125 episodes
Olympia Oddities Olympia Oddities
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- True Crime
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4.8 • 34 Ratings
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Tales of PNW based true crime, paranormal events, alien encounters, cryptid tales, and other oddities.
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Side Show: SuperGame
I'm back! In this episode I recap all the ways I've been pulled in a million directions lately, from the fun (paintball! burlesque!) to the not so fun and everything in between. Once I'm done recapping my life recently, I dive into some very animal centric True Crime and Local News. Catch my exciting announcement at the end of this one. Feels good to be back!
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Gum Wall
today we’re taking a dive into a well known sticky, and slightly smelly, local oddity in Seattle. Loved by some, and absolutely hated by others, Seattle’s Gum Wall contains more than just wads of pre chewed, aging gum. Among strangers saliva, you can find history, myth, and even the occasional controversy. Let’s peel back some of those layers of gum together, and try to get to the bottom of what’s fact, and what is fiction.
https://www.pikeplacemarket.org/vendor/the-gum-wall/
https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2022/03/origin-story-history-gum-wall-seattle-famous-landmarks
Atlas Obscura - Gum Wall
Unexpected Productions - The Gum Wall
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/11/seattle-gum-wall-steam-cleaners-pike-place-market
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/gum-wall-gets-naked-in-early-morning-steam-cleaning/
Secret Seattle - The Sticky Story Behind Seattle’s Famous Gum Wall
https://www.nb
cnews.com/news/us-news/bubble-rubble-crews-clean-famed-seattle-gum-wall-n461086
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kiro7.com/news/local/artist-pays-tribute-pete-carroll-with-chewy-mural-seattles-iconic-gum-wall/XS2XPB4FIVBTXF3LKVX52A362Q/%3foutputType=amp
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/streamers-gum-wall-licking-stunt-leaves-viewers-feeling-queasy/amp_articleshow/104915291.cms -
Side Show: Weird Washington Laws
On this episode of Side Show I talk some recent bizarre news stories out of the PNW, share some strange Washington laws, and leave you with a brief life update.
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The Disappearance of Bernice Selby
Bernice Selby was 27 years old in 1962, living in a house on the shores of Lake Cassidy near Marysville, WA and finalizing the details of the divorce of her soon to be ex husband, Donald Selby. She was last seen in October of that year, but wouldn't be reported missing until 2 months later. Investigators had a pretty solid idea of who their main suspect was. Unfortunately, (natural) disaster caught them off course and they ended up with a solid theory, but no one to bring to justice.
Sources:
The Charley Project - Bernice Selby
Facebook - Missing - Please Find Us
Seattle Times - Thirty-three years ago, Bernice Selby vanished. She was never seen again., 1995 -
The Disappearance of Amber Hoopes
20 year old Amber Hoopes was funny, goofy, and absolutely devoted to the two kids she was a nanny for. She was also painfully shy and didn't like going places by herself. Because of this, her family immediately knew foul play was involved when she went missing from her grandparent's shop, where she would use their computer to stay in touch with friends. After another teen girl in the area was abducted and shared her experience, investigators felt they had a solid idea on who their main suspect was. But, when the suspect arrived at home to find the place buzzing with cops, he took off and led the police on a chase that ended with tragic consequences.
Sources:
Charley Project - Amber Shawnell Hoopes
Idaho News - 20th anniversary of the disappearance of Amber Hoops, last seen in Idaho Falls, 9/12/2021
Idaho State Journal - East Idaho Cold Cases: Case with little evidence, no body still active, 5/31/2014 -
Side Show: Captured By Robots
I kick off this Side Show episode with an update to the Christopher Hart Bridgeman Jr. Case, then dive into all the random & fun stuff I've been up to the past few months, including face melting metal shows with robots, fangirling over a baby musk ox, and how murder mystery boxes have taken over my remaining brain space.
Customer Reviews
Christopher Bridgeman Jr update
Hi! I listened to your episode about Christopher Bridgeman Jr., I stumbled upon it while researching my grandfather last night, I also have an update to the case and it’s a bit of a crazy story, Christopher’s granddaughter reached out to my mother yesterday, she’s been working on trying to find out what happened to her grandfather for about 20 years and now, thanks to a ton of research and the miracle that is modern DNA testing she discovered that her missing grandfather, Christopher Hart Bridgman Jr, and my grandfather, Christopher William Hart are the same person. It would seem that Christopher Bridgman Jr abandoned his family in 1963, we are still unsure as to why but he changed his name, and a few years later, met and married my grandmother and had 4 more kids and essentially started over, there’s a lot more too it then that and we’re still ironing out all the details, this all came out a little over 24 hours ago but as it sits currently Christopher Brigdeman Jr lived a very long life unfortunately leaving a long trail of trauma and lies in his wake and passed away in 2010 leaving behind 8 children that we know of so far, half of which he abandoned. But on the positive side, thanks to the diligent work of his granddaughter (my newly discovered cousin) his surviving children are connecting for the first time and two families hurt by this man are finally getting some much needed closure
Interesting (and SpooOooky!) PNW stories!
Happened to stumble across this podcast and I am really enjoying the stories! I am surprised how many of these topics I have never heard about before - especially considering I was born, raised and still live in the Seattle area. I mean, there are a whole lot of weirdos up here in the PNW, so there is plenty of fodder to work with! 🤣 I particularly like the ghost stories you share. Keep it up, you two!
A great PNW show!
We really love these guys and can’t wait to meet them at PNW True Crime Fest. If you’re not already listening to them it’s a great show so get on it!