Introducing: Clues with Morgan Absher & Kaelyn Moore

Summary

Into The Dark: Introducing Clues with Morgan Absher & Kaylin Moore Release Date: July 15, 2025

In the latest episode of Into The Dark, host Payton Moreland unveils an exciting expansion to the true crime universe: the brand-new crime house original series, Clues, hosted by Morgan Absher and Kaylin Moore. This detailed summary explores the key elements of the episode, highlighting the introduction of the new series, the backgrounds of its hosts, personal anecdotes shared by the hosts, and an overview of the first case they tackle—the infamous Laci Peterson disappearance.

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Introduction to Clues

Payton Moreland kicks off the episode by introducing Clues, a new true crime series that delves deep into some of the most notorious crimes. She emphasizes the unique combination of expertise brought by the hosts:

Payton Moreland [00:00]: "Clues unpacks the forensic evidence and obsessive sleuthing behind the investigations that still have people talking to this very day."

Clues promises to explore a variety of cases each week, from shocking murders to high-stakes trials, dissecting the forensic details and investigative techniques that lead to breakthroughs in these mysteries.

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Meet the Hosts: Morgan Absher & Kaylin Moore

Morgan Absher and Kaylin Moore bring a dynamic partnership to Clues, each contributing their distinct strengths:

• Morgan Absher is described as the Internet detective, adept at uncovering online theories and obscure details that may not be immediately apparent in official case files.

  Morgan Absher [01:45]: "I'll be diving into the theories and pulling at the threads of these cases that seemingly add up or don't."

• Kaylin Moore serves as the true crime expert, meticulously breaking down the timelines and hard facts to piece together the narrative of each case.

  Kaylin Moore [01:29]: "I'm Kaylen Moore and I'll be piecing together the timelines and bringing the history to break down the hard facts of these cases."

Their combined expertise ensures a comprehensive exploration of each case, appealing to listeners who appreciate detailed analyses as well as those intrigued by internet-driven theories.

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Hosts' Personal Interlude

Before diving into the first case, Morgan and Kaylin engage in a light-hearted conversation, sharing personal updates that humanize them and build a connection with the audience:

• Morgan discusses wedding dress shopping:

  Morgan Absher [04:01]: "I went wedding dress shopping recently. It was a lot. Yeah, I was very overwhelmed."

• Kaylin shares about her move back to Los Angeles:

  Kaylin Moore [04:52]: "Packing up my house to move back to LA full time. Everything's in boxes. It will be my second cross country move in a year."

This segment not only provides a glimpse into their lives but also sets a relatable tone for the series.

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Diving into the First Case: The Disappearance of Laci Peterson

The episode transitions smoothly into discussing the inaugural case for Clues—the mysterious disappearance of Laci Peterson in 2002, a case that captivated the nation and remains a topic of debate.

Background of Laci and Scott Peterson

• Laci Rocha was a vibrant individual born on May 4, 1975, in Modesto, California. Friends described her as someone who "didn't care what you thought of her" and was "just happy to be where she is and who she is" (Kaylin Moore, 06:45).

• Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, initially seemed supportive, attending Lamaze classes and participating in family activities.

Key Events Leading to Disappearance

• In December 2002, Laci became eight months pregnant. Despite initial support, tensions rose as Scott's desire to become a father wavered.

• On December 24, 2002, Laci vanished. Scott provided conflicting accounts of his whereabouts:

  Morgan Absher [09:45]: "He left at 9:30am, said Laci was watching Martha Stewart on TV... initially said he had gone and played golf that day."

• Investigations revealed inconsistencies in Scott's alibi. He claimed to have played golf, a story he told multiple people, but evidence showed he actually took a boat out on a marina—a detail not previously disclosed to his family or Laci.

  Kaylin Moore [09:56]: "He was going to take his boat out on the marina. And according to Scott, his family, including Lacy, didn't even know that he had this boat."

Suspicious Details and Timeline Discrepancies

• Scott's actions on December 24 raised suspicions:

  • Purchased a boat launch ticket at Berkeley Marina at 12:54 PM.

  • Left a voicemail for Laci at 2:15 PM claiming he was heading back, implying a brief outing on the water.

  • Geographic and temporal analysis suggested that the round trip would require about five hours, yet Scott only spent approximately 30 to 45 minutes on the water, which was insufficient time for such a journey under normal circumstances.

    Morgan Absher [11:10]: "Berkeley is over 80 miles away from Modesto... shows that the drive is around two and a half hours. We're talking about a five-hour round trip."

• Furthermore, Scott operated the boat alone, adding complexity and raising questions about the legitimacy of his activities.

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Conclusion and What Lies Ahead

As the episode wraps up, Morgan and Kaylin express their enthusiasm for embarking on this new journey with Clues, inviting listeners to join them every Wednesday for in-depth explorations of gripping true crime cases.

Kaylin Moore [05:28]: "We'll definitely have something by the end."

Morgan Absher [12:51]: "On Christmas Eve."

Listeners are encouraged to follow Clues on various podcast platforms and social media to stay updated and engage with visual content related to the cases discussed.

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Notable Quotes:

• Payton Moreland [00:00]: "From shocking murders to high stakes trials, Clues unpacks the forensic evidence and obsessive sleuthing behind the investigations that still have people talking to this very day."

• Kaylin Moore [01:29]: "I'm Kaylen Moore and I'll be piecing together the timelines and bringing the history to break down the hard facts of these cases."

• Morgan Absher [09:45]: "He left at 9:30am, said Laci was watching Martha Stewart on TV... initially said he had gone and played golf that day."

• Morgan Absher [11:10]: "Berkeley is over 80 miles away from Modesto... shows that the drive is around two and a half hours. We're talking about a five-hour round trip."

This introductory episode sets the stage for Clues to become a compelling addition to the true crime podcast genre, promising meticulous analysis and intriguing narratives that will keep listeners engaged week after week.

Transcript

[Peyton Moreland]

Hey, guys, it's Peyton Moreland. And if you're enjoying into the dark, I have got something you need to check out. It is the brand new crime house original series, Clues, hosted by Morgan Absher and Kailyn Moore. And if their names sound familiar to you, that's because Morgan hosts the podcast two Hot Takes, and Kaylin hosts the podcast Heart Starts Pounding, which I have actually done crossover episodes with. And they're coming together to host this new true crime series, Clues. Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin take you deep into the world of the most notorious crimes ever, where a single clue can crack a case wide open. From shocking murders to high stakes trials, Clues unpacks the forensic evidence and obsessive sleuthing behind the investigations that still have people talking to this very day. Kaylin is your true crime expert, breaking down the cold, hard facts of these cases. And Morgan is your Internet detective, going into full Reddit mode to uncover the theories and weird details that you definitely haven't heard. So whether you're obsessed with the details, deep into Internet theories, or just love a good forensic tw, you have to check out Clues. Check out this clip from the very first episode.

[Morgan Absher]

Hi. Welcome to Clues, where we sneak past the crime scene tape to explore the key evidence behind some of the most gripping true crime cases.

[Kaylin Moore]

And these aren't just ordinary cases. They're complex puzzles where forensic science, investigative techniques and and sheer grit collide to uncover the truth and deliver justice. I'm Kaylen Moore and I'll be piecing together the timelines and bringing the history to break down the hard facts of these cases.

[Morgan Absher]

And I'm your Internet sleuth, Morgan Abshur. I'll be diving into the theories and pulling at the threads of these cases that seemingly add up or don't.

[Kaylin Moore]

So you've probably heard of the Laci Peterson case. It's one of the most infamous criminal trials in recent history. A pregnant Laci vanished without a trace in 2002. But what you might not know is a few key pieces of evidence shifted the investigation and ultimately led to a conviction. One that some people think they got wrong.

[Morgan Absher]

Stay with us because we're about to break down the details that had the entire country captivated back in 2002 and still have people actively debating to this day. Okay, here we go. Our very first episode of Clues. Our very first episode.

[Kaylin Moore]

I'm so excited. It's been a long time coming.

[Morgan Absher]

It has been a long time coming. And I'm, I'm sitting here. I'm. I'm very nervous. You Guys, I'm sweating. And I don't know if that's because it's our first episode or.

[Kaylin Moore]

Well, this is a little outside of your domain because Two Hot Takes is so different from this kind of show. We cover a lot of stuff like this on Heart starts Pounding.

[Morgan Absher]

So this isn't your first rodeo, but.

[Kaylin Moore]

I think both of our audiences are probably very interested in true crime.

[Morgan Absher]

Oh, I think this is going to be a have your cake and eat it too.

[Kaylin Moore]

Absolutely. And so, first of all, just thank you to everyone from our shows, Two Hot takes and Heart starts Pounding that is here listening to us right now. Everyone that came over from our shows to listen to this new one, thank you so much for your support. It does not go unnoticed. We see you guys. We love you guys.

[Morgan Absher]

Very, very appreciated.

[Kaylin Moore]

And I was actually thinking, because a new show like this, ratings and reviews really help these shows grow. So if you're listening and you can comment wherever you're listening, leave a little THT or HSP in the comments so that we know where you're coming from.

[Morgan Absher]

I know. What are we gonna end up calling this family? Our. Our little blended un.

[Kaylin Moore]

I don't know. We'll have to come up. Maybe. Maybe you guys will come up with a title. Please do.

[Morgan Absher]

Because I have not come up with anything for my two Hot Takes people. I'm like. I go back and forth. I'm like the. The hot take ins. Like, what. What are we over there, you guys? So.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah, well, we know it takes army.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. So what are we going to be here? Detectives, Investigators.

[Kaylin Moore]

We'll think of something. We'll. We'll definitely have something by the end. Okay. But what's new in your life?

[Morgan Absher]

I went wedding dress shopping recently.

[Kaylin Moore]

Oh, my gosh.

[Morgan Absher]

It was a lot. Yeah, I was very overwhelmed.

[Kaylin Moore]

You went to, like, a really nice place, right?

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, I went to Kleinfeld's. I was like, a fan of say yes to the dress, but, like, I didn't know how intense it was gonna be. And it was still an enjoyable experience. But, like, you definitely feel the pressure there.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah. Did you feel pressured to pick something while you were there?

[Morgan Absher]

I might have been peer pressured into a dress.

[Kaylin Moore]

Oh, are you. Are you happy? Like, in hindsight, are you happy with the one that you.

[Morgan Absher]

I'm looking for a second dress.

[Kaylin Moore]

Oh. Yeah. Honestly, some of the prettiest dresses I've seen come from, like, Lulu's and, like, 60 dresses from online.

[Morgan Absher]

Honestly, I went to, like, anthropology after, and their dresses are, like, just beautiful and affordable. And yeah, it's Fine. It'll be a journey. You guys will see it when the day does come. But what's going on in your world?

[Kaylin Moore]

Packing up my house to move back to LA full time. Everything's in boxes. It will be my second cross country move in in a year. In 12 months, 365 days.

[Morgan Absher]

Two moves. No, thank you.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah, it's a lot. It's like right when we unpacked the last box in the house, we packed it all back up and we're coming back.

[Morgan Absher]

But don't. Don't feel bad if you have some boxes sitting there after a year of living in your place, like me, Are.

[Kaylin Moore]

You seeking from experience? It's fine.

[Morgan Absher]

That's fine. You know, we're starting a new podcast. I don't have time to unpack after a year. No, I know it's hard.

[Kaylin Moore]

It really is. It's. It's. The packing is stressful. The unpacking.

[Morgan Absher]

Oh, I'll pack all day.

[Kaylin Moore]

I'll just take forever.

[Morgan Absher]

I will pack all day. Yeah, I need someone to help me.

[Kaylin Moore]

I'd rather put it in the box than out of the box. I don't know mentally why we do that, but it is a thing.

[Morgan Absher]

It's so odd.

[Kaylin Moore]

But do you think we should jump into our very first case?

[Morgan Absher]

Let's do it. Today we are opening up the case file for the murder of Lacey Peterson. But before we get into this case, let's talk a little bit about who Lacey was. Lacey Rocha was born on May 4, 1975, in Modesto, California. During all of my research for this episode, it was clear that Lacey was just a spark of light. I actually found a really Great article from SFGate where some of her friends were interviewed. And I love this quote from them. Quote, she didn't care what you thought of her. She was just happy to be where she is and who she is. Just so sure of herself. I love that happy. Go. Lucky gal. In 1994, Lacey met a fellow student named Scott Peterson at a party in San Luis Obispo, California. But nothing came of that initial meeting until she ran into him again at a restaurant where he worked as a waiter. She was so smitten with him. And in a bold move, Lacey actually gave Scott her phone number.

[Kaylin Moore]

Brave woman.

[Morgan Absher]

There's actually an article I found where Lacey's mom, Sharon, recalled her calling her after this meeting and saying she's met the man she's going to marry. And her mom asked if they had even gone out yet. And Lacey replied, not yet, but we will. Like she just. She knew she had a feeling she wanted what she wanted, and she was gonna make it happen. For their first date, Scott took Lacey on a deep sea fishing trip. But apparently, things didn't go as planned because Lacey ended up getting seasick eventually. Scott proposed in December of 1996, and they got married in 1997. Lacey was an absolutely gorgeous bride. In 2000, they moved 200 miles north to Modesto, California, so that they could be closer to Lacey's family and really start building their life together. Lacey loved being a wife. She loved watching Martha Stewart cooking and everything that really went into being a homemaker. But what she really wanted was to be a mother. By some accounts, Scott did not want to be a father. Or at the very least, it seemed like he couldn't really make up his mind and went back and forth quite a bit. But in May 2002, Lacey got pregnant. And by that point, Scott was seemingly getting on board. He was attending Lamaze classes with her, going to doctor's appointments, all of the things you would expect a loving, supportive partner to do. But in late 2002, when Lacey was around eight months pregnant, things took a dark turn.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah. And before we dig into the timeline of this case, I just want to make a note that if you're watching on YouTube, you will see some photos pop up that'll help you visualize a few different elements of this case. And if you're listening, don't worry. We want you to feel included as well. You can find those same photos on our social media, which is Clues podcast on Instagram. But, okay, so now we know a little bit more about who Lacy was. Let's talk about what was going on in her life in December of 2002. So on December 14, Lacey and Scott were invited to a Christmas party. Lacy attended. Scott did not. Scott allegedly had told Lacey that he couldn't make it because he was on a business trip. On December 23, Lacey spent that day running errands. She and Scott went to a doctor's appointment, and she also visited her sister, Amy Rocha, so Scott could go get his haircut. And that evening, she called her mom, Sharon Rocha, to talk about their plans for the next day, which was Christmas Eve. And that's when Lacy confirmed that she would be having dinner with her. At some point on December 24, 2002, Lacy disappeared. According to Scott, this is how the day went down. He left the house at 9:30am and when he left, he said that Lacey was watching Martha Stewart a special on tv, and he Said that there was something about lemon meringue on the tv he remembered, like that specific detail about what she was watching. And initially he said that he had gone and played golf that day when he left.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. And it wasn't like he just told one person he went and played golf. He actually told four different people that he played golf that day. But his alibi quickly shifted.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah. So while even Scott's family thought that he was going and playing golf that day, it turned out that he had actually gone to take a boat out on the marina. And there's a few reasons why this is suspicious to me off the bat. So Scott wasn't going to just take any boat out on the marina. He was going to take his boat out on the marina. And according to Scott, his family, including Lacy, didn't even know that he had this boat.

[Morgan Absher]

So it's safe to assume that none of them had ever been on this boat.

[Kaylin Moore]

Right. Right. And that's something that I want us to remember as we keep digging into this. So Scott left his home at 9:30, he said, and he went to his warehouse to pick up his boat and to check some emails. He left that warehouse at 11am and he headed to the marina. Now we know that Scott purchased a boat launch ticket at Berkeley Marina at 12:54pm and we're not really sure how long he spent on the water. But later he left a voicemail for Lacey and that said, quote, hey beautiful, I just left you a message at home. It's 2:15. I'm leaving for Berkeley. I won't be able to get to Vella Farms to get the basket for Papa. I was hoping you would get this message and go out there. I'll see you in a bit, sweetie. Love you. Bye. End quote.

[Morgan Absher]

And just so everyone is aware, and again, look at social media, if you're more of a visual person or, or our YouTube for the picture. Berkeley is over 80 miles away from Modesto and traffic patterns may have changed, maybe highways, roadways even changed. But when I plugged the two locations into Google Maps and searched what traffic would look like on, you know, Christmas Eve of this year, it shows that the drive is around two and a half hours. We're talking about a five hour round trip. And given that he pulled the parking ticket at 12:54pm and then left a voicemail for Lacy at 2:15 saying he was headed back, doesn't give you a lot of time to fish. And we also have to consider he was pulling his boat behind his, his vehicle. And from my experience hauling. You know, with a trailer, you do even have to drive a little more cautious, a little slower.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

So it could have been longer.

[Kaylin Moore]

And he pulled the ticket for parking at 12:54. But it takes a minute to get into the water. It takes some time to do that. And then he called her at 2:15. So in theory, he pulled his boat out of the water. So it seems like he was in the water for what, 30 to 45 minutes?

[Morgan Absher]

Not long, especially considering Scott was by himself.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah, right.

[Morgan Absher]

Like it usually is. So much nicer if you're working with another person as you're the one backing the boat down the launch and someone then catches it. But he was doing all of this by himself too, which really adds to the complexity of this.

[Kaylin Moore]

Right. Adds to the time it takes. So he made a five hour round trip journey to be on the water for about 30 minutes.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah.

[Kaylin Moore]

On Christmas Eve.

[Peyton Moreland]

Thank you so much for listening to check out the rest of this episode and so much more. Make sure to follow clues with Morgan Absher and Kalyn Moore. Just search for clues wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Wednesday.