 39 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 6: It was a sunny day in April, and I walked 40 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 6: to the mailbox. This is Jordan's friend Amy, which is 41 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,239 Speaker 6: a really exciting part of my day. I really like mail. 42 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 6: And I opened the mailbox with the little key and 43 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 6: there's something like stuffed into my box. 44 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 4: Something Amy had been expecting the package Jordan sent her. 45 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 6: It says, you know, to Amy from Jordan and the 46 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 6: addresses Las Vegas. 47 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 4: Amy brought the package back to her house and eagerly 48 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 4: tore it open. But inside Amy did not find Jordan's book. 49 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 4: She didn't find a book at all. Instead, she found 50 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 4: a stack of. 51 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 6: Photographs, and that's where the mystery begins. 52 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 4: Amy didn't recognize anyone in the photos. There was one 53 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 4: of a girl wearing a blue T shirt with clouds 54 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 4: printed on it, another of three teenagers in caps and gowns. 55 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 4: The people were of all different ages and races. Some 56 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 4: of the photos were in black and white, some in color. 57 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 4: One was a polaroid. Amy counted forty four photos in all, 58 00:03:51,680 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 4: forty four photos of complete and total strangers, And yet 59 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 4: the package was labeled to Amy, her name written in 60 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 4: ballpoint pen Jordan's return address was scrawled in the upper 61 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 4: left hand corner. Struggling to come up with an explanation, 62 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 4: Amy wondered. 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 6: Maybe Jordan sent these by accident. 64 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 4: So Amy texted Jordan, telling her she received her package, 65 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 4: but rather than a book, found forty four photographs inside. 66 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 2: And I was completely confused. 67 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:32,720 Speaker 1: I just couldn't. 68 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 2: I actually felt like I couldn't totally comprehend the message 69 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 2: she was sending me. 70 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: So Jordan texted Amy back. 71 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 6: Wait, Comma, what with two question marks? 72 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 5: Two? 73 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 3: Yeah? Two? 74 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 6: And then photos question mark. 75 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 4: Amy sent Jordan a picture of the package and all 76 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 4: forty four photographs spread out on her kitchen counter. 77 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 6: And she said, what in all caps? I have no 78 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 6: idea what those photos are. I don't even I know 79 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 6: those people, but that's my handwriting on the package. 80 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 4: It was hard to know what to make of the 81 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 4: whole thing. It's like Amy expected a book about thin 82 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 4: places but got an actual thin place experience instead. Amy 83 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 4: can't bring herself to just throw the photos away, so 84 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 4: for an entire year now she's kept them by her desk, 85 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,039 Speaker 4: and for an entire year she's been studying them. There's 86 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 4: the one of a new baby sucking on someone's finger. 87 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 4: There's a little girl in glasses and a cheerleader's outfit, 88 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 4: holding her leg up and smiling confidently into the camera. 89 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 4: The more Amy looks at the photos, the more she 90 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 4: thinks about the family that's missing them. These people in 91 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 4: the photos are nobody's to Amy, but they are somebody's 92 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 4: to somebody. 93 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 6: Is there a way to find any of these people? 94 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 3: Like? 95 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 6: Who are they? Do they want their photographs back? Because 96 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 6: I would like the photographs to be returned to the family. 97 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 6: I feel like people should have their things. 98 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 4: A year ago, when Amy first received the package, she 99 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 4: and Jordan tried opening a case file on the mysterious 100 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 4: photos hoping the USPS could shed light on where they 101 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 4: came from, but nothing ever came of it. 102 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 2: The mail system, we feel like we understand it, but 103 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 2: then when you really think about it, it is this 104 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 2: complete mystery. It's like a void into which we send 105 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 2: stuff and from which that stuff emerges again. But then 106 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 2: when it doesn't emerge, you're like, wait a second, but 107 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 2: what is where is it going? 108 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: What is this system? What don't we know about it? 109 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 4: There's a lot that I don't know about it, but 110 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 4: Amy and Jordan want my help figuring out how Amy 111 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 4: ended up with the photographs and how to return to sender. 112 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 4: To get to the bottom of it, I'll have to 113 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 4: navigate a mysterious, little understood world that exists alongside our own, 114 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 4: a world separated only by an inches wide slot in 115 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 4: a metal box. And so I step over the boundary 116 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 4: into the world of the United States Postal Service. 117 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: I start with a. 118 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 4: Theory that Jordan, Amy and I discussed on the phone. 119 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 4: Jordan had sent Amy the book via media mail, a 120 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 4: discounted rate for sending things like books and CDs. From 121 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 4: what I read online, it sounds like the Post Office 122 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 4: searches media mail packages to prevent people from sending anything 123 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 4: they want on the cheap and in fact, Amy noticed 124 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 4: that the package had been taped up as though it 125 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 4: had been resealed en route. Maybe Jordan's package and the 126 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 4: package with the photos were both searched and then accidentally swapped. 127 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 4: To test this theory, I call the Postal Inspection Service. 128 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 4: It turns out out the post Office as a whole 129 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 4: department of inspectors. 130 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: Are you sort of like the James Bond of the 131 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: mail service? 132 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 5: Actually, it's funny you mentioned that my badge number was 133 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 5: double O seven. 134 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 4: No really, really, his name is me Halco, Dan Mihalko. 135 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 4: He's a US Postal inspector. And what does he inspect? 136 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 5: Postal crimes? Theft of mail, mail fraud, prohibited items in 137 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 5: the mail such as bombs, narcotics, anthrax, attacks, pornography. 138 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: I put my theory to Dan. 139 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 4: Might the Postal Inspection Service have opened and examined Jordan's package? 140 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 5: No, No, we don't do anything like that. The only 141 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 5: time would ever inspect mail is if we had a 142 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 5: search warrant so that we can't just open up mail. Huh, 143 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:58,719 Speaker 5: nobody in a postal service has that. 144 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 4: Authority, Dan says, USPS investigators don't inspect packages without probable cause. 145 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 5: Here's what it sounds like may have happened. 146 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 4: So Dan guesses that somewhere along the way, Jordan's package 147 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 4: got damaged and the. 148 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: Book fell out. 149 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 4: Another package carrying the bundle of photos could have also 150 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 4: broken open. A postal worker might have seen the loose 151 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 4: bundle of photos, thought they belonged to Jordan's envelope, and 152 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 4: accidentally switched the packaging. And here's where that switch might 153 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 4: have occurred. 154 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 5: It used to be commonly referred to as a dead 155 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 5: letter office, but now it's I think it's Mail Recovery Center. 156 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 4: The Mail Recovery Center, or MRC, is located in Atlanta, Georgia. 157 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 4: It's where all undeliverable mail winds up. Some of the 158 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 4: stuff they receive is truly strange. An alligator skull still 159 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 4: covered in flesh cremation boxes Tom Nissalke's nineteen seventy one 160 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 4: NBA championship, which had been stolen from him twelve years before, 161 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 4: showing up at the MRC. I don't know who Tom 162 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 4: Desalk is, but listeners might. The MRC is also one 163 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 4: of the few places where postal workers are actually allowed 164 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 4: to open mail to help them look for clues as 165 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 4: to where the items or letters belong. Dan says that 166 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 4: it's the job in part of the MRC employees to 167 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 4: make their best guess about what belongs with what and 168 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 4: send it on its way. 169 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 5: They have to try to put pieces together. You know, 170 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 5: they're kind of sluice in their own way. 171 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 4: In their own way, don't condescend to the MRC agent Mihalko. 172 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: If Dan is right, the. 173 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 4: Original package, the photos came in with the original address 174 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 4: might still be sitting somewhere at the MRC. So I 175 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 4: phone up the person in charge. 176 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 5: To ask, this is a manager. 177 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 4: Lionel snow, Oh high, Lionel, my name is Stevie Lane 178 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 4: and I'm a radio journalist. Do you have a moment 179 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 4: so I can tell you why I'm calling? 180 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 3: Uh? 181 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 7: Not really, I mean I don't have a lot of 182 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 7: conversation time to falup with customers. 183 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 4: Nevertheless, I tell him about the mix up. 184 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 7: Anything could have happened, Anything could have happened. 185 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 8: I mean, I can tell you. 186 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 4: Lionel tells me that, contrary to Dan Mihalko's theory, Jordan's 187 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 4: package likely never made it to the MRC. If it had, 188 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 4: it would probably have a special stamp on it, which 189 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 4: Jordan's package doesn't. I ask if he has any other guesses, 190 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 4: but he just keeps sweeping out his favorite phrase. 191 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 6: Anything could have happened, Anything could have happened. I can 192 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 6: make an educated guess or or not. 193 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: When I press, the answer is or not. 194 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 7: Anything could have happened. 195 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 4: Jordan had likened the mail system to avoid into which 196 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 4: we send stuff and from which that stuff emerges. But 197 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 4: it appears it's also a void into which I send 198 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 4: my questions and from which nothing emerges. Over a number 199 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 4: of weeks, I reach out to more people at the USPS, 200 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 4: in the Communications Department, the Historian's office, even the Postal Museum. 201 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 3: It is a mystery. 202 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:20,439 Speaker 5: I can't really guess. 203 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 9: You have one hundred and sixty million addresses in the US. 204 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 6: It could have come from any one of them. 205 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:27,839 Speaker 1: Nobody is able to help. 206 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 4: I've hit a dead end with the post Office, so 207 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 4: I turn to the only other information that I have, 208 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 4: the photos themselves. Is there a way to identify the 209 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 4: people in these photographs? There's a photo of someone's pet cat, 210 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 4: but it doesn't have a collar. 211 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: With a tag. 212 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 4: There's a graduation, but it doesn't show the name of 213 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 4: the school. There's one photo of a man sitting in 214 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,080 Speaker 4: a restaurant pulling up a signed headshot of what looks 215 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 4: like a younger version of himself. The headshot is signed 216 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 4: doctor Pedro something MD, but after hours of photoshop sharpening, 217 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 4: I still can't read what that something is. For every photo, 218 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 4: I'm just one small piece of information away from cracking 219 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 4: the case. Every photo except for one. The photo is 220 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 4: the oldest in the bunch, a creased and faded polaroid. 221 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 4: In it, a man crouches in the grass supporting a 222 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 4: baby in plaid overalls, barely old enough to walk. The 223 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 4: baby is looking down at a dog rolling over on 224 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 4: its back playfully while the man pets its stomach. No 225 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 4: one is aware of the camera. It seems to be 226 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 4: capturing a private moment. And when you flip the photo 227 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 4: over there's something written on the back Dalln Kelly and Queenye. 228 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 4: It says, in all caps at grandparents Coxes Kelly nine 229 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 4: and a half months Dallen Kelly and Queenee grandparents Coxes. 230 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 4: After googling around, I find a number for a Dallon 231 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 4: Cox in California. 232 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 1: Hello, Hi, is this Jalon I'd called a few days 233 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: before and left a message. 234 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 9: I'm just really curious what this is all about. Honestly, 235 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 9: I have no idea how to be involved in anything 236 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 9: that you would be looking into. 237 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 4: So I explain about the package of photos Amy received, 238 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 4: about one in particular of a man with a child 239 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 4: and a dog with a inscription on the back, and 240 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 4: it says Dallan, Kelly and queenye At grandparents Coxes Kelly 241 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 4: nine and a half months. 242 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 3: Definitely, that's crazy. 243 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 6: Yeah, that's crazy. 244 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 5: That would be my dad. 245 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 9: Yeah, huh, yeah, it sounds like it might be of 246 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 9: my dad and my sister Kelly. 247 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: Dallan's dad is Dalan Senior. 248 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 4: Dallan suggests I give him a call to see if 249 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 4: the photo belongs to him. 250 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 5: Hello. 251 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 4: I tell Dalan Senior all about the photo of him 252 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 4: and his daughter Kelly. Then I texted over to him, 253 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 4: all right, here it comes. 254 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm a beet daughter. Wow. 255 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 8: That would have been from nineteen sixty seven, probably sixty eight. 256 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 7: She'd have been about nine months old, I would say 257 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 7: at that time obviously is standing up a little bit, 258 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 7: but she walked at early age like that, So yeah, 259 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 7: that's really something. 260 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 8: No, I don't have that picture in my collection. In fact, 261 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 8: I don't recall ever having seen it before. Kelly was 262 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 8: born in sixty seven, in June of sixty seven, and 263 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 8: she actually she passed away in March of last year. 264 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 4: Kelly died on March thirtieth, twenty twenty one. The package 265 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 4: with Kelly's photo was postmarked April seventh, twenty twenty one, 266 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 4: just one week after she died, so. 267 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 8: That just makes it really strange. 268 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 4: Kelly died unexpectedly of heart failure at the age of 269 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 4: fifty three. 270 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: It was a shock to her family. 271 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 5: Everybody loved her laugh. 272 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 9: When she laughed, it was just really unique, an enthusiastic laugh, 273 00:16:53,120 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 9: you know. I remember taking her with me to like 274 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 9: one weekend and she learned the water ski and she 275 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 9: was having a ball. My dad used to take Kelly 276 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 9: at that age, when she was about a year old, 277 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 9: down to the lake and they would feed the ducks. 278 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 9: He'd take breadcrumbs and they'd throw them to the ducks, 279 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:21,919 Speaker 9: and she got so excited to do that. 280 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:23,160 Speaker 3: That was her favorite thing to do. 281 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 4: Dyllan Senior doesn't recognize the handwriting on the back of 282 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,720 Speaker 4: the photograph, but he wonders if it belongs to Kelly's mother, 283 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 4: his ex wife, Betty. Betty had been sick and unable 284 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 4: to make it to Kelly's funeral. Maybe she put it 285 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,120 Speaker 4: in the mail, hoping it would arrive for the service. 286 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 4: When I phoned Betty, she doesn't remember the photo, but 287 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 4: she tells me that she did indeed mail a package 288 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 4: of photos to her granddaughter, Devin. Devin is Kelly's daughter. 289 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 3: This is Devin. 290 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: So I called. 291 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 4: Devan to see if I ended up with the photos 292 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 4: that her grandma tried to send her. 293 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 3: No, I did get a package of photos from my grandmother. 294 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: Huh. 295 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 4: Devin got the photos from Betty in a package that 296 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 4: was firmly sealed, and the photo of Kelly and Dallen 297 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 4: that one wasn't in there. Devin says she's never seen 298 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 4: it before. As for the rest of the photographs Amy received. 299 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 3: I don't recognize any of the people, none of them. 300 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 1: Huh. 301 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 3: No. 302 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 4: Dallan Junior, Dalan Senior, and Betty all said the same 303 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,199 Speaker 4: thing when I sent them the photos. Somehow, then it 304 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 4: seems this photograph, along its journey through the mail, wound 305 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 4: up with forty three other images of other random families. 306 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 4: Devin can't tell me anything about those other families, but 307 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 4: she does tell me about her own. Her mom, Kelly, 308 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,439 Speaker 4: got pregnant with her when she was in college. Kelly 309 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 4: wasn't prepared to take care of a child, and soon 310 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 4: after Devan was born, Dallan Senior, Devin's grandfather, took Devon 311 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 4: in and raised her as his daughter. 312 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 3: I know that my mom had mental health issues, and 313 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 3: it took over my mom's life in many ways. There 314 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 3: were many instances in my mom's life where she didn't 315 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,959 Speaker 3: have the power to take care of me. And there 316 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,199 Speaker 3: were many years that passed by and I had nothing 317 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 3: to do with my mom, Like I didn't know where 318 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 3: she was. I didn't hear from her. I was unsure 319 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 3: if she was even alive. So I've had a hard 320 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 3: time growing up believing that my mom loved me. 321 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 4: But Devin tells me in the last seven or eight 322 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 4: years before her mom's death, that changed. Devin was in 323 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 4: her mid twenties, and without explanation, seemingly overnight, Kelly started 324 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,440 Speaker 4: reaching out more. She would come over to help Devin 325 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,160 Speaker 4: with projects around the house, like painting cabinets. The two 326 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 4: of them spent hours sitting together on the couch, playing Zelda, and. 327 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 3: I felt like I had my mom. I finally had 328 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 3: my mom. I was an adult, but at least I 329 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 3: had my mom. Two weeks before she passed, my mom 330 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 3: just out of the blue said do you want to 331 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 3: go out and go do something together? And I was like, 332 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 3: I don't know where do you want to go? And 333 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 3: she's like, what about that place that has mini golf 334 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 3: and go carts? And I was like, okay, then let's go. 335 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 3: And I hang on to that moment. Somehow, I feel 336 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 3: like she knew that she wasn't going to be around 337 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 3: for very long, and she was trying to spend more 338 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 3: time with me and trying to do things with me. 339 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 4: As for the photograph and the strange circumstances of its appearance, 340 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 4: I don't. 341 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 3: Feel like it's weird. I just think that it fits 342 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,480 Speaker 3: my mom's personality to do something like that. 343 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,199 Speaker 1: How do you mean it fits her personality to do 344 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: something like. 345 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 3: She believed that there's something beyond death. And I've never 346 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 3: believed in ghosts or anything or anything after you passed, 347 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 3: but if there is something there, my mom would definitely 348 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 3: do something like this. 349 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: See you think that this is almost like a missive 350 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:58,160 Speaker 1: from your mom. 351 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's possible, and I feel like this 352 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 3: is her trying to say I'm still here. 353 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 4: In Jordan's book, she writes that in thin places quote 354 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,880 Speaker 4: invisible things like music or love or dead people might 355 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 4: become visible, or if they don't become visible, they become 356 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 4: so present and tangible that it doesn't matter. 357 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: Like Devon, I'm not. 358 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 4: One to believe in ghosts, Yet after talking with everyone, 359 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 4: I still don't know where the photo of Kelly came from. 360 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 4: No one in Kelly's family can account for it, so 361 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,880 Speaker 4: after months of searching, the origins of this photo are 362 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 4: still a mystery. But in what I see as a 363 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 4: series of unexplainable events that began with Jordan sending a 364 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 4: book and ended up here, Devin sees her mother, and 365 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 4: it's precisely the unlikeliness of the that she points to 366 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 4: as proof. 367 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 3: I just think, if you look at all of the 368 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:10,520 Speaker 3: little pieces of how this happened, not just anybody would 369 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 3: have reached out and tried to find the owner of 370 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 3: a photo, I think it would have been tossed in 371 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 3: the trash or pushed aside. 372 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 5: I feel like. 373 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 3: It's like a treasure. 374 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: From my mom. 375 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 3: That's how I feel huh, like my mom placed it 376 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 3: there on purpose and got it into the right hands 377 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 3: that would reach out to me. 378 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 4: I'd been thinking of this as a story about male 379 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 4: going to the wrong place, but listening to Devn, I 380 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 4: wonder if it's actually a story about it going to 381 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 4: the right one to Amy. And yet because the photo 382 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 4: wound up in Amy's hands, Devin didn't get it for 383 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 4: an entire year after Kelly's death. If Kelly wanted Devin 384 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 4: to have the photo, why deliver it a year late? 385 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: Why? 386 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 5: Now? 387 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,199 Speaker 3: There have been times where I've really needed somebody to 388 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 3: be in my house with me, and out of everybody 389 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 3: in my family and out of all of my friends, 390 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 3: my mom would drop anything to come and support me. 391 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 3: And when she passed, I didn't have that safety net anymore. 392 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 10: I had trouble at my job and I had to 393 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 10: take extra time off. But if she's still here, that 394 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 10: makes a difference. 395 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:47,400 Speaker 3: It's not easy losing a mom, so having this feeling 396 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 3: that she's still here and she's still with me is 397 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 3: is amazing. 398 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 4: Right after a loss, there are a lot of people 399 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 4: to lean on, but as time passes and people return 400 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,199 Speaker 4: to their lives, you begin to feel that loss in 401 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 4: a new way. Houses get cleaned out, clothes get donated, 402 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 4: and all evidence of the person fades away with the photo. 403 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 4: Though Kelly has come back to Devon a year late, 404 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 4: but perhaps right on time. Devin's grandfather, Dallan Senior, is 405 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 4: turning seventy five soon. Devon told me that they're throwing 406 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,680 Speaker 4: him a big party. She's been working on his birthday 407 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 4: present for months, a new family photo album, and along 408 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 4: with all the photographs she's collected, she wants to include 409 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 4: this one safe among the other smiling faces of Kelly's 410 00:25:52,080 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 4: family members, where surely it won't be lost again. Now 411 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 4: that the. 412 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 5: Fern atures rip turned into its good will. 413 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:53,359 Speaker 3: Home, now that the last month's rant is skiming with 414 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:58,199 Speaker 3: the damage to post, take this moment to dessert. 415 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 1: If we mentioned if we trash Feld for. 416 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 6: Things as dan Lee. 417 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 3: Zero. 418 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,479 Speaker 4: This episode of Heavyweight was produced by me Stevie Lane, 419 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 4: along with Jonathan Goldstein, Phoebe Flanagan, and Mohemi mcgouger. Our 420 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 4: Senior producer is Khaleila Holt. Special thanks to Alex Bloomberg, 421 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 4: mime O'Donnell, Laurence Silverman, Maureene Taylor, Estelle Ivory and all 422 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:35,880 Speaker 4: The Incredibly Patient People over at the USPS editorial guidance 423 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,959 Speaker 4: from Emily Condon. Bobby Lord mixed the episode with original 424 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,360 Speaker 4: music by Christine Fellows, John K. Sampson, Blue Dot Sessions, 425 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 4: John Jacoby, and Bobby Lord. Additional music credits can be 426 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 4: found on our website gimlimedia dot com slash Heavyweight. Our 427 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 4: theme song is by The Weaker Thens, courtesy of Epitaph Records. 428 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: Amy has just written a new. 429 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 4: Book, Artificial, a graphic memoir about her father's efforts to 430 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 4: preserve her late grandfather's life identity using AI technology. You 431 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,639 Speaker 4: can find it at your local bookstore. Heavyweight is a 432 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,679 Speaker 4: Spotify original podcast. Follow us on Twitter at Heavyweight, on 433 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 4: Instagram at Heavyweight podcast, or email us at Heavyweight at 434 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 4: gimlipmedia dot com. You can follow our show on Spotify 435 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,480 Speaker 4: and tap the bell to receive notifications when new episodes. 436 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,360 Speaker 1: Drop, and one will drop next week. 437 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 5: Hello Stevie's dad speaking. 438 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,600 Speaker 3: Oh that was nice, okay, great Estelle, Thank you so much. 439 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 3: What is your school about anyway,