Black Springs. Darkness Lives Here. Welcome to the new horror podcast on Underdog. At first glance, Black Springs, looks like any other suburban town in Florida. Built on a swamp with a checkered past, it's the city most people would pass by without another thought. But if you live in Black Springs, you know it's different. Subscribe Here: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7N0UzFRqavJ7P9eH6ojBpa Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-springs/id1701897891 Hi everyone, I am Sean Ryan, bringing a new podcast to the underdog podcast network. My co-creator, Eric Zimmerman, and I are very excited to present the town of Black Springs, based on the swampy Floridian town we grew up in. Our mothers begged us not to play in the woods. They told us to stay away from strangers. Stories of haunted woods, disappearances, murders, and sometimes worse were common for us growing, just as their common in Black Springs. In this anthology series, Erik and I have crafted horror fiction all with a true sense of our home and its heart. Coming in early September and rolling through the Halloween season, Black Springs will dive into psychological thrillers, tales of serial killers, demons, beasts, and more. It's a true celebration of horror in a unique show format designed to immerse our listeners.

One of the suspects in Heidi Allen's 1994 kidnapping was arrested after attacking his long time ex-girlfriend. Roger Breckenridge has a history of violence towards women, and is now facing menacing, harassment, Criminal trespass, attempted criminal mischief, and unlawful imprisonment charges. According to charging documents Breckenridge's victim thought he was going to kill her, and had attempted to kill her in the past. To show your support check out our new merchandise: https://peebles-for-the-people.myshopify.com/collections/all Right now my listeners can give Gemmist a try and get 20 percent off their shampoo and conditioner! Just visit Gemmist.com to get your personalized recommendation and enter "Peebles" at checkout for 20% off and free 2-day shipping. That is gemmist.com and enter code "Peebles" at checkout to get the best hair of your life!

I was sitting at the dinner table with my family when my phone buzzed. It was a text message with a picture of a facebook post by Heidi Allen's sister, Lisa Buske. I saw my name in the first line, I immediately thought she must not have been happy about the voicemail I left her. After reading the post thoroughly, that wasn't the case. The post generated a slew of derogatory comments towards me. To show your support check out our new merchandise: https://peebles-for-the-people.myshopify.com/collections/all Right now my listeners can give Gemmist a try and get 20 percent off their shampoo and conditioner! Just visit Gemmist.com to get your personalized recommendation and enter "Peebles" at checkout for 20% off and free 2-day shipping. That is gemmist.com and enter code "Peebles" at checkout to get the best hair of your life!

In this special episode of Peebles for the People I take you behind the scenes to give you a look at the story telling process. In this episode you'll hear never before heard audio of phone calls I made to help better tell Heidi's story. I have to say, I never could have imagined how these calls turned out. I heard baseless accusations, lies, and was confronted with contention in many of these calls. To support this podcast, after you subscribe, head over to our online merchandise store to check our new gear. https://peebles-for-the-people.myshopify.com/collections/all Right now my listeners can give Gemmist a try and get 20 percent off their shampoo and conditioner! Just visit Gemmist.com to get your personalized recommendation and enter "Peebles" at checkout for 20% off and free 2-day shipping. That is gemmist.com and enter code "Peebles" at checkout to get the best hair of your life!

This is the final episode of the first season of Peebles for the People. Gary Thibodeau's case was heard by the New York State Court of Appeals. His fight for innocence came to an end in August of 2018. Towards the end of the more than 20 years he spent in prison Gary wrote letters to his defense attorney Lisa Peebles, everyone was signed: "Gary the innocent." His letters were insightful and witty. Even after the case concluded, District Attorney Greg Oakes lied to the public. You are not going to want to miss the heart wrenching conclusion of Heidi Allen's kidnapping.

Gary Thibodeau's defense team fought tooth and nail to get his 1995 conviction overturned. Lisa Peebles dredged up details of Michael Bohrer's horrific criminal history, yet prosecutors and Judge King saw no significance in Bohrer kidnapping another woman between the ages of 18 and 21. During Bohrer's testimony he talked about chilling details that no one could ignore. Bohrer admitted he found out Heidi's identity as a confidential informant had been exposed the day her C.I. index card was recovered in the parking on the D&W, which was in 1991. That gave Bohrer a clear motive to commit this heinous crime. But in King's decision he refused to concede Heidi was a C.I.

As more information about Heidi Allen's kidnapping came to the surface, a plausible theory about what happened to her started to develop. Could it have been the Thibodeau brothers who kidnapped and killed Heidi for no reason? Or was Heidi targeted by a group of drug dealers, after her identity had been exposed? In 2015, during the evidentiary hearing to determine if Gary Thibodeau should get a new trial, what happened to Heidi became a bit more clear. But the Oswego County DA, seemed dead set on keeping Thibodeau behind bars, no matter what his defense team would dig up.

In this episode of Peebles for the People: Michael Bohrer was the last of the three new suspects to testify at the evidentiary hearing. During his testimony, Bohrer had an emotional breakdown after being asked about Heidi Allen. Gary Thibodeau's defense team believed they had him on the verge of a confession, but Judge King stopped Bohrer's testimony and allowed him to take a break. King went on to rebuke defense attorney Lisa Peebles for asking accusatory questions, and labeled Bohrer as merely a gentleman with a concern. But the revelations about Bohrer's violent past toward women couldn't be ignored, even prosecutor Greg Oakes said that put a pit in his stomach. This episode also includes: never before heard audio of Bohrer talking with his friends about Heidi, and a conversation between Bohrer and I.

Oswego County District Attorney, Greg Oakes, withheld evidence from Gary Thibodeau's defense team until the eve of the hearing. Oakes admits he should have turned evidence over sooner. His reason for the late disclosure of Brady material was he did not want that information to be leaked to the public, and that is NOT a valid reason under the law. While the DA turned over thousands of pages of evidence at the last minute, there is still evidence that is missing to this day. This hearing was a chance for the truth to come out, with three new suspects who testified under oath.

In January of 2015, Gary Thibodeau and his defense team were ready to fight for the truth in a hearing to determine whether or not his 1995 conviction should be overturned. But even before the hearing began it was clear that the deck was stacked against Thibodeau. Less than 72 hours before the start of the hearing the district attorney, Greg Oakes, dumped a massive amount of material on Thibodeau's lawyers. Among the critical information in that massive dump of material, were recordings of a witness confessing to Oakes and police, that someone other than Gary Thibodeau was involved in Heidi's kidnapping.

Though police denied it for years, it turned out that Heidi Allen was in fact a confidential drug informant. Then the sheriff's office claimed that even though she was signed up as an undercover agent, she was never provided them with any information. But according to people close to Heidi, that was also false. What is even more concerning is the fact that the Oswego County Sheriff's accidentally exposed her identity as a drug informant when she was just a teenager. Could this be why Heidi was taken?

Tonya Priest came forward and told police that James Steen confessed to her that he and others killed Heidi, and dismembered her body at a cabin in the woods. Police concluded their investigation by saying that Priest was not credible and that there was no cabin in the woods. But Gary Thibodeau's defense team and a reporter had already found a cabin in the woods that seemed to corroborate what Priest said. During an excavation of the site, three cadaver dogs picked up the scent of human remains right outside the cabin.

Two people now told sheriff's investigators that James "Thumper" Steen bragged about disposing of Heidi Allen's body at a cabin in the woods. In 2010 Steen executed his estranged wife and boyfriend with a shotgun in Pulaski, New York. This horrific crime ended in a seven hour standoff with police, during which Steen received a text message from a friend that read: "Heidi?" Despite this unconscionable crime the Oswego County Sheriff, Mo Todd, would later describe Steen as a good guy. A jury convicted Steen and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Nearly 20 years after the kidnapping, a witness said she knew where Heidi was taken after disappearing from the D&W Convenience store. This was the first time anyone has ever said publicly they knew where Heidi was taken after being abducted. The witness was on the phone on what she thought was a private conversation with a friend, but what she didn't know was the police were listening in. After admitting she knew where Heidi was taken on Easter morning police questioned her, and caught her in a big lie but let her go stating they were looking to squash the whole thing.

Gary Thibodeau was convicted of kidnapping Heidi Allen and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. As Thibodeau sat behind bars and days turned into months, and months turned into years, rumblings, around the small New Haven community in Oswego County, New York, about what happened to Heidi began to raise more questions. There was someone openly walking the streets of Oswego who was named a suspect, had a violent history against women, had a motive, and said he knew what happened to Heidi. But that man's name was not Gary or Richard Thibodeau.

A verdict that Gary Thibodeau's defense team said it could see coming, but a recantation by a key witness raised more questions about the integrity of the investigation. According to multiple statements from a teenage witness, she was pressured by prosecutors to omit certain things that would help Thibodeau's defense team. On the day of Gary Thibodeau's sentencing hearing, information about Heidi Allen keeping detailed diaries was leaked to the defense. Diaries that were said to have no mention of the Thibodeau brothers and were never disclosed to the defense team of Gary Thibodeau. After Gary was convicted his brother Richard would face a jury, but Richard's trial went much differently than his brother's.

As Gary Thibodeau awaited trial for the kidnapping and presumed murder of Heidi Allen, rumors about what really happened to Heidi began to surface. In February of 1995 the FBI questioned a man who ran up and down Green Road, in Mexico, New York, yelling he had information about Heidi's kidnapping. That man told the FBI that Heidi was wrapped up in drugs, and she was abducted and murdered to prevent her from disclosing information about a drug ring in Oswego County. Bt police and prosecutor Donald Dodd already said Heidi was never used as a drug informant, and there was no evidence that the Thibodeau's were ever involved in selling drugs. Even though two men were charged with Heidi's kidnapping there were still many unanswered questions, and as time went on it more even more questions began popping up.

As Gary Thibodeau awaited his trial prosecutors tried to disprove his alibi, and even though police were getting no closer to finding Heidi it seemed like the only thing that mattered was that someone be punished for her kidnapping. There was still nothing linking Gary Thibodeau to Heidi's kidnapping besides the statements of two jailhouse informants whose stories did not make sense. Time kept ticking by and police could provide no answers as to what happened to the 18-year-old store clerk, and as all eyes were on the Thibodeau's a man was stopped by police after saying he knew what really happened to Heidi Allen.

On April 3rd 1994, in the small upstate NY town of New Haven. An 18-year-old girl by the name of Heidi Allen was kidnapped from the convenience store she worked at. It's been over 25 years since Allen's disappearance and there is still no trace of her. Two brothers were charged with her kidnapping but two separate trials yielded two different outcomes. More than 25 years later police are no closer to finding out where Heidi is or what happened to her. One man was convicted for Heidi's kidnapping and presumed murder but his conviction was based on a coerced testimony, no physical or forensic evidence, and no eyewitnesses connecting him to the crime. What happened to Heidi Allen, and why were police and prosecutors so sure that they had the right guy?

A look at the upcoming true crime podcast Peebles for the People.