Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 12x08: Don't Pick Up Hitchhikers

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

Stories in this episode: That Time I Accidentally Dated A Sociopath | AbbiAmok (0:41) Chased Down by a Car While Walking With My Mom | its_just_dally (20:03) I Feel Like I'm About to Lose My Mind | DramaAffectionate381 (26:48) Don't Pick Up Hitchhikers | krissi510 (32:00) My Dad Disappeared and the "FBI" Came Looking For Him | dallasmysterylover (39:01) Extended Patreon Content: Everything Scary | Lynn from the Everything Scary podcast Pursued on the Train | Anonymous Playdate with a Kidnapper | Devon Late Night Visit | baconbits Due to periodic changes in ad placement, time stamps are estimates and are not always accurate. Get access to extended, ad-free episodes of Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast with bonus stories every week at a higher bitrate along with a bunch of other great exclusive material and merch at patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast. This podcast would not be possible to continue at this rate without the help of the support of the legendary LNM Patrons. Come join the family! All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. To submit your story to the show, send it to [e-mail].    Check out the other Cryptic County podcasts like Odd Trails and the Old Time Radiocast at CrypticCountyPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts! Become your own soulmate, whether you’re looking for one or not.. Visit BetterHelp.com/notmeet today to get 10% off your first month. Make a bigger impact at work with Grammarly. Sign up and download for FREE at grammarly.com/PODCAST Are you still feeding your cat kibble?! Head to Smalls.com/MEET and use promo code MEET at checkout for 50% off your first order PLUS free shipping! - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/433173970399259/ - Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com/ - Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsnotmeetcast/ - Twitch - https://twitch.tv/crypticcounty

This podcast contains adult language and content. Listener discretion is advised. If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. It's taken me many years to tell this story out of both fear and embarrassment. I share this today as a warning to all people. Be careful about who you meet on social media. In 2018, my ex-husband and I were at the end of a very tumultuous marriage. He and I had been polyamorous for about three years before I met this guy named Jez. I met Jez on OK Cupid. I was 28 and he was 42. We hit it off very quickly.

After a few weeks of talking, I agreed to meet up with him at a restaurant close to my house. We sat and talked for a few hours before I invited him over to meet my husband. Things went very, very well, and they seemed to get along, so Jez and I started dating. This guy completely swept me off my feet. Jez was sweet and caring. He enthusiastically listened to every little thing on my mind and validated me.

Over and over again, he revered me for my strength and wisdom. He practically worshipped me for all that I was and all I was becoming. He showered me with gifts, flowers, and random good deeds just to make me feel safe, wanted, and cared for. I had never been in a relationship quite like that. It was wonderful. It was as though we had been looking for each other for years. After the first few weeks, he had a meltdown over my polyamorous nature. He pulled the plug because he said he was already falling for me and he couldn't handle

sharing me. I stood my ground and accepted this boundary and the fact that I would have to let him go. Our conversation that night left me sad but confident that I had done the right thing for both of us. That next week he sent flowers and a card to my workspace begging for another chance in reassuring me that he would rather try than not. Even though it was scary, he wanted to take this journey with me. Now we continued

dating, and it was just as wonderful. We spent long nights awake talking, sharing, laughing, and planning. Then, in our deepest, most intimate moment, when we would just sit in silence, he would grip his hand to my face in astonishment, asking where I've been all this time. Our time together was effortless. We fit together like puzzle pieces. By August 2018, my marriage had ended by no fault of Jeze's, and by October, my husband had moved out. I was on a lease at the time, and I knew I couldn't afford the place on my own, so finding

a roommate was essential. I had no support system to fall back on, nor did anyone else I know need a place at that time, so Jez offered to move in. I was hesitant since we had only been together for about four months, and I knew everything changes when you move in with a partner. Despite my hesitation, I agreed. I figured he was wonderful to me how bad could it be. I wasn't prepared for the change that was to come, though.

It was literally like night and day. Jez suddenly became a different person. He was extremely controlling, jealous, and lazy. Nothing like the person that I had met. Hanging out with friends became a burden, if not impossible, because he would blow up my phone and guilt me about leaving him alone or not involving him in some way. In December of 2018, we attended my work Christmas party. I had given him the option to go out, but it was neither here nor there for me. Especially because I had learned that he didn't do well when he felt pressured into social situations. I opened the invitation to him because he had expressed repeatedly that it was important

for him to be involved in my social life. He knew about it for a full month, but he insisted that he wasn't going. I didn't push the issue and I let him know that I would make sure that he felt welcomed if he decided. I was surprised when he changed his mind at the last minute. I was even more stunned when we went and he actively acted as though he didn't want to be there. Everyone there was incredibly welcoming and included him in the festivities and conversation.

However, he still practically grumbled the entire night about the whole thing, mumbling insults and critiquing every little part of the party under his breath. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice the low, whispered insults or gripes. At one point, after a couple of glasses of wine, my direct manager leaned into Jez and started praising him. She and I were close, so she was intimately familiar with what I had gone through with my ex-husband. I'm so happy that she has you, she said. You have been absolutely transformative for her.

It's so nice to see her finally happy and appreciated. Without missing a beat, Jez grimaced and quickly snapped. You don't know me. I honestly didn't believe my ears. It was one of those moments when time stopped. I just thought that there was no way that I heard this correctly. I pulled him aside and I asked him what his problem was. I called out his behavior and told him that if he was going to act that way he could just leave. He ended up

giving me a half-assed apology and went back inside until the party was over. I remember the drive home that night, staring out the dark window at nothing in particular, and worried silence. The man who barely six months prior had validated me, my trauma, and experiences to the ends of the earth was openly showing annoyance as though I was encroaching on his time and attention. Before I knew it, he was snapping at me over every little thing. If I asked how his day was or attempted to talk about my day, I was aggressively shut down. Why do you always ask me that?

I don't want to talk shop at home. I don't care about your work. It's work. I couldn't even bring him breakfast without being snapped at. It was as though he were testing me. When Jez and I first started dating, he refused to talk about most of his exes. He refused to name them or discuss any of the issues or lessons learned. He would claim his past relationships didn't matter,

and they weren't in his life for a reason. He used the same justification in reference to my exes, including my ex-husband. Anytime I brought up either of our exes, he would become incredibly agitated and belittle me. At first, I took this as an age gap issue, as I do tend to dwell. However, after this hot button topic had been established several times, he would bring up his exes and how they looked. Occasionally, he would tell me that

he would never have dated me back in the day. He even said that I was lucky that he would never have dated me back in the day. He even said that I was lucky that he lowered his standards. I never really knew what to say to this. I would just laugh at it, make a note of it, and shove it in my back pocket. And when he wasn't comparing my looks to his exes, he accused me of catfishing him. I was feeling stressed and isolated in this situation, which caused me to stop taking care of myself.

I ended up putting on some weight, so most of my clothes that I once felt great in no longer fit. That following summer, while Jez and I were together, a horrible tragedy happened. I received notice that a good friend I went to art school with shot himself while tripping on LSD. Our entire class was devastated. He without contest was the best photographer in our class and one of the most kindhearted individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

And as someone who was very familiar with LSD, I was rocked. Jez, however, was far from supportive. He immediately shrugged it off. That's life! I guess that's what he gets for fucking around with LSD. I was baffled at this unsympathetic response, and I grew even more baffled later when Jez started to interrogate me about my relationship with this guy asking when I had even talked to this friend. Upon discovering that it had been a while since I talked to him, Jazz said, you don't

even know this guy anymore, who cares? Shortly after that I broke up with him for the first time after he called me at work raging. I was so busy that I was unable to answer right away. But once I finally got to answer his call, I was met with intense anger. It was storming, and one of my dogs was having an anxiety attack due to the storm. This wasn't the first time, and he was well aware of what she needed in those moments. Why the fuck aren't you answering my calls?

He hissed. You answer when I call you. I don't care where you are. He went on for a few minutes, calling me a shitty girlfriend, and laying into me over my distance and lack of communication while I was at work. At this point, I was done. I lost it. I tore into him over everything. I told him that being in my life is a privilege and if he was going to wake up every day acting like he hated me he had to go. I told him that I expected him to get his things and leave. I said I didn't want him there when I got home adding that we could coordinate times for him to come and get the rest of his stuff if he couldn't take it all at once.

He flat out refused, victimized himself, and claimed that he had nowhere to go. My manager and her husband ended up following me home that evening since she was concerned for my safety. She also offered to let me stay with her for a few days. I'll never forget the scene that I walked into once we arrived at my place. My boss stood next to me, watching me as this 42-year-old man crawled on his knees before me, begging for mercy. He wrapped his arms around my legs and cried, I can't believe this is happening. I was shocked. This was the antithesis of the heartless person I had been spending my days with. I shook him off and I went to the back of the house, gathering enough of my things to get me through the next few days, as well as all of the valuables I could think of. After a quiet week, Jez started blowing up my phone with apology after apology. He was suddenly the man that I had initially met, full of humility and self-awareness.

He acknowledged the awful way that he treated me and sent me walls and walls of well-constructed messages, psychoanalyzing his behavior and where it came from. He acknowledged the ways that he knew he needed to change. So I took him back. Not long after, my car ended up breaking down at a gas station close to home. There was a very nice couple in the vehicle next to me that came to my rescue and checked things out under my hood. The gentleman turned out to be a mechanic for a living,

so he had a pretty good theory about what could be going wrong. be a mechanic for a living so he had a pretty good theory about what could be going wrong. I reached out to Jez, who was almost off of work. He told me to sit tight and he would be there shortly. Meanwhile, this sweet couple stayed with me as I waited. Jez barreled by about fifteen minutes later completely ignoring the couple that had been helping me. As Jez and I touched base, the gentleman handed me a slip of paper with a name and

phone number on it, reviewing what he thought was going on with my car. Before the man could finish, Jazz butted in. She's fine. I could see the woman out of the corner of my eye slinking away to get into the passenger seat of their car. The tension was palpable, but the gentleman didn't move. He shifted his attention to me as Jez walked into the convenience store. I could see he was clearly concerned.

Are you okay? He asked in a low whisper. You don't have to answer, but if you need anything." He trailed off as I looked down at his number on the paper in my hand and nodded to it. And with that, he got into the driver's seat of his car and drove away. I have thought about that couple countless times since that night. After that, everything went right back to the way that it was before, as though the initial breakup never even happened. I walked on eggshells, experienced the same belittling. It was honestly worse since, according to him, I had permanently damaged our relationship. After sinking back into the relationship one night,

we got into an argument. I don't even remember what it was about, but I had to be up early for work the next morning so I paused the argument to get some about, but I had to be up early for work the next morning So I paused the argument to get some sleep When I went to lie down, I heard the TV turn on. I have a soundbar connected to my TV so the volume can get pretty loud Jez then proceeded to turn the volume up The walls were reverberating with the sound of the TV at astronomical volumes Jez then started laughing hysterically. It was angry maniacal laughter, as though

something might be funny on the TV, but he also might jump out the window. I remember lying in bed horrified at what was happening. I knew that things had gotten bad, but now I was scared. I got out of bed and I asked him to turn it down. He scoffed. I'll watch TV if I fucking want to. He then turned it up even louder. I felt like I was in some kind of horror movie.

I started to cry. I was begging him, please. Which made him mock me. Oh, wow. The poor baby is crying. That's your card, isn't it? Crying is your card. This caused the fight to pick back up.

He screamed at me and followed me into the bedroom, where he suddenly punched the door that was nearly two inches from my head. He looked me in the eye, and his eyes were black, sending a clear unsympathetic and hostile message that warned next time he would not miss my head. My whole system shut down and I sunk to the floor in a panic attack. My ex-husband had issues with violence and Jez knew that. All of our rentals, prior to to that one had holes peppered in the walls and doors due to my ex-husband's inability to handle his

emotions. But he never hit me or even came close to it so I was experiencing a new aggression. I crumpled to the ground feeling powerless, trapped, and afraid. As my thoughts continued to race, he continued to mock my panicked state. Most of our argument from that night was a blur, but it ended abruptly once he threatened to put my social security number on the dark web. At this point, all that was left in me was fight. I blacked out, went ballistic, and screamed at him to get out. I felt rabid and dangerous as I screamed like a banshee for him to leave my home. It was over, and I was ending it that second. I contacted my landlord and explained what had been going

on. Jez would also end up contacting her, weaving his own tail tail He tried to tell her that I was moving out and asked to have the lease transferred into his name Luckily since I was several steps ahead of him my landlord did not fall for it She came and personally changed my locks for me and gave me the personal contact information of a police officer Close by in case he showed up again I'm forever grateful to her for these simple acts of kindness. They were above and beyond anything I would expect from a landlord. It took weeks for him to stop messaging me. The only reason I didn't block him was out of fear that he would eventually show up at my house. Though I had contacts for protection,

I knew I would rather get a daily apology video than have to deal with him on my doorstep, so they persisted for a while. He followed the same formula as before, love bombing and making promises. He was grasping at straws trying to find a weak spot that would let him back in, but I ignored it all. He eventually bowed out, stating boldly that he would always love me. I left him on read. It took several years to pick up the pieces. If my divorce wasn't enough, this made me lose trust in myself. I still don't understand what his endgame was. Jez, let's never meet again. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

If you know me personally, you know how proud I am of my relationship with my wife. We both learned a lot through experience, listening, and talking with each other, as well as through therapy. But it wasn't always easy. It took effort from both of us to make this thing work. A common misconception about relationships is that they have to be easy to be right, but sometimes the best ones happen when both people put in the work to make them great. Therapy can be a place to work through the challenges you face in all of your relationships,

whether with friends, work, your significant other, or anyone. Therapy has changed the way that I look at my relationships with both those around me and with myself. It's been an invaluable tool. If you're looking to start therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists any time for no additional charge. Become your own soulmate. Whether you're looking for one or not, visit BetterHelp.com slash NotMeet that's N-O-T-M-E-E-T today to get 10% off your first month. That's

BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash not meet or follow the link in the show notes. Now back to the show. For context, I live in a pretty rural area. I live with my family on the outskirts of our town, which is small compared to the populations of other towns in California. We're about 15 minutes from the closest small town and 40 minutes away from the biggest city. We live down a dirt road with some neighbors. In front and behind the house, there are only fields and dirt roads. On each side of the house, there are roads that lead down to the neighbors' properties. Nobody really interacts out here, but sometimes my dad talks to the neighbors. I was probably twelve when this

happened. I had low self-esteemesteem and I wanted to start exercising more. I had been enrolled in a charter school due to the bullying which, yes, played into my self-esteem issues. But let's get on with the story. I didn't have many ways of exercise other than the treadmill that we owned. I wanted to start getting fresh air too, so my mom suggested that since we live in such a desolate location, it would be peaceful to take walks down the road. I agreed, even though I was stubborn about it half of the time. We usually went for walks

in the mid to late afternoon when it would start cooling down outside, but was still light. Just in case it got dark, we would bring a flashlight. This area was notorious for having stray dogs running around, so we would carry pepper spray and a mini baton just in case any of them became vicious. I'm only mentioning this since a dog will play into my story. One day, my mom and I decided to go on a walk

later in the afternoon. About a quarter of a mile down the road, there's this little cross section. There's a road that goes left and leads to the highway, which also goes straight to our neighbor's house. The other option at this cross section is to go straight down a utility road. My mom and I decided to walk down the utility road to get a good exercise in since it went on for a while. When we approached the cross section, this dog came out of nowhere. We were looking at it as it was in the center of the intersection, staring at us. When my mom and I looked at it, she said that she had this feeling in her stomach that we needed to turn around and walk home, so she grabbed my arm and started

leading me back home. We were walking back when she looked ahead and stopped to stare at something. I asked her what she was looking at and she pointed. I turned to see a white car pulling up at our fence. They quickly backed up and shot down the road to the side of our house. Nobody ever goes down this road except for this one old man that we know, but he didn't drive a white car. Anyone else who drives down that road is usually scoping out my dad's tools to steal. My mom said that she did feel a bit uneasy about it and pulled me to the edge of the dirt road, almost into the field.

We continued walking back to our house when this car came back into view and drove down the road that we were walking alongside. I caught a glimpse of it, and it was this smaller white car with black tinted windows that were impossible to see through. My mom instantly got this feeling of impending doom so she pulled me into the field, not too far but far enough. We kept walking through the field towards our house, and as we were getting closer this car came back down the road again.

My mom and I stopped in our tracks to see what the car was doing. I drove it back to our house and started driving it around super fast. My mom waited until the car drove back down the side road and when it did, she told me to start running. So we took off. We started running through the field until we reached this intersection near our yard. The car ended up coming back again and they tried to cut us off. We were panicking at this point.

We had no idea who this was, let alone why they were acting like this. The car circled again and my mom dragged me further into the field and told me that we were going to get down into this ditch. After we did, the car came back around and pulled up to the edge of the ditch, right where we were. The front of the car was facing us and all I could think of was, if it drove down, it would hit me and my mom, likely killing us. My mom quickly put her arm in front of me

and stayed completely still. I dropped our flashlight and my water bottle since I was so scared. The car was about to drive down into the ditch where we both were, but then suddenly they reversed and drove around the yard and went back down the side road to the highway. Even though my mom and I felt like our souls left our bodies, she told me to run, do not look back and get to that front gate.

As my heart pounded in my chest, I ran up the ditch. I continued towards the front gate. I flung it open and sprinted for the front door. But I didn't hear my mom behind me. After I opened the door, I looked out at the yard and then the field and saw the car coming back down the side road. I ran into the house and tried to catch my breath as I saw the car drive down the road. I couldn't see my mom, so I was panicking. I ran towards the sliding glass door, and my mom quickly appeared.

She opened it and ran inside, locking it. She told me to lock the front door, and as I was doing so, I told her that I was so scared because I had no idea where she was. She told me that she was behind me, but after I opened the gate, she continued running. She was trying to shut the front gate behind us. Then she noticed that the car was coming back down the road again. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to follow me through the front door, so she dove behind my sister's car to stay out of view. When it drove away again, she took the opportunity to run through the back door since it was closer to my sister's car. Fortunately, we haven't seen that car

again and we're thankful but it still remains a mystery. I'm a 27 year old woman. I'm married to my 31 year old husband and we have two children. We have Isaac who's 8, from my first marriage, and Tiana, my 5 year old, who I had with my husband. I'm very distraught because I've been seeing this woman almost everywhere I go. This whole situation started somewhere around May of 2022. My son Isaac and I were at the local park doing our own thing. My son was just playing with another child on the monkey bars when this woman approached me. She had red hair, which appeared natural, and her

face was tear-stained. I became concerned as I thought that she was crying so I proceeded to ask her what was wrong, but she kept staring at my son. The more she looked at him, the more she sobbed. Then all of a sudden, she sprinted toward him, screaming, Michael, Michael! It really freaked me out. I mean, she was running to my kid, calling him a different name. My son and the other child got scared, but I got over to them before she did, as my reflexes were faster than hers. My adrenaline was high as I screamed at her to get lost,

but she just stood there, seemingly enraged as I held my son. She started muttering, but she was speaking so low that I couldn't hear or understand her, and she stomped away. After that, the other child's father and I talked for a bit. He seemed alarmed by what had just happened. He figured that she was probably a grieving mother who thought that my son looked like the child that she lost. This was a fair assumption, but I was still disturbed, and I took my son home. I told my husband about the encounter and he reassured me, saying that it was probably a one-off situation. But since then, I've been afraid to take my children

to any public places. The following month, June 2022, I got a call from my kid's school stating that a woman who was a new volunteer for lunch duty kept mentioning that my son was her Mikey bear She said that she had been looking for him for years The school let me know that another volunteer who had been working alongside her reported this It was scary as hell

I acted immediately by signing my kids out for the rest of the day I Called the school the next day and I was informed that she did not show up to volunteer which freaked me out even more. Fast forward another month, July 2022. It was Tiana's birthday and we decided to host a party at a park in my in-laws hometown. Everything went well, although I was paranoid. And then somewhere around 9 p.m., when we began cleaning up, I looked at the oak trees nearby and I saw her.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and started chasing her, but she got away. I called the police who were somewhat helpful. We told them everything and they were able to get her information from the school. The personal information that she gave the school may be false, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. They interviewed the woman who was volunteering with her and my son's teacher and they filed a report.

Ever since then, I haven't seen her, but I don't feel like this is the end of it. The End No matter what kind of work you do, how you communicate is key. All those emails, reports, and presentations are equally important to the collaboration needed to get things done.

And Grammarly can help. Grammarly is your AI writing partner to help you communicate more effectively and efficiently so you can make a bigger impact at work. Grammarly not only helps me feel more confident when I'm writing my emails, but it has helped me to better my writing because I've learned so much from using Grammarly's tools. It's like having a personal tutor on all of my devices. The information really sticks. Grammarly helps professionals get more done because you'll save time with just one click

and go from editing drafts in hours to just seconds. 93% of professionals using Grammarly Premium report that it helps them get more work done. Make a bigger impact at work with Grammarly. Sign up and download for free at Grammarly.com slash podcast. That's G-R-A-M-M-A-R-L-Y dot com slash podcast. Easier said, Done. This happened when I was 52. I was traveling by car to an out-of-town job assignment. I had stopped at a popular gas station and travel stop some of you may be familiar with called Buckeys.

This was perfect since I needed to fill up my car, stretch my legs, use a bathroom, and grab a snack. While I was there I was approached by a disabled woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. She said that she was looking for a ride to a town a couple of towns over. Her ride had abandoned her while she was in the restroom so she was a little upset. She didn't have a cell phone, so I said that I could call somebody for her, but she didn't have any phone numbers memorized. I checked with the employees inside the store and they confirmed that she had been there

for an hour looking for a ride since her friend bailed on her when she was in the bathroom. This prompted me to make a decision to do something that I've never done before. Offer a ride to a complete stranger. I wasn't going to the town that she wanted to go to, but I was heading in that direction, so I told her I could drop her off at the grocery store in the town over. The grocery store that I planned to bring her to was always busy, so it seemed very likely that she would have an easier time getting a ride from there, plus she'd be closer, only five miles away from where she wanted to go. At Bucky's, we were 25 miles away.

I figured this would be better for her, and she would be within walking distance if it came to that. This was agreeable with her, so we set off. Right away, I noticed this van following us. I tried to lose the van, but it kept pace. Meanwhile, my passenger wanted to play with my phone. I told her no, since it wasn't a toy. I told her that my phone was for work, and I moved it out of her reach. This van then sped up and started to get closer. The woman suddenly said that she remembered her boyfriend's phone number

and said that she needed to call him. I couldn't use my phone while driving as this was prior to cars having voice-activated operation systems for devices. Law enforcement in the area had really been cracking down on cellphone usage while driving. As I was approaching the outskirts of the business district of the next town, I saw no cell phone use while driving, advisory signs everywhere. We're almost to the grocery store. We can call them when we get to the parking lot," I said. She became agitated.

She then yelled at me. No, you have to take me home. I replied, I told you I can't do that. I'm not going there. It's in the opposite direction of where I need to go and I'm expected at work soon. We'll call your boyfriend from the parking lot. As she became more upset and frustrated, I noticed that the van was getting even closer. Then I pulled into the grocery store parking lot.

It was about 4pm and the grocery store was busy. I pulled up to the front of the store and asked for her boyfriend's number. She suddenly could not remember it, and she wouldn't get out of my car. She was arguing with me as the van pulled into the parking lot. She was arguing with me as the van pulled into the parking lot. There happened to be a sheriff's deputy nearby, so I rolled down my window indicating that I wanted to speak to him. He walked over and asked me what was going on. I told him where I met the woman and explained that she was refusing to get out of the car. And under my breath, I pointed out the van that had been following us. The deputy told the woman,

she brought you where you agreed to go. It's time for you to leave her car now. She slowly got out of the car and I asked once more if she remembered her boyfriend's number and she said, you're crazy, I don't have a boyfriend. Oh look, it's my friends. She then pointed at the van before walking towards it. The deputy and I shared a look and he said,

give me your contact info. I can delay them for about 20 minutes while I check their license and registration. Go ahead and get out of here. I'll check on you before my shift is over. Oh, and don't pick up any more hitchhikers." And with that, I left and went on to my destination. The deputy called me to make sure that I got to where I was going, and he let me know that they were keeping an eye out on the van and its registered owner. He told me that he also contacted a colleague at the Sheriff's Department in the county where I was working, and she was going to circle back with me in a day or two.

While I was on assignment, in said county, I spoke to two deputies and a detective about the woman in the van. No one ever gave me any information about them, but they were very interested in hearing about my experience. My nightmare is one day I'll turn on a true crime show and I'll see a report about a woman and her gang in the van. So to the woman who was looking for a ride at Bucky's, let's not meet. Cats are a great companion. I see how much joy they bring to the lives of those closest to me, and I know my friends

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This story from my past happened about 32 years ago in East Texas. My mom and dad divorced when I was 16, so my older brothers and I lived with my mom. My dad visited us once in a while, but not on a consistent basis. He was a gambler, which was one of the reasons he had my mom split. He didn't come around all too much whenever he was broke, but on the rare occasion that he won big, he would visit and spend money on us before going dark again.

My dad said he worked as a shuttle driver for a local hotel, but he told me and my brothers that the shuttle driving was just a cover. He explained that he actually worked for an organized crime ring that he claimed owned the hotel. He said that his real job was to drive to various places in the area to pick up fugitives running from warrants or those otherwise wanted by law enforcement.

He was told to bring them to the hotel to hide. And then later they would move on, but my dad said he didn't know where these people went after that. My dad was always a blowhard. He was always exaggerating or straight up lying. So my brothers and I blew this off and didn't think too much of his claim. That is until something strange happened. My dad disappeared. It was 1988 1988 and I was 22 years old.

I was a college student still living at home. I worked as a full-time disc jockey at a local radio station on the overnight shift from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. One of my younger brothers was 19 years old. He lived in an apartment with a friend and worked at a nearby Dairy Queen. And my youngest brother was 9, also living at home. One day, my brother who worked at Dairy Queen called me and my mom and asked us if we knew where my dad was. He said that some men came into Dairy Queen while he was working and asked him if he had seen my dad around.

My brother told them that he hadn't seen or heard from my dad in months, which was the truth. It wasn't out of the ordinary for us to not hear from him for months, as he often cuts off contact for months at a time. My brother said that these men didn't say who they were, but seemed satisfied with his response so they left. My brother was checking to see if these men had called to ask us where my dad was. They had not, but we also hadn't heard from my dad in months.

The following day, the men returned to my brother's work again. This time, they flashed badges and claimed to be FBI agents. My brother said that they were very aggressive and demanded that he tell them where my dad was. My brother kept insisting that truthfully, he didn't know where my dad was. He let them know that the last he heard, he worked at a local hotel as a shuttle driver. This experience upset him, so he called me and my mom again. Upset, my mom called the hotel where my dad worked.

The man that she spoke to said that my dad had disappeared weeks ago, and he had no idea where he was. The next day, my brother was at work when his roommate called and said that someone had been in their apartment. His roommate claimed that when he got home from work, he found the sliding glass door open. The place was ransacked, but nothing appeared to be missing. My brother was very upset when he returned to his apartment and found that his address

book was missing from the breakfast nook as well as a teddy bear that he recently bought for his son and a photo of his son was missing from the bedroom. My brother, my mom, and I were beside ourselves with anger, fear, and paranoia. We went to the local FBI office to file a complaint about what the FBI had done. We told them once and for all that my brother did not know where my dad was. Well, as you might have guessed, the FBI claimed no knowledge of the event and claimed that they were not looking for my dad.

They said none of their agents had contacted my brother. Furthermore, when my mother told them that my dad had claimed that he worked for an organized crime ring, the FBI would neither confirm nor deny that the hotel was tied to said ring or that there was an investigation going on. My mom called the hotel again and told the manager that men were looking for my dad.

She said that they were terrorizing my brother and she flat out asked the guy if there was any truth to dad's claims of working for an organized crime ring. The man laughed and said, there's no such thing as the mafia. While we were trying to make sense of all these strange details, we kept wondering why my brother was the one being harassed but not me or our mother. That's when I recalled an odd vent that happened to me about two to three weeks prior. Since I worked overnight, I was often wide awake in the middle of the night on my days off with nothing to do. One night, I went to the local cable TV company where my friend worked as a system operator. I wanted to hang

out with him for a few hours and bullshit a bit. At about 3 30 a.m. he had a big system update to complete so I figured it was time for me to go home and I left. As soon as I pulled out from his company's driveway, a car was immediately behind me. It was tailgating me. He was on me so quickly that it scared the crap out of me. The car just seemed to appear out of nowhere. He also had his high beams on, which were blinding me. I couldn't make out any details about the car. I couldn't see inside to see how many people were in the car, what they looked like, or anything. I couldn't even see what kind of car it was.

I changed lanes to let the tailgater pass but he changed lanes with me. I then moved again and he moved again. He was tailgating me and blinding me and now seemed to be following me. I stopped at the intersection and got in the left turning lane with my signal on and he got behind me. Since there was no traffic at all, when the light changed, I zoomed across the intersection. I streaked across all the lanes of traffic until I was in the lane to the far right. I proceeded through the intersection trying to lose him, but he followed, which made it absolutely clear he was following me. but he followed, which made it absolutely clear he was following me.

I cut into a nearby neighborhood and I tried to lose him, but he stayed on me. I finally managed to zoom into another intersection when I saw a 7-Eleven on the corner. I pulled in, jumped out of my car, ran inside and yelled to the clerk that somebody was following me. As I did this, the car that was following me cut through the parking lot of the 7-Eleven, enabling me to get a good look at the car for the first time. It was a late model, tan-colored four-door, and there were two guys inside. The clerk told me that I was exaggerating. He said that it was probably just kids messing with me

and told me to let it go. I left, but I was still scared. I didn't want to go straight home. I was afraid that they might follow me, and I didn't want them to know where I lived. So then I went to my workplace. The disc jockey on the air that night was my friend Paula, so I decided to go visit her on the air for a little while so that I could calm down. I told her what happened, and I stayed with her for about two hours.

She also felt like it was probably just some punks, and that calmed me down. When I got home over two hours since this car harassed me, the damn tan-colored car was at my house. As I was coming down the street to my apartment complex, I was about to turn right when I saw that car pull out of my complex. As it passed me, the sons of bitches flashed their high beams on and off. I panicked and called Paula at the radio station and told her what was happening. She was freaked.

She said, oh my God, why would they wait for you at your home? Who is this? Call the police." I was freaked out too. How did these men whom I had never seen possibly know where I lived? Why would they wait two hours for me only to flash their brights at me and just leave?

It was beyond bizarre. Then I put it all together. My encounter, plus my brother's FBI visit and his apartment break-in had to be tied together. But who was messing with us and why? Where was my dad? Why are these strange people harassing us? My mom, my brother, and I all went to the local police station, and we filed a missing

person's report. We spoke to a very nice detective. About five days later, we got a call from the detective. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that he had solved the whole weird case. Turns out, my dad disappeared because he owed his employers more than $50,000 in gambling debts.

The detective confirmed that my dad did work for some unsavory characters, but he said they weren't an organized crime ring per se. He had no idea if my dad was shuttling fugitives or not, but he did say that my dad was hiding out in Nevada, and that he had spoken to him. He was alive and well, but hiding. We asked who the hell these men were and why they bothered my brother. The detective explained that it's not uncommon for these unsavory bounty hunters and debt collectors to impersonate law enforcement to appear official as they call and harass people.

Since my dad had used my brother as a reference on his job application for the hotel, he listed my brother's home address and phone number. My brother asked how they got into his apartment. The detective explained that sliding glass doors are easy to open from the outside even if they're locked. He also said that the men probably stole the address book hoping that my dad's current contact information was in it. He said that the teddy bear and the pictures were stolen just to scare my brother, which

worked. My dad eventually returned to town. When he did, he acted like nothing even happened. He never spoke about the incident, and we never brought it back up. I guess he somehow paid back the money that he owed, but I don't know for sure. And I'll probably never know. Thanks for listening and make sure you stick around after the music for your extended version of this week's episode.

If you'd like to get access to that and add free versions of our episodes, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to sign up and support the show today. You'll get instant access to hours and hours of bonus content you won't find anywhere else. This week we included a story from Lynn from the Everything Scary podcast as well as stories titled Pursued on a Train, Play Date with a Kidnapper, and Late Night Visit. Again make sure you check that out at patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast. On this week's episode of let's not meet you have heard that time

I accidentally dated a sociopath by Abby Amuck, chased down by a car while walking with my mom by It's Just Dally. I feel like I'm about to lose my mind by drama affectionate 381, don't pick up hitchhikers by Chrissy510 and finally, my dad disappeared and the FBI came looking for him. By Dallas Mystery Lover. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online.

If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Finally, don't forget to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like Odd Trials, My True Paranormal Podcast, and the Old Time Radio Cast at crypticcountypodcasts.com. We'll see you all next week. Stay safe. I'm 39 now, but this took place when I was 11.