May 12, 2025

Terrifying & True | Annie Börjesson: The Unsolved Death on a Scottish Beach

Terrifying & True | Annie Börjesson: The Unsolved Death on a Scottish Beach
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Terrifying & True
When Annie Börjesson’s body washed up on a beach in Prestwick, Scotland, police ruled it suicide within hours. But the evidence told a different story.She had bruises. Her hair was hacked off. Her lungs showed signs of freshwater drowning—despite being found by the ocean.
Nearly 20 years later, Annie’s case remains one of Europe’s most unsettling unsolved deaths. In this episode, we dive deep into her final hours, explore a possible cover-up, and examine every chilling clue:
  • Her sudden exit from the airport
  • Classified documents and government secrecy
  • A mysterious man posing as a rugby player
  • A possible case of mistaken identity tied to CIA rendition flights

Was Annie being followed? Was it murder? And why are so many records still sealed today?

We're telling that story tonight

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🎵 Music by Ray Mattis
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👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Mark Shields, Bobbletopia.com

🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder

For everything else check out WeeklySpooky.com

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📬 Contact Us / Submit Your Horror Story!

🎵 Music by Ray Mattis 👉 Check out Ray’s incredible work here !
👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com
🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com
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She was found face down on a Scottish beach, her

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bag untouched and her hair hacked. Short authorities called it suicide,

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but her family and friends call it something else entirely,

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and they won't rest until they get their answers.

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What you were about to beat is burnt too. Based

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on witness accounts, testimonies and public record, this is terrifying

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and treat.

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December of two thousand and five, a young woman's body

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is found face down on a cold, wind swept beach

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in western Scotland. Her belongings are oddly untouched. Her death

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quickly ruled a suicide, which left behind more questions than answers. Bruises,

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missing hair, traces of fresh water in her lungs all

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contradict the official story. Who was Annie Boreesen and what

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really happened to her in those final hours. Tonight we

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uncover the eerie, inconsistencies and haunting secrets behind one of

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the UK's most unsettling unsolved deaths. Make sure you're subscribed

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and we'll be telling that story after this. A frigid

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wind howled across Pressed beach on the morning of December fourth,

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two thousand and five, stirring the gray waters of the

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Firth of Clyde. A lone dog walker trudged along the

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damp sand, bundled against the chill, when his dog suddenly

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halted and barked at something crumpled near the sea wall. There,

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in the weak dawn light lay the motionless body of

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a young woman. She was fully clothed, face down where

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the tide had receded. Her long blonde hair splayed and

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tangled with sand and seaweed. A canvas travel bag sat

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near by, its contents, clothes, a passport, and personal effects

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scattered by the wind. For a moment, confusion and dread

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hung in the salt air. Was she unconscious, in need

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of help, or was it already too late. The dog

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walker's shouted calls drew the attention of another passer by,

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and together they approached with trepidation. The young woman did

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not stir. Her skin was pallid and cold. It was

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clear she wasn't breathing. Within minutes, police sirens pierced the

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quiet Sunday morning as officers rushed to the scene. The

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authorities carefully noted that the woman's belongings were oddly near

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by and not lost to the sea, but in the

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urgency of the moment, they quickly focused on removing her

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from the incoming tide. As the medics and police worked,

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the early morning, beach goers watched in puzzled silence, the

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seaside tranquility now transformed into the site of a sudden tragedy.

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None of them yet knew her name, but all sensed

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that something was off about this grim discovery. It was

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an eerie, unsettling scene, a lifeless body on an empty beach,

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with no obvious clues as to how she ended up

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here on a cold winter morning. The mystery of Prestwick

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Beach had just begun. The woman found on that beach

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was soon identified as thirty year old Annie Christina Bjoriessen,

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a Swedish native living in Scotland. Annie had moved from

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her hometown in Sweden to Edinburgh in the autumn of

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two thousand and four, drawn by a sense of adventure

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and the promise of new experiences abroad. In Scotland, she

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embraced the culture and was known to adore the country's

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rugged beauty. Friends describe Annie as vivacious and independent, chatty

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and lively, with an outgoing personality that helped her make

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fast friends in her newly adopted city. Tall with long,

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thick blonde hair and striking blue eyes, she cut an

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impressive figure. One friend affectionately likened her to a Viking

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princess for her strength and Nordic features. Annie's talents went

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far beyond her appearance. Fluent in five or six languages,

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she had a gift for communication and a love of learning.

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She enrolled in English classes to polish her language skills

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and found work at a popular tourist information center in

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Edinburgh in early two thousand and five, where her bright

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demeanor made her a favorite of colleagues and visitors alike.

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A passionate music lover, she was also a budding singer

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who enjoyed nights out dancing with friends. To those who

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knew her, Annie was full of life, always planning her

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next steps and brimming with enthusiasm for the future. Her

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best friend, Maria Janson, recalls that Annie had great plans

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and was excited about upcoming opportunities. By late two thousand

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and five, Annie was hoping to make Scotland her long

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term home. She had applied for jobs and was looking

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into obtaining permanent residency, indicating how much she truly cherished

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her new life in Edinburgh. Despite living abroad, Annie remained

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close to her family and friends in Sweden. She phoned

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her mother, Gouge, and others back home regularly to share

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up on her life. As the two thousand five holiday

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season approached, Annie was especially excited. She planned to return

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to Sweden in early December to reunite with loved ones

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for Christmas. She spoke of her trip cheerfully, making plans

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for gatherings and even arranging to stay with Maria for

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a few days during her visit. Annie's life, by all accounts,

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seemed happy and hopeful in those days. There were no

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obvious signs of despair or trouble weighing on her. To

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her friends and family, the news that Annie's journey had

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ended on a remote Scottish beach under such baffling circumstances

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was absolutely devastating and incomprehensible. Annie Boyesen's final two days

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alive have been painstakingly reconstructed from closed circuit television footage,

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witness accounts, and phone records, though many gaps and mysteries remain.

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On Friday December two, two thousand and five, Annie went

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about what seemed like a normal day in Edinburgh. That afternoon,

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she stopped by her former workplace to say hello to

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old colleagues. She greeted her friend Cat Dolmo with her

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usual smile and energy. They chatted and made small talk.

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Kat later emphasized that Annie was quote in a good mood.

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She didn't seem depressed at all. During that visit, Annie

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briefly excused herself to take a phone call. Kat saw

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Annie speaking on her mobile phone and assumed it was

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a routine call, perhaps from a friend or relative. This

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detail would later become significant when police claimed Annie's phone

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had no activity in the days before her death, a

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point strongly contradicted by witnesses. After the call, Annie rejoined Cat,

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giving no indication that anything was a miss. Before leaving,

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she mentioned she would be flying home to Sweden the

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next day and expressed excitement about the trip. Indeed, Annie

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had been meticulously preparing. She had already packed her bags,

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paid her next month's rent in advance, and even scheduled

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a hairdresser appointment for after her return, clear signs she

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intended to come back to Scotland after the holidays. On Saturday,

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December third, two thousand and five, Annie set out from

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her flat in Edinburgh with a travel bag in hand hand.

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She was bound for Glasgow Prestwick Airport commonly just referred

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to as Breastwick Airport in Ayrshire, about eighty miles away,

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where she had booked a budget flight to Gothenburg, Sweden,

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to depart that afternoon. Sometime around midday, Annie arrived at

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Edinburgh's Haymarket station and caught a train toward the West coast.

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By three pms, she was in the vicinity of Prestwick Airport.

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Closed circuit TV cameras captured Annie at three fourteen pm,

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stepping off a train at Prestwick International Rail Station and

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entering the airport terminal alone. In the grainy footage, she

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is seen wearing a long dark coat and carrying her

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shoulder bag. She walks in through the revolving doors, just

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like any other traveler, ready to check in for their flight.

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What happened next is one of the first puzzling twists

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of Annie's story. Instead of proceeding to the check in

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counter or security with her luggage, Annie spent only about

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five minutes inside the terminal. Airport security cameras recorded her

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abruptly turning around and walking back out the same way

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she came in. At three nineteen p m, Annie Borjesen

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left Prestwick Airport not having boarded any plane. Her flight

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back to Sweden would depart without her. Why Annie suddenly

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changed her mind and exited the airport as unknown. She

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didn't speak to any airline staff or make any phone

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calls from the terminal that we know of. Perhaps something

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spooked her, or someone unexpected approached her. Perhaps she forgot

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something important. Did she decide to delay her trip? The

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security cameras give no answers. It only shows Annie striding

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purposefully out of the building back into the cold afternoon light.

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Her plan seemingly altered in an instant After Annie walked

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out of the airport at three nineteen pm on December third,

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there's a troubling gap in the timeline from that moment

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until the discovery of her body the next morning. No

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definitive account of Annie's whereabouts exists. Investigators initially assumed she

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headed straight for the airport toward the adjacent beach, which

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is about a mile away, but there is no camera

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footage or confirmed sightings documenting that journey. The only purported

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sighting came from a letter the Scottish Police sent to

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the Swedish consulate soon after her death, it claimed that

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a witness saw a person matching Annie's description standing by

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the water's edge at Prestwick Beach around four thirty pm

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on December third. However, when journalists later tracked down that

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supposed witness, the individual denied ever making such a statement.

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In other words, the only eye witness account placing Annie

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on the beach that day turned out to be unsubstantiated,

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casting doubt on the official timeline. What did Annie do

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in those missing hours on late Saturday afternoon? This mystery

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has fueled endless speculation. We know that sunset in Scotland

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in December comes early around four pm, so by four

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thirty it was dark. The weather on the coast can

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be unforgiving. Perhaps Annie sought shelter. There was mention that

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Annie might have entered a nearby beachfront park or cafe,

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or even struck up conversation with someone, but no reliable

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witnesses have come forward. Another friend later told Annie's family

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that on December third, before she left for Edinburgh, they

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saw her answer a phone call and then hurriedly depart

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for her trip. Could someone have been waiting to meet

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her near Prestwick. The lack of confirmed information between the

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airport's security cameras at three fourteen pm and the discovery

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of her body at around eight am the next day

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is one of the most haunting aspects of the case.

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At some point on the night of December third, Annie

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Bjoriesen died, but how, where and why remained painfully unclear.

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In the early light of Sunday, December fourth, two thousand

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and five, Annie's body was found by the dog walker

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on Prestwick Beach, lying face down on the sand as

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if she had washed ashore. She was fully dressed in

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the clothes she had worn the day before, and her

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travel bag was resting near by, containing her passport, wallet,

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return train tickets, two library books, and other personal items.

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The scene immediately raised some perplexing questions. For one, Annie's

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belongings were not dispersed or lost at sea. They were

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right next to her, almost too neatly accounted for. How

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was it that her bag and even books were found

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at exactly the same spot as her body. If she

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had drowned in the ocean, one might expect tides and

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currents to scatter or separate such items. The coincidence troubled

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her family later, who felt it looked more like her

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body and possessions had been placed there together. Local police

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and a medic arrived swiftly and transported Annie's body to

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a nearby hospital mortuary within just over an hour and

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a half of the initial report. Due to the rising

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tide that morning, the authorities were in a race against time,

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as Detective Michael Neal later put it, to move her

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before the sea could disturb the site. However, this urgency

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meant that the forensic examination of the scene was likely rushed.

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It is doubtful that a full forensic survey, such as

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carefully photographing the body in situ, checking for footprints or

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signs of struggle in the sand, et cetera, could have

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been completed in that short of a window. By mid

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morning on December fourth, Annie's body was at the Air

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Hospital Morgue awaiting a post mortem, and the beach was

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clear again, almost as if nothing unusual had happened. The

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autopsy of Annie Boreesen was conducted on December seventh, two

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thousand and five, three days after she was found. The

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Scottish pathologists report concluded that her cause of death was

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most likely drowning, and noted no significant external injuries or

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trauma on her body. There were no obvious lethal wounds,

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no stab marks or gunshots, and importantly, the report did

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not mention any signs of a struggle. In the official view,

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Annie had walked into the sea and drowned, whether as

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an act of suicide or by accident. Toxicology results, to

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the extent that they have been released, did not reveal

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anything unusual. There was no indication of heavy intoxication or

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drugs in her system. On the surface, it seemed like

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a tragic drowning. The case in the eyes of law

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enforcement was effectively closed almost as soon as it began.

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They believed they had a straightforward, albeit sad narrative, a

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depressed young woman who took her own life in the ocean.

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Yet almost immediately red flags emerged. When Annie's body body

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was prepared for transport back to Sweden, undertakers noticed injuries

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that the Scottish autopsy had not documented. A London undertaker

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who handled her remains in transit and a Swedish undertaker

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who received her coffin both were shocked at the state

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of Annie's body. In a written statement, the UK undertaker

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described quote significant bruising on Annie's body and expressed bafflement

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that these were omitted from the post mortem report. When

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the coffin arrived in Sweden, undertaker goun Dunnenberg, with nearly

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forty years of experience, found disturbing signs of violence. Quote.

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When we opened the coffin, I still remember seeing finger

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marks around her neck, two marks. I remember them so clear.

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Dana Berg said she also observed extensive bruises on Annie's

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arms and sides quote, as though someone had hit her,

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and noted a particularly strange detail. Annie's beautiful, long blonde

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hair had been roughly chopped short, with a patch of

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hair missing, as if it had been yanked out by force.

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Photos taken by Annie's family in Sweden indeed show her

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once long hair in an uneven, jagged cut and what

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appears to be a bald spot on her scalp where

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hair had been torn away. This suggested some kind of

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head trauma or assault, directly contradicting the official findings of

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no injury. Moreover, Swedish pathologists conducting their own analysis found

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microscopic dietems and organisms on Annie's body that are typically

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found in fresh water, not in the salty sea. This

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baffling forensic clue raises the possibility that Annie did not

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drown in the ocean at Prestwick Beach at all, but

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perhaps in another body of water. If she had died

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in a freshwater location like a lake, pond or even

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a bathtub, and then was moved to the beach, it

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would explain the presence of those freshwater microorganisms found inside

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her lungs. It would also recontextualize the shallow calm bay

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at Prestwick. Indeed, Prestwick's shore has very gentle waters and

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at low tide one must work talk half a mile

254
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out just to be deep enough to swim. The idea

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that Annie chose this spot to weidhe in and end

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her life seemed increasingly questionable to those who looked closely

257
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at the evidence. These discrepancies, bruises, a potential post mortem haircut,

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signs of strangulation, and the fresh water evidence were deeply

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00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:33.799
alarming to Annie's family. When they requested copies of the

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Scottish autopsy photographs to better understand how the official examination

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could have missed these points. Their request was refused. The

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authorities told the family that releasing the images was not

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quote in the family's interest, a decision that only heightened

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their suspicions. Every new fact that came to light seemed

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to contradict the tidy suicide narrative. Instead, a darker picture

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00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:10.680
was emerging, one suggesting that Annie Boreesen may have met

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00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:15.079
with foul play and that her body's discovery on the

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beach might have been staged to appear as a drowning.

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From early on, Annie's loved ones and independent investigators found

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it hard to accept the official explanation of suicide. There

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00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:39.599
were simply too many unanswered questions and odd inconsistencies. Over

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the years, several alternate theories about what might have happened

273
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:48.680
to Annie Boriessen have been proposed, each with its own intriguing,

274
00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:55.480
if unproven evidence. One theory stems from Annie's own apparent

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00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:59.839
fear of being watched or surveiled. In the days leading

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00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:03.799
up to her death. According to her mother and friends,

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Annie had grown unusually anxious that her mobile phone and

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00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:15.480
computer were somehow bugged or being monitored. In fact, two

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00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:19.599
days before her death, on December first, Annie called her

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00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:23.880
family from a payphone instead of her cell phone, telling

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00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:28.559
them it was because she suspected someone was eavesdropping on

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00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:33.519
her calls. This paranoia was very out of character for

283
00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:37.599
the normally upbeat young woman, and those close to her

284
00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:42.119
took it as a sign that something or someone had

285
00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:48.079
seriously frightened her. Could Annie have been receiving threats? Was

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00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:51.200
she entangled in something that made her fear for her

287
00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:56.319
privacy or her safety? We know that Annie mentioned to

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00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.880
her mother that if anything happened to her, a man

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00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:05.480
might be involved, a cryptic warning that only later seemed

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00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:10.480
potentially relevant. At the time, her family wasn't sure what

291
00:25:10.599 --> 00:25:15.000
to make of it and didn't press her for details. Now,

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00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:20.559
in hindsight, such remarks hint that Annie perceived a real

293
00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:32.599
and present danger. Another thread in this mystery is the

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00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:38.200
tale of the mysterious rugby player. Shortly before her death,

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00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.960
Annie confided to friends that she had met an older

296
00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:46.200
man at a nightclub in Edinburgh who claimed to be

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00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:51.160
a New Zealand rugby player named Martin Leslie. He was

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00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:57.480
friendly but overly forward, giving Annie a bad feeling. She

299
00:25:57.559 --> 00:26:01.000
became uneasy enough that she left the club up. A

300
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:04.799
few days later, while swimming at her local pool, Annie

301
00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:10.240
noticed the same man standing by the pool watching her intently.

302
00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:16.000
This deeply unnerved her. Annie told her family that she

303
00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:22.599
feared this individual was a stalker or sexual predator. Importantly,

304
00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:27.799
the real Martin Leslie, a famous rugby player, was confirmed

305
00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.559
to be on the other side of the world at

306
00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:37.759
that time, so whoever approached Annie was impersonating the sports star.

307
00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:43.720
The impostor was never identified. Some have speculated that this

308
00:26:43.960 --> 00:26:47.920
man could have tracked Annie or tried to meet her again,

309
00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:53.039
possibly even impressed Wick if he learned of her travel plans.

310
00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:56.680
Could it be that Annie noticed him at the airport

311
00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:02.920
and panicked, prompting her hasty exit. While no direct evidence

312
00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:09.400
ties this unknown man to Annie's fate, the coincidence is eerie.

313
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:15.000
The rugby player remains a tantalizing yet unproven lead in

314
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:20.000
the case, a real person of interest who was never found.

315
00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:27.000
Perhaps the most sensational theory suggests that Annie Borjesen was

316
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:32.759
the victim of an intelligence related mistaken identity, essentially caught

317
00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:37.359
in the crosshairs of international espionage by sheer bad luck.

318
00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:42.160
This theory points to the context of late two thousand

319
00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:45.960
and five, The post nine to eleven War on Terror

320
00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:49.839
was in full Swing, and the United States was conducting

321
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:57.240
secret prisoner transfers, so called rendition flights, around the world. Notably,

322
00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:03.279
it later emerged that Glasgow Prestwick Airport was allegedly used

323
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:07.599
by the CIA as a refueling and transit point for

324
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:15.160
many of these clandestine flights transporting detainees. Around the same time,

325
00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:22.839
an American journalist named Christina Borjesen, whose name is very

326
00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:30.640
similar to Annie's, was actively investigating and exposing CIA operations

327
00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:37.079
and illegal flights. Christina Borjesen is an Emmy winning investigative

328
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:43.440
reporter known for digging into US intelligence activities. The coincidence

329
00:28:43.480 --> 00:28:47.319
and names has led to speculation that the agents of

330
00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:53.400
some intelligence service, perhaps American or Allied, might have confused

331
00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:58.599
Annie for Christina, or that Annie might have been surveilled

332
00:28:58.759 --> 00:29:03.240
or intercepted on the assumption that she had a connection

333
00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:09.400
to the journalist. Proponents of this theory note how fiercely

334
00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:15.400
both Scottish and Swedish authorities later guarded information in Annie's

335
00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:20.640
case as if there were something politically sensitive at play.

336
00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:25.720
They also found it suspicious that Annie died near an

337
00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:31.000
airport rumored to be involved in covert ops. Could an

338
00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:36.079
operative have approached Annie at Prestwick, mistaking her identity, with

339
00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:41.000
a deadly outcome when the error was realized. It sounds

340
00:29:41.079 --> 00:29:46.359
far fetched, but the theory gained enough traction that even

341
00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:51.519
members of the Scottish Parliament raised questions about CIA activities

342
00:29:52.039 --> 00:29:56.839
at the Scottish airports during that time period. To be clear,

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00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:01.720
no hard evidence has ever emerged linking Annie's death to

344
00:30:01.799 --> 00:30:06.839
a rendition, flight or intelligence agency, but the mere fact

345
00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:12.000
that documents about her case were later classified as secret,

346
00:30:12.119 --> 00:30:18.440
with authorities citing potential harm to quote international relations if released,

347
00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:24.400
it only adds fuel to the idea that something clandestine

348
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:31.559
might be hidden in the files. Aside from these specific theories,

349
00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:35.839
there is the general possibility of foul play by an

350
00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:39.480
unknown assailant that is not part of any kind of

351
00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:45.160
larger conspiracy. Annie could have encountered a dangerous person by

352
00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:49.480
chance alone, may be a predator on the beach, or

353
00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:54.279
a malicious stranger who crossed her path that evening. This

354
00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:59.839
scenario may just explain the signs of struggle later found

355
00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:05.839
on her body. Perhaps Annie fought someone off, getting bruised

356
00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:09.319
and having her hair pulled, and in the struggle she

357
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:14.240
was drowned. Whether in the sea or elsewhere. The quiet

358
00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:18.839
dunes and dark shore of Prestwick would be a sadly

359
00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:26.799
opportune place for a crime, isolated and empty in winter. However,

360
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:31.480
if a random murderer was at work, one would expect

361
00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:35.880
the police to have at least considered it, Yet they

362
00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:41.279
seemed convinced from the start it was suicide. No suspects

363
00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:45.559
of this nature were ever identified by any law enforcement.

364
00:31:46.599 --> 00:31:52.880
Throughout all these alternate explanations, Annie's family has consistently championed

365
00:31:52.920 --> 00:32:01.440
one belief that Annie did not kill herself, and that

366
00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:08.279
she likely was murdered by persons unknown. Her mother, Gugie

367
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:12.799
and best friend Maria have publicly stated that Annie was

368
00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:17.400
not suicidal and had too much to live for to

369
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:22.559
abruptly end her life. They do acknowledge that even those

370
00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:28.720
seemingly happy can conceal in her despair, but in Annie's case,

371
00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:35.279
they saw specific evidence pointing away from suicide and toward

372
00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:42.240
a cover up. Over the years, independent journalists, true crime investigators,

373
00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:49.200
and internet sleuths have dissected Annie's case, uncovering each inconsistency

374
00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:54.119
we've spoken of so far. Theories have been debated in

375
00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:58.920
online forums and even on a dedicated Sky News podcast,

376
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:04.680
as well as a BBC television documentary. While these theories

377
00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:11.599
range from plausible to exotic, they all underscore one central truth.

378
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:18.839
Something about the official story simply doesn't add up. The

379
00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:26.200
last hours of Annie Boyesen's life remain an enigma, one

380
00:33:26.200 --> 00:33:32.359
that has invited everyone from concerned citizens to parliamentarians to

381
00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:36.960
ask whether a deeper truth lies hidden beneath the surface

382
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:50.000
of this so called open and shut case. From the outset,

383
00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:55.599
Scottish authorities treated Annie Boriessen's death as an unfortunate but

384
00:33:56.039 --> 00:34:01.200
straightforward case, showing little interest in pursuing alternatives to the

385
00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:06.519
suicide hypothesis. Police on the scene that morning found no

386
00:34:06.680 --> 00:34:11.000
immediate signs of foul play, no obvious murder, weapon, or

387
00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:16.159
severe trauma, and seemingly latched on to drowning as the

388
00:34:16.199 --> 00:34:23.039
cause of the death. In fact, astonishingly before the autopsy

389
00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:28.800
was even conducted, officials had already communicated to their counterparts

390
00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:36.159
in Sweden that the likely cause of death was suicide.

391
00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:40.920
A document later obtained by journalists revealed that on December fifth,

392
00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:45.880
two thousand and five, just one day after Annie was found,

393
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:51.599
when the investigation had barely begun, Scottish embassy officials told

394
00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:58.719
the Swedish embassy that they suspected suicide. This premature conclusion,

395
00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:03.519
made without waiting for post mortem evidence, suggests an early

396
00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:10.159
bias in their investigation, almost as if the authorities were

397
00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:16.400
eager to close the case as quickly as possible. Following

398
00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:20.800
the autopsy and a brief inquiry, the Scottish Crown Office,

399
00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:25.480
which handles sudden deaths, declined to hold a fatal accident

400
00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:31.199
inquiry for Annie's case. In Scotland, an FAI is a

401
00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:37.119
legal hearing that publicly examines the circumstances of certain unexpected deaths.

402
00:35:38.519 --> 00:35:42.960
While not every drowning gets an FAI, it is noticeable

403
00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:48.199
that Annie's did not. Given the unusual aspects such as

404
00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:52.039
being a foreign national found in a public place under

405
00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:57.519
unclear circumstances, the Crown Office's position was that there was

406
00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:03.639
no evidence of criminality and thus no need for further inquiry.

407
00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:08.519
To Annie's family, this felt like a snub, a decision

408
00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:14.039
to sweep inconvenient questions under the rug. Why had she

409
00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:18.880
left the airport so suddenly? How did her bag end

410
00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:27.599
up beside her? These questions went officially unanswered. When Annie's

411
00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:33.559
family began pressing the authorities for more information, they encountered resistance.

412
00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:38.880
The police were slow and sparing in sharing case details.

413
00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:44.480
For example, when the Buriessen family asked to see Annie's

414
00:36:44.519 --> 00:36:52.320
complete autopsy report and photographs, those requests were denied or deflected.

415
00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:56.639
The reason given was often that it was not in

416
00:36:56.679 --> 00:37:00.639
the public interest nor in the family's interest to release

417
00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:06.079
such material to the family. However, it felt as though

418
00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:11.599
crucial evidence was being hidden. Over time. This lack of

419
00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:17.039
transparency only fueled their suspicion that the investigation had been

420
00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:24.119
mishandled or that something was being covered up. The discrepancies

421
00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:29.800
about Annie's phone records further illustrate the investigative gaps. Police

422
00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:33.679
told the Boyesen family that, according to her mobile provider,

423
00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:40.159
Annie's phone showed no activity for three days preceding her death.

424
00:37:40.920 --> 00:37:45.119
Yet we know her mother called her on December first

425
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:50.159
and got through, and that a friend saw her answer

426
00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:54.840
a call on December second. How could the phone records

427
00:37:54.920 --> 00:38:00.800
reflect nothing. Either the records were incomplete, or some one

428
00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:05.880
had tampered with her callog or simcard. It appears this

429
00:38:06.119 --> 00:38:13.559
contradiction was never resolved by investigators. Similarly, Annie's e mail

430
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:19.000
account had an inexplicable gap. Her entire EMIL history in

431
00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:24.840
that same period was wiped clean. These are the kind

432
00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:29.239
of leads that one would expect any thorough investigation to

433
00:38:29.320 --> 00:38:34.440
pursue by checking with the phone company, analyzing her electronics

434
00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:39.400
and the like. But there's little evidence the police dug

435
00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:43.840
deeply at all. If they did, the findings were not

436
00:38:44.039 --> 00:38:49.519
shared with her family. The official stance remained that there

437
00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:54.920
was quote no evidence of foul play, as Detective Neal

438
00:38:55.079 --> 00:39:01.920
repeated to the media over and over again. As the

439
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:06.400
years went on, Annie's family, especially her mother, and a

440
00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:11.239
growing number of supporters in Sweden and Scotland campaigned to

441
00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:15.760
have the case re examined. They wrote to Scottish officials,

442
00:39:16.239 --> 00:39:21.159
petitioned for an inquest, and contacted the media. For a

443
00:39:21.159 --> 00:39:26.079
long time, these efforts met a brick wall. The Scottish

444
00:39:26.119 --> 00:39:30.960
Crown Office maintained that the case was properly closed and

445
00:39:31.039 --> 00:39:37.039
refused to reopen it, citing the initial investigations conclusions. The

446
00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:40.880
frustration on the side of the family was compounded by

447
00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:45.719
a sense that Scottish and Swedish authorities were sharing information

448
00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:49.679
with each other that they wouldn't share with the family

449
00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:59.039
or public. This suspicion was dramatically confirmed in twoenty twenty, when,

450
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.239
after a year long investigative push by journalists, the Swedish

451
00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:11.840
Foreign Ministry released some correspondence files involving Annie's case to

452
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:17.320
the Sky News podcast team, but the documents were heavily

453
00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:32.880
redacted and officially classified as secret. Mysteriously, and bizarrely, whole sections,

454
00:40:32.920 --> 00:40:37.079
including the entries for Annie's cause of death in the files,

455
00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:42.840
were blacked out. A Swedish official explained that disclosing the

456
00:40:42.920 --> 00:40:48.840
information could damage Sweden's relations with a foreign state, implying

457
00:40:48.880 --> 00:40:55.519
the United Kingdom, or potentially harm national interests. Annie's mother said,

458
00:40:55.559 --> 00:41:00.400
in dismay quote, even the cause of death has been hidden.

459
00:41:01.719 --> 00:41:05.280
It was an extraordinary stance over what was supposed to

460
00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:10.760
be a simple suicide. Why would details of such a

461
00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:17.119
case need to remain secret? Nearly fifteen years later, this

462
00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:22.360
official intransigence slowly started to shift as public attention on

463
00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:28.519
the case continued to grow. A Scottish newspaper and Sky

464
00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:33.480
News highlighted the possible connection to CIA flights in two

465
00:41:33.519 --> 00:41:39.840
thousand and fourteen and twenty twenty, prompting some Scottish politicians

466
00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:44.599
to begin to ask questions. Then, in twenty twenty three,

467
00:41:45.360 --> 00:41:50.000
the BBC commissioned a four part documentary called Body on

468
00:41:50.079 --> 00:41:55.960
the Beach What Happened to Annie. Investigative journalist Hazel Martin

469
00:41:56.159 --> 00:42:02.280
reinvestigated Annie's death on camera, interview viewing witnesses and experts,

470
00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:07.079
and even appealing to authorities on air. Under the spotlight

471
00:42:07.119 --> 00:42:12.000
of this renewed media scrutiny, the Scottish Crown Office made

472
00:42:12.039 --> 00:42:16.840
a small concession. They agreed to review any new evidence

473
00:42:17.239 --> 00:42:23.440
submitted by the documentary team. In late twenty twenty three,

474
00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:28.159
after the documentary aired, the filmmakers handed over an eleven

475
00:42:28.239 --> 00:42:32.719
point dossier of new findings such as the fresh water

476
00:42:32.840 --> 00:42:38.199
drowning evidence and inconsistencies in post mortem reporting, to the

477
00:42:38.199 --> 00:42:45.119
Crown's Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit. The Crown acknowledged receipt and

478
00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:51.400
said they would consider it. As of early twenty twenty five, however,

479
00:42:52.119 --> 00:42:58.320
no definitive reopening of the case or FAI has been announced. Officially,

480
00:42:58.400 --> 00:43:03.039
the police in Scotland still insists that Annie's death was

481
00:43:03.159 --> 00:43:09.400
fully investigated and that no criminal involvement was discovered. For

482
00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:14.079
Annie's family, the official response over these many years has

483
00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:18.960
been a source of immense pain and frustration to them.

484
00:43:19.320 --> 00:43:23.039
It often seemed that the authorities wanted the case to

485
00:43:23.119 --> 00:43:29.679
simply go away, perhaps because admitting errors or unknowns would

486
00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:37.000
be embarrassing or troublesome. Whether due to bureaucratic defensiveness, genuine

487
00:43:37.039 --> 00:43:41.360
belief in the suicide ruling, or pressure from higher ups

488
00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:47.079
to avoid digging into certain angles, the result was the same,

489
00:43:48.039 --> 00:43:53.199
an enduring refusal to treat Annie Doryesen's death as the

490
00:43:53.239 --> 00:43:58.559
potential crime her loved ones believed it to be. The

491
00:43:58.679 --> 00:44:04.079
contrast is stark. On one side, a family pleading please

492
00:44:04.159 --> 00:44:11.440
investigate more, something's wrong. On the other, officials repeating there's

493
00:44:11.519 --> 00:44:16.400
nothing to see here. This standoff has persisted for nearly

494
00:44:16.760 --> 00:44:22.440
two decades, leaving the truth agonizingly out of our reach.

495
00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:28.239
As the years have passed, the tragedy of Annie Boreesin's

496
00:44:28.320 --> 00:44:34.239
death continues to cast a very long shadow for her

497
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:39.239
family and friends. Time has not brought closure. Instead, it

498
00:44:39.280 --> 00:44:44.159
has deepened the resolve to find answers and highlighted the

499
00:44:44.280 --> 00:44:51.079
lingering questions that still haunt this case. Annie's mother has

500
00:44:51.119 --> 00:44:55.320
fought tirelessly to keep her daughter's story in the public eye.

501
00:44:56.360 --> 00:45:01.159
The emotional toll is immeasurable. She discribes ribes it as

502
00:45:01.280 --> 00:45:06.519
an inhumanly long time to wait for the truth, a

503
00:45:06.639 --> 00:45:12.719
nightmare she would never have imagined enduring Every Christmas season

504
00:45:13.400 --> 00:45:17.840
instead of celebrating with there, Annie, her family is reminded

505
00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:21.679
of December of two thousand and five and the painful

506
00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:28.519
uncertainty that followed. Annie's bedroom back home remains just as

507
00:45:28.559 --> 00:45:34.519
she left it, a silent testament to a life interrupted.

508
00:45:35.760 --> 00:45:40.480
The questions that remain unanswered are as unsettling as they

509
00:45:40.519 --> 00:45:44.960
ever have been. What truly happened in the hours between

510
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.000
Annie leaving the airport and being found on the beach.

511
00:45:49.960 --> 00:45:54.519
If she intended no harm to herself, as her actions

512
00:45:54.840 --> 00:45:59.920
paying rent, scheduling appointments, and packing gifts suggest, then one

513
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:05.519
diverted her from her path that day. Who if anyone

514
00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:11.239
met with her or saw her alive in Prestwick, How

515
00:46:11.280 --> 00:46:16.320
did she enter the water and where? If foul play occurred,

516
00:46:17.079 --> 00:46:21.039
what was the motive? Was it a random act of violence,

517
00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:29.440
a targeted crime, or a grave misunderstanding by someone with power?

518
00:46:30.599 --> 00:46:35.320
Each question begets another. Even the basic mechanics of her

519
00:46:35.440 --> 00:46:39.880
death are in doubt. Did Annie drown in the sea

520
00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:45.119
at all? Or was her body moved there. The forensic

521
00:46:45.159 --> 00:46:49.599
anomaly of fresh water organisms in her system begs us

522
00:46:49.639 --> 00:46:53.000
to ask if the beach was just a dumping ground

523
00:46:53.360 --> 00:46:58.960
to obscure an earlier crime, and if so, why have

524
00:46:59.039 --> 00:47:04.840
the police not pursued that lead. Annie's case has gained

525
00:47:04.840 --> 00:47:08.920
a legacy in true crime circles as one of the

526
00:47:09.000 --> 00:47:15.880
more perplexing unsolved deaths in recent Scottish history, often likened

527
00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:21.519
in perplexity, if not in specifics, to the dyetlov Pass incident,

528
00:47:22.039 --> 00:47:26.800
which we covered on a prior episode, or other enduring mysteries.

529
00:47:27.920 --> 00:47:32.679
Internet forums dissect every detail from the weather that weekend

530
00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:37.559
to the nuance of closed circuit television timestamps in hope

531
00:47:37.599 --> 00:47:43.199
of finding a clue that everyone else simply missed. Journalists

532
00:47:43.239 --> 00:47:48.400
have kept the story alive through articles, podcasts, and documentaries,

533
00:47:49.079 --> 00:47:54.280
ensuring that Annie's name is not forgotten and pressuring officials

534
00:47:54.800 --> 00:48:01.039
bit by bit to revisit the case. In Sweden, the

535
00:48:01.159 --> 00:48:06.119
case has spurred debates about transparency and the extent to

536
00:48:06.159 --> 00:48:10.360
which a foreign national the United Kingdom might influence the

537
00:48:10.400 --> 00:48:15.920
handling of a Swedish citizen's death. In Scotland, it's become

538
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:21.119
an uncomfortable question mark a cold case that the public

539
00:48:21.239 --> 00:48:26.280
now views with skepticism toward the initial police work. For

540
00:48:26.360 --> 00:48:30.920
those who knew Annie personally, her legacy is far more

541
00:48:31.039 --> 00:48:37.760
personal and profound. They remember a bright, loving and talented

542
00:48:37.840 --> 00:48:42.239
young woman who had so much ahead of her. Maria

543
00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:47.320
Jansen and others continue to share stories of Annie's warmth

544
00:48:47.639 --> 00:48:51.800
and spirit, painting the picture of a friend who was

545
00:48:52.280 --> 00:48:59.480
like a sister and a very happy, lively girl. This

546
00:48:59.519 --> 00:49:03.800
collective memory stands in stark contrast to the official file

547
00:49:04.320 --> 00:49:07.719
that reduced her to a case number with a label

548
00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:13.159
of suicide. In memory of Annie, her friends have vowed

549
00:49:13.480 --> 00:49:17.000
not to let the world simply move on. They have

550
00:49:17.079 --> 00:49:22.039
held memorials on Prestwick Beach, standing where she last lay,

551
00:49:22.679 --> 00:49:26.719
to honor her life and remind the world that unanswered

552
00:49:26.800 --> 00:49:33.440
deaths leave real wounds for the living. Each gathering is

553
00:49:33.480 --> 00:49:38.440
both a tribute and a quiet protest, a way of

554
00:49:38.559 --> 00:49:46.199
saying justice has not been served. Nearly twenty years later,

555
00:49:46.960 --> 00:49:53.239
the haunting mystery of Annie Boreesen's death endures. It endures

556
00:49:53.280 --> 00:49:57.519
in the classified files and redacted lines that her family

557
00:49:57.639 --> 00:50:01.880
is still fighting to see. It endures in the minds

558
00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:06.400
of everyone who has followed the story, each person wondering

559
00:50:06.519 --> 00:50:09.119
if there is a piece of the puzzle still out

560
00:50:09.159 --> 00:50:13.599
there that could bring the truth to light. And it

561
00:50:13.800 --> 00:50:18.239
endures on that wind swept Scottish beach, where every so

562
00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:23.480
often a passerby might pause and recall that a young

563
00:50:23.519 --> 00:50:31.679
woman's life tragically ended there under circumstances that remain unresolved.

564
00:50:32.639 --> 00:50:36.639
In the absence of answers, theories will continue to flourish,

565
00:50:37.280 --> 00:50:42.519
and doubts will never fully be laid to rest. Was

566
00:50:42.559 --> 00:50:46.480
it a suicide, a tragic accident, or a cover up

567
00:50:46.719 --> 00:50:52.400
for something far more sinister? The world still doesn't know.

568
00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:57.280
What is known is that Annie Boyesen's loved ones will

569
00:50:57.360 --> 00:51:04.000
not stop seeking justice. As her mother poignantly said, quote,

570
00:51:04.480 --> 00:51:08.159
we are still motivated to get Annie an inquest. We

571
00:51:08.239 --> 00:51:12.639
are not afraid of that. Until the day the truth

572
00:51:12.719 --> 00:51:19.000
is uncovered, the case of Annie Boyesen remains an open wound,

573
00:51:19.760 --> 00:51:25.400
a chilling mystery lapping at the shores of Prestwick, refusing

574
00:51:26.239 --> 00:51:31.199
to be forgotten. Terrifying and True is narrated by Enrique Kuto.

575
00:51:31.519 --> 00:51:35.280
It's executive produced by Rob Fields, Markshields and babble Toopia

576
00:51:35.440 --> 00:51:38.960
dot Com and produced by Dan Wilder with original theme

577
00:51:39.039 --> 00:51:41.760
music by Ray Mattis. If you have a story you

578
00:51:41.880 --> 00:51:44.719
think we should cover on Terrifying and True, send us

579
00:51:44.760 --> 00:51:48.360
an email at Weekly Spooky at gmail dot com. And

580
00:51:48.400 --> 00:51:49.880
if you want to support us for as little as

581
00:51:49.960 --> 00:51:53.199
one dollar a month, go to Weeklyspooky dot com slash join.

582
00:51:53.440 --> 00:51:55.679
Your support for as little as one dollar a month

583
00:51:55.800 --> 00:51:58.159
keeps the show going. And speaking of I want to

584
00:51:58.159 --> 00:52:01.519
say an extra special thank you to our Patrin podcast boosters,

585
00:52:01.599 --> 00:52:03.400
folks who pay a little bit more to hear their

586
00:52:03.480 --> 00:52:05.159
name at the end of the show. And they are

587
00:52:05.280 --> 00:52:09.360
Kate and Lulu, Jessica Fuller, Johnny Nicks, Jenny Green, Amber

588
00:52:09.400 --> 00:52:12.519
Hands for Brent mccallough, Karen we Met, Jack Ker and

589
00:52:12.679 --> 00:52:14.920
Craig Cohen. Thank you all so much and thank you

590
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:17.880
for listening. We'll see you all right here next time

591
00:52:18.280 --> 00:52:20.960
on Terrifying and True.