Terrifying & True | What Happened to Bill Sparkman?

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In a cemetery inside of a national
park, A body is found hanging from

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a tree with the words fed written
across their chest. But this is only

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the beginning of a very deep mystery
that could be as simple as suicide or

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as deep as political unrest. We're
telling this story tonight what you were about

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to be based on witness accounts,
testimonies, and public record. This is

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terrifying and true true. William Edwin
Bill Sparkman, Jr. Was born on

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August twelfth, nineteen fifty eight,
in Mulberry, Florida. He was a

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schoolteacher and field representative for the United
States Census Bureau, living a pretty normal

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life, at least based on what
it appeared from the outside, until September

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twelfth, two thousand and nine,
when his life came to a rather abrupt

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and unexpected end in the rugged expanses
of Clay County, Kentucky. This is

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the story of what happened to Bill's
Sparkman, full of twists and turns you

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would never in a million year's guess. We'll be telling that story right here

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tonight after these quick words, So
make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so

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you never miss another mystery being unfolded. Bill Sparkman's journey commenced in the sun

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soaked landscapes of floor Florida, where
he was raised as the eldest of three

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sons in a family that valued education
and hard work. His early years were

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marked by stints as an altar boy
football team manager and even a venture into

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journalism as a contributor to the local
newspaper, the Mulberry Press. But it

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was his transition into adulthood that took
him on an unexpected journey, one that

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would lead him from the boy Scouts
of America to the halls of academia and

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the heart of the United States Census
Bureau. As Sparkman navigated the twists and

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turns of life, he found himself
stationed in London, Kentucky, a place

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far away from his Florida roots.
Here he embraced parenthood as he raised his

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adopted son, Josh. Sparkman's love
life is not very well known, and

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it is popularly believed that he was
single. Bill was also a very active

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member of his local Methodist church and
was known not just for his professionalism,

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but also for his dedication to nurturing
young minds as well as his own.

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His strong sense of purpose when it
came to his career in education is also

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reflected in the fact that he continued
pursuing a degree through Western Governor's University even

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in the face of a formidable adversary, stage three lymphoma cancer. While studying,

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Sparkman was diagnosed with cancer, but
he refused to give in to his

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illness and continued to battle every single
day. Despite having to go through chemotherapy

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treatments, he persisted in his commitment
to both his studies and his duties as

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a field representative. During this time, he was also invited to address his

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fellow graduates at the commencement ceremony of
Western Governor's University. In his speech,

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he mentioned quote, I'd been knocked
down, but I refuse to be knocked

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out. Those brick walls will appear
from time to time in your career.

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Do not let them stop you.
There are no failures, just teaching moments.

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Some of you might be confused now, because why would I be sharing

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what he mentioned in a speech at
some time in his life. Well,

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just keep hanging on and you'll find
out. With a murder mystery case,

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there's no way of knowing which minor
details could reveal quite a lot at times.

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Moving forward, things took a turn
for the unexpected on September twelfth,

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two thousand and nine, when a
family stumbled upon Sparkman's lifeless body in a

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rural Kentucky cemetery. At six fifteen
pm on the twelfth of September, a

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forty one year old man hailing from
Ohio by the name of Jerry Weaver,

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along with his wife, Connie and
their nineteen year old daughter, Britney,

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decided to visit the cemetery to pay
their respects to the grave of some relatives.

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As the family was making their way
to the grave, their eyes met

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with the motionless body of Bill Sparkman, hanging naked from a tree, with

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the word fed written across his chest. Bear in mind that the Hoskins Cemetery

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is located in the heart of the
Daniel Boone National Forest, an expanse of

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over seven hundred thousand acres of desolate
wilderness in southeastern Kentucky, and it's not

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easy to find. Most of the
families living in the area have persisted for

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generations, struggling to sustain a meager
livelihood by operating tow trucks, repairing cars,

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or excavating and vending wild ginsing and
other medicinal plants. With little to

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no cellular service, and a history
of accidents and misfortune. This is the

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kind of place most people will not
dare enter without the support of some kind

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of weapon for self defense. Eventually, the Weaver family gathered enough courage to

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call the police, and Weaver,
who was also recently promoted to a detective

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post, decided to go near the
corpse and found out that the man's wrists

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and ankles were bound with gray duct
tape. A red flag was stuffed into

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his mouth, which was secured with
tape wrapped around his head. A US

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Census Bureau identification card dangled from the
tape near his right ear. The man

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was slumped forward and his feet were
touching the ground, and he had a

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noose tightened around his neck. In
no time, the police arrived at the

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scene and his body was taken care
of. But this was more than just

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an ordinary death. Detectives now had
to find out if this was a suicide

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or a murder, or something else
altogether. The condition in which he was

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found with the word fed written on
his chest and signs of possible suicide contributed

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significantly to the complexity of the situation, As anyone could probably imagine, the

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initial shock waves of this discovery rippled
far and wide and caused an insane amount

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of media frenzy and speculation. The
circumstances surrounding Sparkman's death seemed to oscillate between

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sinister crime and unsettling suicide, and
as the investigation unfolded, Kentucky State Police

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faced an incredibly daunting task separating fact
from fiction. Many different possibilities of how

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Bill could have died were pointed out
by people, but like most other murder

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mystery cases, no black and white
evidence would provide concrete support to any theory,

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whether it be one that suggests this
was indeed a suicide or one which

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suggests that this was a murder driven
by government and tolerance. Let's have a

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quick look at some of the possible
factors that could have resulted in this death.

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Firstly, some people thought that Sparkman
might have act incidentally found a place

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where drugs were being made, like
a hidden spot where the dealers grew marijuana

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or manufactured methanphetamine. In that circumstance, they would have every reason to murder

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him in order to keep their secret. Others believed that he might have gone

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to a place where people simply didn't
like strangers or outsiders, especially those who

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worked for the United States government.
A second possible explanation comes from the contribution

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of a forensic pathologist who was entrusted
with the task of examining Sparkman's body and

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found some evidence that would support the
hypothesis that the cause of his death was

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exphyxiation. Ralph the pathologist also concluded
that the blood that had leaked out of

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Sparkman's ear was due to insect infestation. More importantly, though, it was

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found out that there were little signs
of bruising on parts of his body that

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had been tied, which indicates that
Sparkman had not struggled against his attacker.

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This is of course quite significant because
it meant that he was already dead or

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unconscious before he was bound, or
that he had died accidentally from autoerotic exphyxiation

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or deliberately killing himself. And this
brings our discussion to another very interesting angle

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to this case, the possibility of
a staged suicide. In fact, on

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November twenty three, investigators did officially
rule out the death as a suicide,

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but some would still call it a
possibility, because, like we've said before,

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it's very difficult to establish concrete facts
in such complex cases. The police

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verdict, however, was based on
the input of some of Bill's close associates,

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who suggested that Sparkman had committed suicide
because he believed that his cancer had

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returned and did not want to go
through the process of fighting it again.

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He had also recently purchased a life
insurance policy amounting to six one hundred thousand

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dollars. This insurance was intended for
his financially challenged son if he died,

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but it wouldn't cover suicide or death
from cancer. According to the police,

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Sparkman had the incentive of providing financial
assistance to his son, which would encourage

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him to make his death appear as
a homicide. However, this point has

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been contradicted by many, including his
son, who have mentioned several times to

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the police and in interviews that it
would be incredibly disrespectful to call the death

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of his father a suicide because he
was a man of great strength and courage

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and had battled many hardships alone and
with confidence and so it would not be

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possible for him to take his own
life. His son, Josh's role in

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this case is not all innocent,
since Bill Sparkman's family did suspect he might

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have had something to do with the
murder given the life insurance situation, and

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if you remember from earlier we mentioned
how he continued his studies and gave incredibly

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motivational speeches while he was battling cancer
and undergoing chemotherapy, which is a very

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draining and painful process, both in
terms of the physical and psychological effects.

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It does add weight to the narrative
of Josh because it is difficult to imagine

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how someone with so much confidence and
positivity could take their own life. But

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then again, we can never be
completely sure of this because we don't know

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without a shadow of a doubt,
what exactly was going through his mind at

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the time. For our final point, we'll talk a little bit about the

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role that politics and government and tolerance
could have possibly played here. At the

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time, when investigations were still being
conducted, an Associated Press article suggested that

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the area in which Bill was murdered
had a long history of trouble with trusting

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the government. Back in the day, there were clashes between moonshiners and government

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agents in that very region. Given
the fact that the place was also quite

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well known for being a hub for
growing marijuana, many federal agencies had been

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involved in drug and corruption matters,
and this could have triggered anger against Sparkman

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as well, who, as we
mentioned earlier, was a member of the

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federal census. But there's another layer
to this story, because some people have

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even suggested that Sparkman's death could be
linked to all the controversy around the twenty

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ten federal census. Back in two
thousand and nine, there was quite a

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fuss about it, as some people
were worried that the census data could be

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used against regular citizens and therefore they
boycotted it. Others were concerned that it

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was making the government too powerful,
and some Latino activists even skipped it to

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push for changes in immigration policies.
But here's the kicker. People online,

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especially in the liberal blogosphere, started
connecting the dots, putting forward the idea

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that maybe Sparkman's death had something to
do with the anti government sentiment during Barack

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Obama's presidency. These are all widely
and vastly different points and even though the

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police have labeled this case as a
stage suicide, we simply cannot be one

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hundred percent sure of this. Ultimately, though, the undeniable truth is the

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human tragedy at the heart of the
story. A life had been lost,

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leaving behind grieving loved ones, unanswered
questions, and a legacy forever marked by

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uncertainty. Bill Sparkman's story was much
more than just a puzzle. It was

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a reflection of the complex interplay between
political events, perceptions, the media,

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and the human need for narrative.
It also serves as a stark reminded that

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even in a world saturated with information, some questions remain unanswered and mysteries unsolved.

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There's also one other complication, and
that is the fact that sometimes our

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loved ones are hiding the truth from
us, Hiding how they really feel,

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hiding when they're scared, hiding when
they feel hopeless. And that's truly a

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terrible place to be. If you
or someone you love is dealing with suicidal

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thoughts, you are not alone.
Call or text nine to eight eight in

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the United States to connect with the
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The lifeline provides

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twenty four hour confidential support to anyone
in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Support

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is also available via live chat,
call or text nine eight eight in the

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United States. But now, my
friends, I'm going to leave you until

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next week. Stay safe and make
sure to tell someone you love them.

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Terrifying and True is narrated by Enrique
Kuto. It's executive produced by Rob Fields

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and Mark Shields, produced by Daniel
Wilder, with the original theme music by

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Ray Maddis. If you have a
story you'd like us to cover on the

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program, send us an email at
Weekly Spooky at gmail dot com. And

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next time, right here on Weekly
Spooky and Terrifying and True