What does the cryptic Only Joggers Find Bodies mean?
News headlines often read, "JOGGER FINDS BODY" and it has become kind of an inside joke in the true crime and running community. Many of us can claim we are runners not joggers because we have never found a body. The news hasn't caught on that most runners don't like to be called joggers. It brings ups images of 1970's runners in short shorts and knee-high socks that jog for 30 minutes for health. Not us runners that deck out in the most recent high-tech gear and tracking our times obsessively to reach that next PR.
The news headline is where my two interests intersect. I am a runner who is intrigued by true crime.
I can't pinpoint a specific time when my true crime interest started. It's always just been there. I remember in sixth grade we had to write a report on an interesting, famous person. I picked Al Capone and dug into my research. I was fascinated with gangsters, prohibition, and flappers. I turned in my rough draft and when I got it back it only said, see me. I didn't understand. I thought my draft was pretty good! I'd always done really well on writing assignments. After class, I approached my teacher and was told that my choice was inappropriate and I needed to choose someone "good". Needless to say, I ended up writing about some astronaut and was not nearly as excited about it as I was Al Capone.
It wasn't too long after this that I discovered Truman Capote's, In Cold Blood. I'm not sure it's necessarily appropriate for most middle schoolers but I devoured it and followed it up with Helter Skelter which I had to read because I loved the Beatles. I had to know why Charles Manson used the white album (my personal fav) as the reason for his reign of terror.
Besides school reports and true crime novels I also had a love affair with Unsolved Mysteries. I remember watching with the lights out in my bedroom and the volume down low so no one would know what I was watching. I remember some episodes scared the shit out of me and I had to watch something funny after in order to go to sleep. I don't know if my parents knew I was watching this show in middle school. If they did, they never said I couldn't watch it. Although I do have to say my favorite episode of all time was about spontaneous human combustion, not crime, and I can still see the pictures in my head.
I don't know if reading Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys in elementary school was a catalyst. I don't know if Scooby-Doo instilled a love of mystery in me at a young age. Maybe it was a combination of everything that created a fascination with all things true crime. There are two cases from my hometown that have stuck with me since I was a small child. They are both unsolved and maybe that is why they stick out to me over other crimes from my city.
I grew up along the Mississippi River in one of those places that seem like nothing bad ever happens there. To an outsider, it looks like one of those peaceful, idyllic midwestern towns. And for the most part, it is. It's a good-sized city, with good schools, and lots of friendly people. But like everywhere, there is crime. There is murder.
Ed Gein was born in my hometown. His mother moved the family because it was just far too loose there. There were women out walking about and the alcohol, oh that devil drink was (and still is) everywhere! Ed Gein has always been a fascinating character for me. But this podcast isn't really about Ed.
This podcast is about the cases that have captured my interest. Both well-known and lesser-known cases. I will start with the two cases from my hometown and then cover other cases from my hometown and surrounding areas. Eventually, I will branch out and cover cases from all over.
