President of Jam Street Media, Matty Staudt, sits down with the creators of Appalachian Mysteria, Kendall Perkinson, and Sarah James McLaughlin, to talk about their journey creating the first season. They discuss their backgrounds, how they got into podcasting, and what went into bringing each of these stories to life. 

Gwendolyn and Rudy welcome True Crime podcaster, Sarah J McLaughlin. What goes into producing a true-crime podcast? What is the story behind the WVU murders in 1970?  How does our fascination with true crime reflect our cultural values? Is there a link between transportation and season 1 of Appalachian Mysteria?

In this episode, Devona Coffey — formerly Devona Daft — finds out about the existence of Geoff and Sarah’s book, and one paragraph in particular makes her blood boil. The passage leads to an emotional confrontation in the holler, and eventually to Devona contacting the Mysteria crew to share a long-buried family secret.

The terminally ill aunt who took care of Devona after her father’s death confides in her about the night Mared & Karen went missing, and a growing chorus of voices in the family echo the story. But is it all true, or a story contrived to create a dangerous mystique around career criminals?

In this episode, we’re reintroduced to Danny Strakal, host of the YouTube series Spirit Walk Paranormal. Danny’s history with the spirit realm began in his childhood, but his full-scale investigations began after the release of our first podcast season.

A viewer of Danny’s channel connects him with Dave Campbell, another man who was there at the moment Mared and Karen’s bodies were discovered. After spending time together on several investigations, Dave claims to have received a vision of two men that he believes are the murderers. When Sarah shows him a lineup of our best suspects, he tells us that two of the men — members of the same family that lived in the hollow where the girls were killed — were known to pick up and rape hitchhikers.

The first of a two-part update on Mared & Karen: The WVU Coed Murders. In this episode, we’re reintroduced to Albert “Rod” Everly, a National Guardsman who was one of the first people on the scene when the bodies of Mared & Karen were found. Rod has been nursing a theory about the murders for more than 50 years. After acquiring the “Triangle” letters from Geoff and Sarah, he fleshes the theory out further, leading the podcast crew to unexpectedly exhume a body.