Dawn of Mantis: True Crime, Mysteries and More

Send us a text Merry Christmas! In this episode, we examine three tragic events that have occurred on Christmas Day throughout the years, along with one mystery that has endured for over a hundred years. And of course, we do our best to sprinkle in a little comedy and holiday cheer amongst the mystery and mayhem. So, pour yourself a glass of eggnog, throw another log on the fire, put in those earbuds to drown out the in-laws, and have yourself a very “Mantis” Christmas! Redbeard SoundRedBeard...

Send us a text In this episode, we discuss the I-44 Tri-State Truck Explosion. In September of 1970, the Tri-State trucking company and the Teamsters Local 823 Union were locked in a heated battle. Union truckers had been on strike for weeks, but their demands were being ignored. Instead, Tri-State had simply hired more non-union workers to fill the void. In retaliation, a few union drivers decided to set up along Interstate 44 near Springfield, Missouri to shoot and disable passing Tri-State...

Send us a text In this episode, we dive into the story of Karen Silkwood — a lab technician at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma who stumbled into a nightmare. After raising alarms about contaminated equipment, falsified inspection records, and dangerous working conditions, Karen found herself the target of intimidation, mysterious exposures to plutonium, and escalating pressure. On November 13th, 1974, she set out to deliver documents to a reporter — evidence she be...

Send us a text In this episode, we cover the origins of “The Highway Serial Killings Initiative”- an FBI program that identifies and links unsolved murder cases that have occurred along interstate highways to support law enforcement agencies. We also talk about one of the most notorious killers the program has helped capture- Bruce Delane Mendenhall, a long haul trucker/murderer also known as “The Truck Stop Killer”. Redbeard SoundRedBeard Sound specializes in live sound engineering, re...

Send us a text In this episode, we cover the extraordinary disappearance, and RE-appearance, of Brenda Heist. On an ordinary morning in February of 2002, the 43-year-old mother dropped her two children off at school near her home in Lititz, Pennsylvania. After returning home briefly- Brenda vanished. Her laundry was left in the dryer. Dinner was thawing in the sink. Her car was soon found abandoned. Her family believed she had been taken—or worse. But they never could’ve guessed what would ha...