Something Was Wrong - S20 E1: There's No Way

Episode Date: April 18, 2024

*Content Warning: catfishing, fraud, interpersonal/domestic violence, emotional abuse, stalking, medical trauma, suicide, suicidal ideation, threats of self harm, violence. This season, our theme Song U Think U, by Glad Rags, is covered by Palehound. For music and tour dates, go to palehound.com.Follow El of Palehound and @bachelor_band: https://www.instagram.com/palehound/ Palehound on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/palehound-1 Free + Confidential Resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): https://www.ic3.gov/ Stalking Prevention, Awareness, Statistics & Resource Center (SPARC): https://www.stalkingawareness.org/ Follow Something Was Wrong:Website: somethingwaswrong.com IG: instagram.com/somethingwaswrongpodcastTikTok: tiktok.com/@somethingwaswrongpodcast Follow Tiffany Reese:Website: tiffanyreese.me IG: instagram.com/lookieboo See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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more get added every week. So if you're into secrets and suspense, or you want to explore any other genre, remember there's more to imagine when you listen to Audible. Your first audiobook is absolutely free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.ca. What if you married the love of your life and then stood by them as they developed 21 new identities? What Would You Do? This Is Actually Happening is a weekly podcast that features extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. Listen to the newest season of This Is Actually Happening on the Wondery app or wherever

you get your podcasts. Something Was Wrong is intended for mature audiences and may be distressing for some listeners. For a full trigger warning for each episode and for a list of resources for survivors and their loved ones, please see the episode notes. Pseudonyms are given to all minors and some survivors in these stories for their privacy and protection. Testimony shared by guests of the show is their own, and does not necessarily reflect the views of myself,

broken-cycle media, or Wondery. This podcast and any linked materials should not be construed as medical advice, nor is the information a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment. In response to the allegations against Jessica Pauley, she responded with no comment. Thank you so much for listening. You think you know me, you don't know me You don't know anybody You don't know anybody till you've talked to someone My name is Monica. I am from the Des Moines, Iowa area. And I first met Brody on Tinder late 2018, beginning 2019.

I had just gotten out of a very traumatic relationship. Kind of got back out there. The last person I was with, I was with for eight or nine years. So I'd never even really been on dating apps. I would definitely say I was very vulnerable, but also very excited to find someone to be with. So first getting on dating apps after that, it definitely took me a while. Really was scared to put myself out there. A lot of broken trust, a lot of traumatic stuff from the past relationship

to get over and I think some people take advantage of that for sure. Brody caught my eye. He was a cute guy, looked super outgoing. He looked different than other guys in Iowa, we'll just put it that way. That definitely caught my eye. Initially, when I had swiped right on him, he first messaged me. I don't remember word for word. I tried to black out this entire part of my life. He said he was living in Omaha and was in Des Moines to see a friend and that's how our distance, you know, we were able to match miles wise. So we matched.

I didn't really take anything seriously, not get my hopes up about it. He's pretty persistent, was asking for my number. I wasn't really interested to give my number out to people. So I thought it was safer to give out my Snapchat. He kept pushing, kept pushing and I thought, okay, maybe this man's actually serious and actually interested in me. So I ended up talking more, exchanging numbers. We talked a lot about The Bachelor, which was kind of funny. Started talking more and more. We were texting and Snapchat messaging. He would put pictures on his story and stuff. We got pretty close. We really connected,

I feel like in several ways. He knew exactly what to say to any girl. He would probably sweep them off their feet because he knew exactly what lines to use. He was in med school in Omaha for pediatric surgery. He was a pediatric nurse at the time in Omaha. So very busy in his life. I had two or three jobs at the time. So I was also very busy and trying to heal myself. We talked for probably a few months. heal myself. We talked for probably a few months. Summer now of 2019, we start talking about trying to get together. Us getting together was hard with the three hour, I don't want to call it long distance because three hours isn't long distance, but it's not convenient to just go grab dinner or grab a drink. It was inconvenient enough that that was not an option. There were several times where I would ask to FaceTime or whatever

and it was just he's too busy, so on so forth. A lot of messaging on Instagram also when he would have phone problems, it would be Instagram messaging, which I can recall a few times where he had broke his phone or that had to message on Instagram. He would always post stuff on his story. We talked about our future, what we wanted, kids getting married, all the things. He would send pictures of kids like, I can't wait to have a baby with you. One of the big things he would do is send songs, the cutest love songs and always stole my heart. I also work in healthcare. I really respected his love for kids and healthcare.

And he was persistent, said things like, I knew from the first second I saw you that you were the one for me. Messages he would send me like, I don't just think about right now, I think about seeing you for the one for me. Messages he would send me like, I don't just think about right now. I think about seeing you for the first time. Literally think about even a year down the road going grocery shopping together and goofing around. Me throwing random snacks in the car and you telling me how much of a child I am and then further down the road you asking me to send pictures of what I sent our kid to school in and you say, Brody, you did not send him like that.

You're lying. And I would definitely not be lying. God sent you into my life more than once. And I'm not even just saying it. In May, I knew you're the one I wanted and I couldn't give up. Stuff like that. It's a lot for not having met someone. It's hard for people to understand that we're in this situation.

Being fresh out of a very traumatic relationship where I wasn't getting that love and attention and affection, that's what I wanted. He does motocross racing with his cousin, Matt, who I also had on Snapchat and had talked to several times. Matt messaged me often about Brody. They had very different personalities, but they were very, very close.

He would always message me about him and like, he better not break his heart. He really likes you. He said Brody talked about me all the time and that's feelings for me and he doesn't talk to him about anyone and everyone. Matt was very goofy, goofy guy. Honestly, he was hilarious. There were a lot of times when things were hard with Brody that we'll get into, he would be there for support and explanations. Whenever

we needed him, we could reach out and he would be there to talk to us too. He was a good friend. He was supportive. They were going to do a motocross race and he was like you should come. Jess came into the picture when I was gonna go to this motocross race. Brody had told me this is finally gonna be my opportunity to meet after I said yeah I'll go. He later texted me saying hey up to you but I have a friend Jess in the Des Moines area she just moved there It's Matt's girlfriend or ex-girlfriend, whatever they were at the time. It went back and forth quite a bit. She is also gonna come to the race.

If you wanna ride together, I think you guys would get along great. It's up to you. I love making new friends. If there's any opportunity where I can hang out with a nice girl, sure. So I was all for it. Jess later added me on Snapchat and I have this message here.

So wild. Even though you've told me this before, I still feel like it's brand new information every time. Do you know what I mean? It blows my mind every time honestly and I lived it. Yeah. The so seamlessly just slipping in just yeah literally like no pressure. You guys can meet up and ride together and hang out at the race etc. This was back in August of 19 I believe. She was just like hey sorry it's been a crazy few days you know Matt right? And I was just like, hey, sorry, it's been a crazy few days. You know, Matt, right? And I was just like,

yeah, same. And yeah, I do. She said, it's okay. No worries. How do you know him Brody or something, right? And I was like, yeah, I've been talking to Brody. That's kind of how things started with her. We then made plans to go to this race together. I've never been a motocross race. Like what do you wear? What do you bring? Never even done this before. Of course, I would love a girlfriend to go with. We ended up making plans to go. We had to leave very early. It was a three hour drive for us. I just met her apartment so I could leave my car, her car, whatever we decided there. Before we even left, Brody had gotten in a big accident while they were already warming up at the track. And he did a jump and some guy cut in front of him and he got in a huge accident as being rushed to the hospital.

So Matt, of course, is messaging me, keeping me updated. And I am now with Jess, who obviously knows Matt and Brody. Matt texted me because Brody was unresponsive. We have a connection. I have feelings for him. We'd been talking for several months every day at this point and he was the only person I was talking to and giving my time and energy to.

I think he had already told me that he loves me and I know people think that's crazy because how do you love someone you haven't met? He'd said it to me, I'd not said it back, that he loves me. And I know people think that's crazy because how do you love someone you haven't met? He'd said it to me, I'd not said it back, but that still means something. So I was very panicked, very stressed. Last thing I said was,

hey, like I'm going to meet Jess and we're getting ready to head that way. And then I go to her apartment, she's finishing up getting ready. And all of a sudden there's this huge accident and I am freaking out. I don't want anyone to get hurt, let alone someone I am talking to and have been waiting so long to meet. The adrenaline was up, excitement was up. It was very, very stressful time. It did help a little bit, I think, that we had Matt texting like, hey, I'm going to the hospital with him.

This and this and this happened. I can't remember the details as there were several accidents that he got into in the time that I talked to him. Jess and I decide not to go because Matt is not racing as he's at the hospital with Brody and Brody's at the hospital where we can't see him. We don't go and I decide to hang out with her for the day because she knows them and is also worried. Looking back now, it all looks way different than it did the time of.

She's like, well, we can hang out today. Actually, I think my cousin is going to be in town. Maybe we can see if she wants to grab lunch or something. Jess was very friendly right off the bat. It wasn't really awkward at all. I was like, sure, I don't have anything else to do since we're not going to this race. So we ended up meeting up with her cousin to have lunch. She was like, hey, don't mention that we just met because she might think that it's rude that I'm

bringing a friend that I just met to lunch with me because she lives two hours away from the Des Moines area or something. So they don't see each other like all that often. I thought that was weird. She also had mentioned don't say anything about Matt because her whole family hated Matt. Whether they were together or not together they all strongly disliked him. She said she'd been lying to them about still talking to him so she didn't want me to say anything about Matt or Brody. Not that I was really gonna bring it up to her cousin anyways at lunch. We had lunch with her cousin and then we went to a movie. I was

checking my phone every five seconds to see if Brody had woke up yet. I hadn't heard anything from him all day. I'd been crying on and off, very emotional all day, trying to distract myself and she was helping me do that. I went home that night. I was living at my parents' house because I had lived with my ex and then moved in with my parents after that to save some money and hang out with him. It was like two or three days before I heard from him again. Matt was updating me. I was already talking to his brother Brad I heard from him again. Matt was updating me. I was already talking to his brother Brad at this point also.

So Brad was giving me updates. I had pictures of all these different people on my phone. I had pictures of Matt. I had pictures of Brody and Brad, his brother. I had pictures of his sister, Brooke. I didn't talk to Brooke very much. Brody and Brad, I had a picture together. I had a bunch of pictures of him and his friends,

him and his mom who had passed away. And that was a very emotional thing for him. So he finally texts me. I don't recall a whole lot because like I said, it happened several times in the quote unquote relationship. But I remember him texting me and being relieved I wanted to go see him. He was still in the hospital for a few days after that. I had hung out with Jess again. We decided to be friends because I was in Brody's life and she was in Brody's life and why not be friends?

Brody texts me, he's in the hospital, keeps saying he wants me to come when he knows that I can't come on a Wednesday or something when I am at work and I can't just not go to work to go see him in the hospital. I have a hard time calling into work when I am sick sick, so that was very mind twisting for me, but I never ended up going.

He got out of the hospital and then of course was behind on all of his schooling stuff now. So that was a huge stressor for him. Looking back after Jess was in my life was when there would be more ups and downs with Brody. Before, it was pretty much all highs and love bombing and our future and how perfect everything is and I'm the one for him and we're meant to be together and blah blah blah. And then after Jess was in my life and after he'd gotten this accident, gotten behind on school, was even more stressed. There was still a lot of

highs, but then the lows started coming into play. For instance, we got into an argument and he deleted me on Instagram and would not let me follow him anymore. And I was just like, what the heck? What are you hiding from me? He was just like, no, my ex tried to sabotage me through social media. So I'm just really careful with it now. After he took me off that day was last time I ever followed him on Instagram. And it was weird. Still messaged me on Instagram occasionally when his phone would break. He would notice that I would have a new male following me on Instagram, for instance, and I would be the world's biggest slut. And how do you deserve love? All because some guy followed me. I didn't even follow them. He has given all this time to me and all his love and how could I break his heart like that?

And then it would be the high of highs again and and everything would be okay in our future, and please forgive me. How often were you arguing? I would definitely say every week. We would be good, and then all of a sudden things would be bad, or he's too busy, blah blah blah, which would in turn, I would fight for him, which I look back now, and feel so horrible and stupid for doing. But I would fight for him like, forgive me, I will give you more space. I will help you through the schooling. You got it. Understanding that he doesn't have a lot of time for me right now, but I'll still be there for him and support him. I don't remember for sure when I first said I love you back to him, but it did happen after I met Jess, for sure. A few weeks after I met Jess, I was going to meet Brody again.

In May of 1980, near Anaheim, California, Dorothy Jane Scott noticed her friend had an inflamed red wound on his arm and seemed unwell. She insisted on driving him to the local hospital to get treatment. While he waited for his prescription, Dorothy went to grab her car to pick him up at the exit, but would never be seen alive again, leaving us to wonder, decades later, what really happened to Dorothy Jane Scott? From Wondery, Generation Y is a podcast that covers notable true crime cases like this one and many more. Every week, hosts Erin and Justin sit down to discuss a new case, covering every angle

and theory, walking through the forensic evidence and interviewing those close to the case to try to discover what happened. With over 450 episodes, there's a case for every True Crime listener. Follow the Generation Y podcast on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Generation Y ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus. He had a morning class, but he said, hey, come meet me before my morning class. I'll let you in. You can hang out at my apartment or do whatever you want to do while I have class and then

we'll spend the rest of the day together. And I was like, okay, here we go. I'm doing it. I had to get up at like 4.30 or 5 in the morning to drive three hours to get to his apartment, which I had an address for. Drove there by myself early in the morning. Brody was not awake yet, but I was talking to his brother Brad and he was telling me like where to go and where to park and whatnot. So I got there and I was waiting for Brody to wake up. It's getting closer and closer to the time where he's supposed to be at class and reminds

you he was a med school resident. You can't miss class as he stressed to me all the time. He wasn't waking up, wasn't waking up, wasn't waking up and his apartment complex was locked. I didn't know what apartment he was in or what his number was. So I could not get in the building or go knock on his door or anything like that. So I am sitting in this parking lot and I'm like freaking out because I am right there. I am outside his apartment complex and he is about to miss class. He's already missed so much class from being in an accident and playing catch up. I had tried to call Brad and Brad didn't answer. I was texting him, oh my gosh, Brody's not waking up. Like, what do I do? And Brad was just kind of like, well,

he's an adult. I hang out in Omaha. It was a beautiful day. And I'm walking around calling Brody's phone nonstop, just hoping that it will wake him up somehow. Maybe he'll finally hear it vibrate and wake him up. He slept the entire day. He slept, I think it was like 26 hours straight. While I was in Omaha, I called and called and called and called. Just had to work that day. So she was back in Des Moines at work. She was texting me throughout the day. I was walking downtown Omaha by myself. I am determined to get a hold of him and be there when he wakes up. I'm not gonna leave. I'm here. We're gonna finally meet. I go to a mall for three hours. I'm trying to kill all this time. Outside his apartment complex they have a little concert area, I guess I'm gonna call it.

They had like a stage right outside and there was a huge Nebraska game that day. It was packed full of people. And there was even a live band that was very loud right outside his apartment complex. I ended up going and hanging out there and having a few drinks by myself to the point where I was probably had had too many drinks that I shouldn't drive home. So Jess came after

work to Omaha, picked me up, we drove back to the Des Moines area, stayed at her apartment and then the next morning we went back and got my car in Omaha. There were times where I was questioning I have not met Brody and Jess is the only person I know that knows Brody. So there were a few times where I questioned things. I would watch her when we hung out and I'm like, there's no way there's there's no way. That's literally all I could there's no way that she could do all this and be all of these people that I was talking to. Like I said, I was talking to Brody and Brad and Matt. There was one time I was talking to one of his med school classmates, all of

which had different numbers. And I'm like, there's just no way she could be doing all this. It did cross my mind. After we got back to Des Moines, he texted me, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm just so, so tired from all the work and school work. And I passed out to the world. There was no waking me up. I was very upset with him, but I also felt bad because that's how I am, I guess. And then he said that I called his phone so many times

to try to wake him up that it died. After this happened, obviously all my close friends knew about Brody, like knew that I was talking to him. My closest friends knew a lot about Brody and details of how we met. They all knew that I was falling for him and were starting to get concerned that I had not met him. Hi, my name is Erica. Monica and I met in the fall of 2019. We worked together and we really became fast friends.

She's a really easy person to talk to and get along with. And she's super fun, energetic, bubbly. So even if you didn't have time for more friends or you didn't necessarily need more friends, she was gonna be your friend for sure. We had a really good time working together and then our friendship continued to grow over the years. She's a really sweet person. She will do anything for the people in her life.

And that was very obvious from the start. I feel like almost to a fault, she'll inconvenience herself to do something for someone else. What I love about Monica is that we can just be on the couch in our sweatpants talking for hours or she'll come over and bring a coffee to my house and play with my daughter and meet me where I'm at. When we met I was single and I didn't have a child. She's been with me through so many phases of my life, single and dating to being in a steady relationship to being pregnant to motherhood. When I first met her, she had gone through some pretty big life changes as well. She was in a new phase of life where she was single

and in the dating scene. When I first met her, she did briefly mention that she had been talking to somebody long distance, but didn't really go into a lot of details about that. She didn't really elaborate a lot. And I think hindsight, knowing what I know now, I know that it was a shameful experience in a way of, I've been talking to this guy for so long and we haven't met. Why people are shocked is because of who Monica is. She's beautiful. She's talented. She's so kind. So it's hard for people in her life to believe that she would talk to somebody and not meet them when there are so many and there were so many prospects in her life of people in real life men that wanted to date her and wanted to talk to her.

I think that goes to show how committed she is that she had opportunities left and right for real men to take her on dates and to give her attention and time. And she still stayed loyal to this person because she felt a genuine connection with them and never met them. This situation has caused her a lot of pain and hurt through the years. but I think that it also has hopefully given her some of the confidence and some of the ability to know her worth and know that she never deserved what she was put through and she built herself up from that. But regardless, she shouldn't have ever had to go through that in the first place. One of my friends, she wanted to talk to Brody.

So I gave them each other's numbers and they texted back and forth a bit. And he said, like, I'm jealous of all the memories you've had with Monica and we're just getting started. I can't wait to meet her. I promise I won't hurt her. What is Jess saying to you at the time about Brody and his behavior?

She talks to me about Brody quite a bit, because obviously that's one of my huge things going on in my life right now. I did talk to her about Brody because she was the only person in my life that knew Brody, so she would be there for me. And I mean, there's she would tell me stories about, you know, when her and Brody and Matt had hung out and the things that they've done. And one of the first times I talked to her actually, she was like, Oh yeah, ask Brody about when he likes to bake cookies when he's drunk or something. So I texted Brody, I'm

supposed to ask you about baking cookies when you're drunk. And he's like, Oh my gosh, who's talking, who's opening their mouth, blah, blah, blah. So she had all these things tied together and planned out. She went back and forth between being on our side and being on his side, like, he's not treating you right, you don't deserve that. But also like, oh, Brody's just Brody. We started hanging out quite frequently, like weekly. She was kind of that safe place for me being that she was the only one that knew Brody. In the beginning, we hung out a lot. She was kind of that safe place for me being that she was the only one that knew Brody. In the beginning, we hung out a lot. She wanted me to come over. I knew that she had a son, but he did not live with her at the time. She went to visit her family, which

is like two hours away. She wanted me to come with and meet her son. She didn't want to drive alone, whatever. So I went with her one day to hang out and meet him. The first time was okay, pretty normal. I met her sister and her cousins. And then shortly after, he moved to either his grandma's or his dad's, whatever one he wasn't at the first time. And there was a huge drama going on and we rode together and I

helped her move him out of, I want to say he was with her grandma and we moved all of his stuff over to her dad's house. I don't really know why he wasn't living with her. My family liked Jess. I, like I said, was living at my parents house at the time so if she ever came my way it would pretty much be to my parents house. They liked her. She started calling them her second parents like her second family, my family. Her son came to my house often. We would build forts in the basement. We had great times. After he ended up moving with Jess, I don't remember why, but they stayed at my parents' house for two weeks.

My parents were very open in helping them out and being there for them. On the Brody side of things, they knew about Brody not right away, but they did know about him a while after we'd been talking. When I talked about Brody to people, it was obviously only good things. I wanted people to like him. I wanted people to be supportive. And after the very traumatic relationship I had gotten out of, I think my parents were happy to see me so excited about someone. Then obviously the motocross race, he got in the accident, I didn't meet him. And then I went to Omaha and I didn't meet him. And I went to Omaha and I didn't meet him and I think that's when

they started getting a little concerned. I remember a time where Jess and her son were at our house and we were sitting outside with my dad. Brody had a week off and he was going to Dallas to visit his brother and he said, hey, I have a week off. Let me fly you to Dallas. We'll spend the week together here in Dallas." And I was not using a single brain cell. I was like, heck yeah, this is our chance. I'm finally going to meet him. Gonna fly to Dallas. And my parents, of course, being parents were like, no, you're not going to fly to Dallas and meet this guy for the first time. He stood you up twice and you're not going to fight a Dallas to meet him for the first

time. And I was like, well, I am. Jess was there while I was having this conversation with my dad. I looked at my dad and I said, dad, what's the problem? Jess knows him. Jess has hung out with him several times. Jess has known him for years. Jess is right here. She knows him. It's fine. He looked at Jess straight in the eyes and said, is

it okay that she goes to Dallas? Is it safe? Is this guy a good guy? And she looked back at him and said, yeah. To my dad's face, who had taken them in, given them a second home, been a second family to her and her son. And she looked at them straight in the eyes and said, yeah, it's fine. I also really got along with her sister, Jess's sister. I was decently close with her cousin too, to the point where if we would both be out tailgating, we would meet up. Or if I would run into her at the gym, we would catch up and talk a bit or Snapchat every now and again. I would probably assume that her sister Megan was more popular. Jess would even maybe be kind of jealous of Megan being like the perfect one, can do no

wrong, very religious. Jess talked about being very religious. We would watch church together some Sunday mornings. Like if I would ever spend the night on a Saturday night or something, we would get up and live stream church together Sunday morning. Brody was also very religious and wanted our relationship to be based around that. How much of the conversation would you say was like sexual sexting? So not right away. At the beginning I was like no we're not doing any of this

till I meet you. I wasn't into it. Then it ended up being so long until we were gonna be able to meet that stuff did start getting sexual. It was definitely him bringing it up every time that it happened, but it would be very very detailed. Sexting what he wanted to do and then there were some pictures sent both ways. I received photos back from him. So that obviously made things seem pretty real. I do remember him being like, I have a very, very high sex drive. Are you gonna be able to handle all this?

Are you gonna be able to keep up when we're together? All this kind of weird stuff. Hi, we still have even met face to face. But also we'd been talking for over six months at this point. If you were in a relationship that had been six months, that's the point you would be at. It was always brought on by him and very graphically detailed. Did he send you photos of him in the medical setting? I don't think I had too many pictures of him in the medical setting.

He was at the Omaha Children's Hospital and he would send me pictures from inside the hospital. He wasn't in those pictures. He always had an excuse. I'm a guy, I don't take pictures of myself. I work at a dental office. I used to be a CNA. And so funny because every time Brody would get

in his accidents he would explain everything that's wrong with me like wouldn't you try to pick someone who isn't in the medical field? Towards the beginning of us talking just getting to know each other messaging back and forth I had mentioned that I was out of a not very good relationship and I was like if we get to a time we can talk about it and I will be open with you about what I went through. And he was like, I need to know now. It was, I need to know now. And I think that was like, okay, she's really vulnerable.

I can attack. I definitely remember that because I was like, I finally told him, I was like, are you happy that I told you like, what the heck that still just sticks out in my brain. I did not go to Dallas thankfully. He sent me a picture of a ticket or a screenshot of a confirmation. I did not end up going and of course I got really shamed for that and got in a lot of trouble for not going. Was the reason that you ultimately decided not to go because of your parents' wishes? Yeah, it was mainly my parents. Even at 23, you know, it's still just gotta listen to your parents sometimes. I'm so glad you listened to them. Yeah, I oftentimes wonder what would have happened if I tried to go.

I was going to go there after my family Christmas. He was going to let me know that I was going to come hang out with him and his family. He would always tell me how much he has spoken so highly of me to his family. And his family loves me and they're so excited to meet me, which meant a lot to me because I feel like I'm a very big family person and obviously I want his family to love me. I would get down to it, I would be ready to go, bags packed, dressed, trying to look good

and I would sit there and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait. His main excuse for the holidays are both of his parents had passed away and it got to be very, very mentally challenging for him at that time. He couldn't have me come because he's falling apart, which I was upset about, but I tried really hard to understand at that point in time. I really hadn't lost anyone that close to me, so I couldn't really relate to what that was like for him and how he's handling it.

But yeah, I mean, obviously it was really hard to get all ready. I had got him Christmas presents. I was ready to go. I had baked some blueberry bread and stuff to take to his family so I didn't just show up empty-handed, treats. And Jess is aware of all of that, right? Yep, I showed her what I got for him for Christmas. Looking back, I realize at this point Jess had complete control over my life. Our friendship got to the point where we shared locations with each other so she slash Brody always

knew where I was. She had a view on my life as a good friend and a view from Brody's side where she could control if I had a good day or if I had a bad day depending on how Brody treated me or if he was in the hospital again for an accident or suicide attempt which added so much stress to my life. Back to how my family and friends felt about her and Brody, she hated all my other friends. None of my other friends were good enough to be in my life. Here's Monica's friend, Erica, again. Monica talked about Jess to me a couple of times,

and how she described Jess was this high maintenance friend that she had almost this anxiety and this feeling of pressure to hang out with her and call her and text her because if she didn't hang out with her, call her, text her, like Jess was the kind of person that would make you feel like shit about yourself if you weren't a good enough friend and it was just the guilt trips. And I think everybody's had that kind of high maintenance friend that they want to be your only friend. Those were the sentiments that Monica expressed when she first told me about Jess. And she, I think still genuinely was friends with Jess at that time and still liked Jess as a person. And as a

friend, Monica had said in the beginning one of the main reasons she stayed friends with Jess and continued that close relationship was because of her son. Because Monica was very close with her son and had developed that relationship and she loved being a part of his life. People I've been friends with for years, like one of my best, best friends who I grew up with went to daycare together. We, for our entire lives, lived less

than a block away from each other. She was the one that was texting with Brody for a while. She ended up being so concerned about Brody and I's relationship that she did some digging and contacted a girl who Brody said was one of his exes. And she messaged her and was like, Hey, what do you know about this guy? My friend's talking to him and I'm just getting kind of worried. This girl replied and said, Oh my gosh, he catfished me, blah, blah, blah. And this was

one of my first like, ohits. Of course I confronted Brody about it and Brody's like that's just my crazy ex she's trying to ruin everything she's trying to sabotage anything I have anything that will make me happy she's just jealous. Brody and Jess hated my friend why would she do that to me etc. I was still good friends with her, but I would definitely say that friendship took a toll a little bit. And I, at that point started not hiding Brody from my friends and family, but I stopped talking about it because I didn't want to hear what everyone had to say to the point where it was getting toxic and abusive enough that I felt stuck and didn't feel like anyone else understood where I was or how I couldn't just be done or give it up. Every

time I tried to end things with him and be like, this isn't working out. I haven't met you yet. We're not going to have time. How is this going to work if we don't have time to even meet face to face after this long? And they would be suicide threats and then shaming me like I don't deserve love and making me feel guilty about all of it. Even more so than my relationship prior to Brody, which I mean, if you heard that story, you'd probably lose your mind too. But this Brody time period of my life was the lowest I've ever been. Confidence, self-worth, everything, I felt unlovable. I thought it was over for me. Like I was in a very, very dark place and I just felt like it was never going to end. And I was stuck in this cycle of highs and lows and guilt and feeling completely isolated from the rest of my life and controlled

by that relationship. So it was definitely a very dark time for me and scary in several ways. That's definitely one of the main reasons we are trying to get our stories out there, because it's not okay, and it's not just some innocent prank that she's playing on friends, like, has been told for myself. And I know some of the other girls have said, too, that this was a very, very low time in all of our lives,

and that's why I literally tried to block out and forget that I even existed these years. I've tried to forget everything until it all got brought up again. When we found out, there was definitely a lot of self guilt. She knew exactly what she was doing when she would set up all these fights or traumatic accidents and stuff just

to have us running to her for comfort, knowing very well that she was probably the one we would go to since she's the one that knows this person. She would watch us get ready for dates just to get canceled on. She would watch me leave and drive to Omaha just to know that I'm driving there to meet nobody. Her and I went together to a Nebraska tailgate to meet Brody and Matt because they were going to be there. And obviously we went together knowing very well that he would not be there. We were at a bar and Brody and Matt were going to come meet us there. It was a huge tailgate. So

it was super, super busy. Some guy asked for my number. I gave it to him just to not be rude. I went, I don't know, obviously you can be not rude and not give someone your number, but whatever. I guess Matt oversaw me giving some guy my number and then all of a sudden all hell broke loose. Brody was blowing up my phone, shaming me once again, like, you're the biggest slut,

you don't deserve love. How could you do this for me? I'm here for you. I want you. And I've done all this for you. And you don't even care. And blah, blah, blah. And I sat on the curb in Lincoln, Nebraska, crying with Jess there by my side. Obviously, she is Matt, she is

Brody, she is Brad, she is all these people. So she is the one that did that to me just to sit there and comfort me on the other end. It's so cruel. And the fact that it was like, oh, I was there and I was going to meet you, but you fucked it up. Again, it's so incredibly cruel to do that to someone and then once again it's just bonding you to her. Right. She was very very good at making me feel like I was the guilty one and I was the one in the wrong. In some way shape or form it was always my fault. The only times I would get phone calls from Brody are when something was wrong or we were having a disagreement or a fight. Then I would get a phone call from him and

miss it. And then when I would try to call back, he would never answer. That was the only time I ever got phone calls from him. Mainly in bad times, disagreements. It wasn't like, oh, let's catch up on our day or how'd your day come or anything like that. One time for a few weeks, Brody came and did one of his rotations in Des Moines, which I was very excited for because obviously that's where I live and I was like, okay, heck yeah, it's gonna happen. Before he even got to Des Moines, it was a very mentally hard time for him, which he had a lot of. I tried my best to understand that, as a lot of his mental problems stemmed from losing his parents. He came and did a few weeks of a rotation in Des Moines,

and I literally every night would try to see him, try like, let's get dinner, I'll literally grab you a coffee and see you for 15 minutes before your shift, like anything, anything, anything, I tried it. The whole time he was in Des Moines, he did not see me. I went to the hospital one time when he was there and he was gonna have a break. So I showed up, Jess was also working. So I met up with her and she was on a break

and we were walking around the hospital and I was waiting for Brody to be on his break and message me, messaging him that I'm there. And what do you know, he got pulled into a huge surgery and couldn't meet me when I was there. I drove around the parking garage several times when he was in Des Moines looking for his car. That was probably four to five, maybe even closer to six months into the quote unquote

relationship when I talked to my dad about it. He was like, yeah, that's when I was done with him. He was in Des Moines in your town and still didn't make time to see you. And that's when my dad was really pissed about the whole thing. So she's like walking around with you like, oh, I wonder if he's over here. She literally showed me like the OR room door that he was in. She is so diabolical. Do you know how much I would be sweating trying to pull something like that off? Right. Why would she risk that? Why even set the expectation?

I literally don't know. Like, why would you even say that he's coming to Des Moines? But purpose like... Because then afterwards, when it doesn't happen, is he then using suicidal ideation or manipulation with you? Oh yeah, he started the suicide stuff before Des Moines for sure. I had a really hard time with that because I felt guilty. I don't wanna be the reason someone is gonna take their life potentially.

If he was being serious about it or not, I took it seriously. I just didn't think that that was something that I could live with and not think about every day if he had taken his life because of me. So that was something that definitely kept me around for longer than I should have been. And every time I would try to leave or I would do something bad, quote unquote, and it would be my fault, then it would just be suicide threats. I did have Brad message me a few times that Brody was just off his rocker, losing his mind and not doing well and you need to come here and help him. She is damn good at doing this and has only gotten better, obviously, throughout the years.

The suicide threats and the threats of harming himself really had me in a chokehold because I didn't want to be the reason for anyone to do that. So I really felt stuck in those times. It just blows my mind how good she was and is at doing this. And you really, really, really don't know unless you're in this situation. Honestly, anytime you're talking or interested in someone, red flags aren't always red.

You get that all the time in relationships, but there was just always a reason, an excuse for everything that seemed good enough. Mid to near end of that relationship. And we finally stopped talking at the beginning of 2020. Two or three years after I was done with Brody, I say done very loosely because we were done several times and then he would reach back out and reach back out and keep me like attached by a leash in a sense. Right when we would be done, it would be like two weeks of no talking and then it would be like I need you in my life, which I fell for every time.

We went to a going away party for Jess before she was moving out of state. And I brought two of my good friends because we were in the Des Moines area together. And I was like, I would love to come to your going away dinner, but these two are going to come with me. She said, oh, yeah, that's fine. Here's Monica's friend, Erica. The first time I met Jess in person was a going away party for her when she was moving to North Carolina. This going away party was at a Mexican restaurant. When we got there, we were there after the

majority of the party was there. It was probably 15 other women sitting around this long table. And as soon as we walked in, it was so uncomfortable. Jess, she was sitting in the middle of the table and there was people sitting on either side of her. She made people move so that Monica could sit right next to Jess. She made several people move down the chairs and then myself and our friend that were there with Monica sat at the very end of the table by ourselves. So it was already kind of an odd situation that you already have friends surrounding you, but you made them physically get up and move seats so that Monica could be right next to her.

And then we're sitting down at the end of the table, don't know anybody else there, which is fine. This is a going away party. We wanted her to be able to say her goodbyes and whatnot, but we didn't know anyone at the table. So we're kind of talking amongst ourselves, myself and our other friend. And we're there for maybe an hour before we leave and go about what our pre-planned plans already were.

And then Monica gets a text from Jess saying, your friends are bitches. And I'm shocked that you're friends with people like that because they were so rude to everybody at this dinner and it was very shocking and you could tell how possessive Jess was over Monica. Obviously making everyone get out of their seat and move so that Monica can be right next to her and then going on to say that we're bitches because we weren't talking to everybody at the table when we didn't know

anyone and you forced the one person that we did know to sit super far away from us. It was just a whole awkward experience and our lack of enthusiasm apparently made us bitches. Such bitches. Yes. Such bitches. Wow. My name is Mick.

I met Monica working at a tanning salon where we do airbrush tans. I met her I think in 2018 or 2019, but we didn't really become close friends until 2020. But once we did get close, we got close really fast. Monica is just one of the sweetest people I think I've ever met. She's very selfless. She gives her all into her relationships and she's just so kind and giving.

Did you ever meet Jess? We did meet once at a dinner and it was her going away dinner. Erica and I ended up sitting next to each other and Monica ended up sitting next to Jess. I thought that everything was fine throughout the dinner but then afterwards Monica got a text from Jess saying that we were so rude throughout the entire dinner. That was just a very strange thing to get from someone who you didn't really interact with for them to say that you're being rude.

She was like painting her nails at the table at this restaurant. Okay. There's not been further proof that she's a psychopath than the fact that she was painting her fingernails in a restaurant because only a psychopath would do that. I know. Are you fucking kidding me? I am not joking. She has Monica to go put on her lashes in the bathroom and yeah it was just very strange. Were you sitting there thinking this chick is insane? Well yeah I mean she's painting her nails at the table and we're kind of just looking at each other like, oh, okay.

Did anything else strike you strange about the vibes at the table or Jess's behavior? She had coworkers there and I could tell she was really close with her coworkers, but it felt like everyone else was a little uncomfortable. Monica had mentioned that one of the girls who was friends with Jess, Jess had mentioned to Monica that she didn't really like her. So Monica was kind of trying to like stay in her lane, but Monica is just a very sweet person and so she's always going to be kind to everybody. But there was already some feelings with feeling like the other girl didn't like her going

to this dinner, but that was all manufactured by Jess finding out now because she didn't want them to talk to each other because they were both going through the same things. What was your response when Monica told y'all later about the text messages about y'all being bitches? I was so taken back. I couldn't understand why anything that we had done would prompt the response that we were being rude or being bitches.

I was just so thrown off by her feeling that way. But I'm also kind of a person where I feel like people's feelings are valid. And so I was trying to reflect on what did we do to make her feel like we were being rude. And I couldn't think of anything. When did you first hear about Brody from Monica? It was during the time when we started to get closer. I hadn't heard anything about it prior to then. I don't think we were in that space where she felt comfortable to divulge that information, which is definitely understandable.

But it wasn't necessarily the whole story until I think a little bit later where she gave more information about the situation. And I think the only reason she really ended up divulging it. It was because he had popped back up periodically. And you could tell she was visibly distraught about the situation that she had been a part of previously that she thought was over with, kept popping back in randomly. You could tell it definitely caused her a lot of stress, and it was very hard on her to go through that. If Brody caught wind that I was talking to anyone else, he would contact them, which I think is crazy. One of my friends posting a picture of us on Facebook and then her cousin, her male cousin, commented something on it.

And he ended up reaching out to him. And this guy was like, "'Who is this Brody that's contacting me? "'What's going on?' And I was just like, "'Oh my gosh.'" It was an innocent comment like, "'Oh, you girls look nice.'" And Brody was contacting him.

Like, "'What the fuck? "'Are you and Monica fucking around?' All this bizarre stuff. My friend's male cousin commented on her Facebook picture of us, like chill. I had posted a picture at my work Christmas party with only my coworkers and I got yelled at

because I was just posting that picture for attention. Every time I would post a picture, it would be for attention and because I'm a slut and I'm just looking for other guys attention and so on and so forth. When I was done with Brody 100% finally and I had started talking to my now boyfriend, he had added my now boyfriend on Snapchat and messaged him. I don't remember what the message said and neither does my boyfriend, but I remember not being official with my boyfriend yet, but freaking out because I was interested

in him obviously and having to explain this whole thing about who this Brody guy is and just having to deal with all that, which is ridiculous in my mind. My new boyfriend was like I could care less. There's definitely a few times where he messaged me during my relationship to try to like get me back. After I had been with my now boyfriend for almost two years, Brody messaged me and said I want to see you and I hate the way things happened or I guess didn't happen. I know you're happy, but it's not supposed to be with someone else. That was always supposed to be us. I don't want to complicate things. That's not my intention.

It just sucks because deep down I want to fight it because you were mine first. I still want family and marriage the way we'd always talked about it. I'm in a better spot and ready for that when I wasn't before. But I lost my chance and that is something I could have to live with and end up settling. So that is what he was messaging me while I was in a relationship with my boyfriend. And I know that he was doing that because I never got closure from him. There were several times in our relationship where things were over and then it would be love bombing again and get me back in a sense.

I'm so sorry, blah, blah, blah, you know, all the typical excuses and stuff. I remember saying I am happy now. When he tried to add him on Snapchat, I definitely went into a full blown panic, knowing very well what was going on, that Brody was trying to ruin things in that relationship, as he has in the past. My current boyfriend knew the story with Brody. I mean, as much as I had known at that point anyways,

he knew about my relationship prior. It was hard to talk about Brody. I was embarrassed that I had let that go on for so long without meeting him. Here's Monica's friend, Mick. When she did finally tell me the situation about Brody, she did mention that Jess was her only connection to Brody. And that was a hard thing to hear because you want to assume the best in people. Here's Erica.

And she moved across the country and that was truly the best thing for Monica because it created space for that friendship to dissolve and for her to have the clarity of Jess is not a good person, she's not a good friend. And it took away her son being here was kind of that one last link that I feel like Monica felt that obligation to stay in his life and that was no longer there. I was very freshly done with Brody and driving to St. Louis to see the guy I was talking

to. I'm driving and my friends in the car and it's like 1 a.m. and we're driving to St. Louis for the weekend and as my friend Jess is blowing up, this is when she had left Iowa. She moved to the North Carolina area. We were still friends, still talked on the phone, still FaceTime, still Snapchat, it's still everything, but she was livid that I was going to St. Louis for the weekend and not making time to come to North Carolina to visit her. I just remember her texting me these long, long messages,

just completely tearing me apart, and I am not good at brushing that shit off. I take everything, pretty much everyone says to me, to heart. I finally got to St. Louis and got to the guy's house that I was talking to, and I just lost it. Like, I was bawling to the point where I was hyperventilating because of how she was talking to me and screaming at me.

And she had my location and she knew exactly where I was. That was definitely one of the very, not that there hasn't been like some toxic things before that with her, but that was the first time where I was like what the heck just happened? I was really blindsided by all of that honestly because I mean she was my friend, she knew that Brody and I were done at that time but I also feel like she was attacking me because she didn't have the control of Brody being the one upset with me. So she had to be the one to be upset. I Remember being very very very upset that night in the next day and it was just all I could think about. Like why would that happen? Why was she so upset? Obviously driving to St. Louis

that was five and a half hours away is kind of different than getting on a plane and flying to North Carolina for a week or whatever. Two completely different situations cost-wise, time-wise. We did rekindle our friendship. Once she moved, I would say I was kind of relieved because it set a boundary that we needed. Because like I said, there were a few toxic times. I was kind of done with Brody too, but he would still like peek in every now and again, and her and I were still friends, but I got left out of a lot because she was doing stuff with Bree, which is fine. I mean,

obviously I didn't super understand it then. Like, oh, you guys are having a pool day. I would love to join, but I would get left hanging. But that's because Bree was there and I couldn't be in the same vicinity. The control of her hating all my friends and trying to put spacers in between me and all of my friends that aren't her, it circles around to control. There's a lot of control there as Bree and I continue to this day to find out the lies that she has said about each of us to each other. She told me that she met Bree through the hospital that she worked at because Bri also worked at the same hospital as her.

So I didn't even question that. But I was never allowed to be close to Bri. And she would always just say once they moved in together, like, oh, Bri is just really picky. She doesn't want anyone at the apartment. And then it got to the point where she would tell me, oh, Bri just doesn't really care for you, which hit me really hard because I don't understand why someone wouldn't like me if they hadn't met me. And then, of course, to Bri, she was saying like Monica doesn't want to come out.

She just wants to stay home. She's being lame. And then on my side, I was never getting invited to anything they were doing, because she was just trying to control Bri and I and not let us have a chance to even talk to each other or get close or anything. This season on Something Was Wrong. This is Tiffany. Hey Tiffany, this is Jess. I just talked to you on the phone. I need to know how you got my number. I'm reporting these things.

Oh, it's publicly listed on the internet. It's not because my phone number is a brand new phone number. Oh, is your privacy important to you? It is. It's important to all your victims too. Okay. You have no proof that I did anything. I have so much proof it's insane, baby girl. You have no proof that I did anything. I have so much proof.

It's insane, baby girl. So I'm sitting there at work, and I get this message request on Instagram. I open it, and it's literally a whole ass book talking about someone using my pictures in Iowa to catfish girls. And I was like, you're kidding. I don't believe this for one second.

And they're like, no, this is real. I had to tell her three years into the relationship, quote unquote, with Brody that I've been talking to this guy I haven't met, and she's terrified for me. I wanted to fly there because he was in the hospital, and she just had the worst feeling about it. I feel like the reason she took so long to tell me was because deep down she knew something was not right.

From the moment Lauren met Jess, I thought that Jess was Brody. Did you tell her that? Yes, yeah I did. I was laying in Jess's bed. I was crying my eyes out. She's rubbing my back and playing Christian music, hoping that I can get through this. He said, this sounds like a true crime documentary waiting to happen where there is someone obsessed with another person and they ultimately end up dead. I never thought or never could fathom it getting worse or crazier or weirder because it was already so bizarre and then I'm on the phone and we connect the dots and it's like ten steps way worse. I met Quote Brody in July of 2019 and then Jess only a month or two after. I don't know that Jess could be physically that close to Brie and Brie not realizing

that as she's sending texts, Jess is responding. So there has to be somebody else. There has to be somebody else in this picture, right? Jess was screaming at me and just basically saying, I want nothing to do with you since you think I'm a fake person. And played it till the very end. I'm like blowing their phones up, like, please answer the fucking phone. Finally, Bri's roommate picks up and I'm like, has Bri ever met Brody in real life?

And it was like a deadpan silence. And then I just hear her like scream cry. Oh my God, it was horrible. That's when it truly sat in that I'm dealing with a sociopath that I welcomed her into my home. She has this crazy twisted mindset. She somehow manages to somehow have this web of knowledge for all of the people she's talking to

and all of the stories that she has to keep straight. I genuinely had the purest of intentions and it's so sick and cruel how someone can keep something going like that. Especially your best friend who you do everything with and you live with and you confide in, back-signing. I didn't know she still had access to that camera in our common space. He was just very angry with me. That was the first time he scared me. That's when I tried to get away and the first time he had overdosed ended up in the hospital. I hear bang, bang, bang, bang, bang right on the window. I run upstairs, I grab her son, I grab the dogs,

and we go upstairs and the person is shining their flashlight in my bedroom window. I'm freaking out, calling the police, crying, but also completely frozen. Like I couldn't move. All I could say was, please hurry, please hurry, please hurry. The suicides, everything was exactly the same

and it was just like a scary, insane movie. And for all these years, she was friends with both of them and kept them so separate. They were like, let's just take this to social media. I'm done, let's just expose her. I watched the first one and then I called her and I'm just like, what the fuck? She is still doing this and we were jumping up and down,

freaking out. I cannot believe that she is still doing this. And to this extent, the similarities are so crazy. Her thought process and her games and manipulation is all still the same. It's all heightened to this expert level. Bree's like, oh, there's another victim, there's this victim.

Adding more girls, we're getting more stories. This Brody time period of my life was the lowest I've ever been. I was in a very, very dark place. It takes a special kind of sick individual to do this to one person, let alone the 20, plus it's criminal, and she should be in jail. Unfortunately, based on the evidence that we have,

Jessica Pauley has been doing this for 18 years. I'm not surprised by that. I am working on a case and your name has come up on it. So I was wondering if I could reach out to you for comment. What case, who is it in regards to? Jessica Pauley. Um, oh. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, stay safe friends.

Something Was Wrong is a broken cycle media production created and hosted by me, Tiffany Reese. This season, our theme song, You Think You, by Gladrags, is covered by Pale Hound. For music and tour dates, go to palehound.com. If you'd like to support the show further, you can share episodes with your loved ones, leave a positive review, or follow Something Was Wrong on Instagram at SomethingWasWrongPodcast. I hang up but I know it's not their fault They think they know me, they don't know me Well, at all, at all, at all You think you know me, you don't know me well at all At all, at all, at all

You don't know anybody till you talk to someone. early and ad free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com survey.