How Running A True Crime Podcast Changed My Life
As a 29-year-old woman living in suburban Pennsylvania, finding a way to be of any help to the universe seems like a somewhat frivolous feat. I grew up in a small town and went to a small Catholic grade school, high school, and University. I studied Psychology but struggled significantly with finding my niche in a world full of people who had already found theirs. I also struggled with Probability and Statistics (who doesn’t?). When I withdrew from my Master’s Program, I felt that I was less useful to society. Looking back, now, it makes sense that I would have felt this way. I was a cog in the system that had sprung away.
However, leaving that field was the best choice that I could have made for myself. My late 20s have been the happiest, most fulfilling years of my life. I can attest this to many things; finding my soulmate, making new friends, learning who I am as an adult woman in this world. Yet, I still had a yearning to help people, and I seemed to use this energy in the most backwards way possible. I delved deeply into true crime. It may seem like a backwards way to feel that I was helping others; by researching their ultimate demise. However, I learned that awareness and education on crime, especially cold cases and cases involving women and people of color, was more important than you could imagine.
My best friend of many years, Anna, shared this passion with me. We had known each other since freshman in college, had worked together, and had lived together. We shared so much of our early adult years together and we can say that we grew up together. Almost two years ago, Anna messaged me something that would change our lives insurmountably. She asked me if I wanted to start a podcast. I instantly agreed.
To make an awfully long story short, we started our podcast with one microphone, a passion for things true crime and paranormal, and the ability to talk for an exceptionally long time. The response from our friends and families was astounding. We started to receive messages for suggestions of topics, messages from others saying that our podcast had made our day more bearable, and others thanking us for bringing attention to crimes that they had never heard of.
There was, however, one case that has always stuck with me. I had researched heavily on the story of the Boy in the Box. The story of a 4 (approximately) year old boy whose body was found in a cardboard JC Penny box on the side of the road near Philadelphia in 1957. He is known as “America’s Unknown Child” as his body has never been identified. It is theorized that he was possibly a victim of sex trafficking in a sense. My boyfriend Cliff and I were fortunate enough to have found his burial site. It was sprinkled with old and dirty toys in the boy’s memory. But it seemed as if his memory had been forgotten. Placing a brand-new toy on his grave had made me feel that potentially what Anna and I were doing was not just something “for fun”.
After I left Graduate School, I wondered if I held importance to corporate society. However, I realized that that is not where you find your self-worth. Sometimes you do not know the impact your life has on others and the world around you. Anna and I have tried to cover cases that have been swept under the rug. We want to bring attention to people that society has forgotten. I feel that I have found more empathy, compassion, and hope in researching the ugliest of crimes, than I could have had in a six-figure career. Just because you are not in college, or you’re not a doctor; does not mean that you are not important. When you find your niche in this world, however strange it may be, I encourage you to go with it because it will change your life.
