126. Smells Like Sending Barbara Ann Home - With Special Guest Todd Matthews
You may recall, dear Tip-Ster, way back in Episode 8, when Melissa recalled the tragic-yet-amazing story of "Tent Girl," a young woman whose body was found wrapped in a canvas designed to wrap circus tents, on the side of a road near Georgetown Kentucky in May 1968. Tent Girl's story is remarkable for two reasons. The first remarkable fact is that after a couple of years of trying everything that could be tried to learn Tent Girl's identity to no avail, the tiny town of Georgetown essentially adopted her as its own - even paying for her burial and a stunningly beautiful headstone at the local cemetery. But the most stunning part of Tent Girl's story is how her true identity - Barbara Ann Hackman - was finally revealed by a complete stranger living in a completely different state. The man who had discovered the young woman's body, it turns out, had moved his family from Georgetown Kentucky - to Tennessee - kand there his daughter, Lori, found a high school sweetheart - a young 17 year-old boy named Todd Matthews. When Lori's dad retold his story about finding Tent Girl's body and the subsequent search for her identity back in Kentucky, young Todd - at 17! - decided there and then that he would make it his mission to uncover the woman's name and return her to her family, wherever they were. Over the course of the years, Todd and Lori got married and raised a family. Todd got a job at a local plant that manufactures auto parts. And every night, day off - every waking hour - Todd carried out his mission to find out who the tragically-murdered victim was and where she came from. In the process, Todd essentially helped invent the modern-day independent Internet sleuth. At first using the telephone and the U.S. Mail, then gradually using the early rudimentary tool of the Worldwide Web before most of us even knew it existed, he began working with law enforcement on not just the Tent Girl case, but many other missing person and unidentified body cases. He was a key player in the founding of the Doe Network and NamUs, two online resources that today help hundreds of law enforcement agencies and families identify missing or unidentified loved ones. Oh - and yes - nearly 30 years after beginning his quest, Todd's hard work paid off - and Barbara Ann Hackman was Tent Girl no more. Todd Matthews, in short, is a hero. And Todd Matthews is Melissa's guest on this week's episode. Listen in as a true legend in the world of Internet sleuthing, still married to Lori and now a grandfather but still as passionate as ever - retells his story in a fascinating discussion about how one person can change the world by simply deciding to become dedicated.