All the Best | EP 12

Summary

Love Trapped | Episode 12: "All the Best" (May 7, 2026)

Podcast by iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts
Host: Stephanie Young

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Episode Overview

The season finale of Love Trapped confronts the unresolved end to Clayton Echard’s paternity scandal, the web of false allegations spun by Laura Owens, and the wider damage such cases cause. Host Stephanie Young tracks the fallout on the victims, the dangers of labeling women "crazy," and the importance of responsible storytelling. While there are still no final answers on Laura's plea deal or trial, the episode offers closure by spotlighting the voices most impacted, behind-the-scenes sleuths, and a deeper reflection on the consequences for both individuals and broader society.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Cliffhanger: Laura Owens’ Pending Plea Deal (01:19–04:16)

• Previous episode ended with Laura facing a plea deal deadline.
• As of recording, Laura had not responded; delays are cited as characteristic of her tactics.
• Clayton echoes frustration at ongoing delays:

  "Laura's tactics are delay, delay, delay...we’re on loophole 300." (02:32–02:57)

• Expired plea deal doesn’t close her window to plead guilty—the state usually prefers avoiding trial.

Clayton’s Prediction (04:16–04:56)

• Despite disclaimers (“I don’t think I’ve been right about Laura once…”), Clayton predicts she’ll go to trial and “face worse charges and…prison time.”

2. The "Crazy" Label & Gendered Tropes (05:44–09:45)

• Stephanie grapples with the word “crazy” and its history of discrediting women.
• Acknowledges that fabricated claims, like those Laura is alleged to have made, are very rare.
• The team is careful not to make the case about women in general, but about one person.
• Clayton on gendered backlash:

  "If it was just a movement of men, then it would be seen as misogynistic...Anyone that says, well, this is why we shouldn’t believe women. I never liked those comments...It’s a dysfunctional mindset." (08:45–09:22)

3. The Challenge of Laura’s Perspective (10:01–12:57)

• Despite extensive efforts, Laura Owens and her inner circle declined on-record interviews.
• The closest: a website (justiceforlora.com) claiming her prosecution is atypical and fan-driven.
• Reality Steve and Dave Neal: Despite covering the case for years, not a single person close to Laura came forward to defend her until a childhood friend (“Emily”) anonymously contacted the show.

4. Laura’s Backstory—Insights from “Emily” (12:57–16:34)

• "Emily" describes Laura as always craving fame, enabled by indulgent parents, and pursuing an online persona over real connection.
• Emily:

  “She was very popular behind a screen, but in person, not that popular and just boy crazy…”
  "So as soon as I started following the story and saw that...Clayton had been on the Bachelor...of course she did that."

5. Clayton’s Reflections & Key Turning Points (17:01–22:51)

• Stephanie sits down with Clayton to revisit major events.
• Clayton says Laura was “one of the most normal girls” he'd ever met until he rejected her—then things changed dramatically.
• On dating standards post-scandal:

  "I was allowing people into my circle that should never have access to my energy." (17:45–18:09)

• Reveals they only had oral sex, but initially wondered if Laura had gotten pregnant, reflecting how manipulative the situation felt.
• The investigation report suggests Laura slept with another man before and after Clayton—raising suspicions about motives and timeline.

On “Trapping”

Clayton confirms he feels Laura tried to “trap” him for notoriety or financial gain:

"She did try to pull me into a relationship that I did not want to be in, and that is the definition of trapping, at least in my eyes." (21:56–22:08)

6. Online Communities, Citizen Sleuths & Impact (24:07–35:06)

• The story became a viral sensation: Reality Steve and Dave Neal note it’s “the biggest story Bachelor Nation has ever had.”
• Armchair detectives on Reddit and YouTube unearthed key facts, such as stolen ultrasound photos and inconsistent timelines.
• Clayton on crowd-sourced investigation:

  "The audience, they're doing mold checks...matching fingernail follicles..." (31:38–31:44)

• Schnitzel Ninja, a leading anonymous investigator, is celebrated for her unpaid dedication.

7. The Mike & Danielle Story—Personal Fallout (35:40–44:25)

• The impact on Mike Maracini (another ex) and his wife, Danielle: ongoing legal harassment and emotional distress.
• Laura appealed the dismissal of her restraining order against Mike, causing further financial and emotional toll.
• Danielle shares the pain of explaining “bad people in the world” to their young daughter due to the case.
• Danielle’s message for Laura:

  “...the life that she missed out on is tragic...get help. All of the men...were willing to walk away...with just an apology and her taking accountability and she’ll just have to pay the price.” (44:28–44:54)

8. The Broader Impact on Real Victims (44:54–50:30)

• Multiple women, including Clayton's ex-girlfriend Susie Evans and Mike’s attorney, stress how Laura’s actions harm actual victims:
  • They misuse limited legal and advocacy resources.
  • They reinforce disbelief around real allegations.
• Gabby Petito’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, wrote in:

  “Every false story does not just mislead people, it silences the real ones who are still trying to find the courage to speak.” (49:45–50:30)

9. The Question of Laura’s Mental Health (52:30–57:03)

• Stephanie tackles speculations about Laura’s mental state: court filings list multiple diagnoses (PTSD, epilepsy, autism, etc.).
• Laura once published a blog post blaming her behavior on autism; listeners and professionals respond with outrage, emphasizing that her claimed conditions do not explain or excuse her actions.

10. Laura’s Email Campaigns & Non-Participation (57:03–70:22)

• Laura’s angry, legalistic emails are notorious—causing anxiety to all recipients.
• Timeline of production efforts to secure her participation reveals shifting excuses, broken promises, and legal threats.
• Laura continues to maintain innocence and threatens litigation over her portrayal, but offers no accountability.

11. Final Reflections & What’s Next (70:22–74:09)

• Clayton highlights how the community support was born from collective trauma and the need for healing, not just individual vindication.

  “It's not even about me at this point. It’s about this community healing. So for me to be a small part of that has been awesome.” (71:50–72:57)

• Stephanie concludes:

  “There still isn’t an answer about Laura’s plea deal… At a certain point, you have to let go of the idea that there’s going to be a moment of clarity, a confession, an explanation…” (72:57–74:09)

• Her closing observation:

  “Laura owens is facing 14 felony indictments. Clayton Eckerd is not.” (74:00–74:09)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the endless court delays:

  "Loophole 100. Loophole 150. Loophole 300. That's where we're at right now. We're on loophole 300."
  — Clayton Echard (02:57)

• On the “crazy” label:

  "She's a kind of folk villain in our society. And what she's done can be weaponized against all women. Apparently, these kinds of stories are pretty popular. They can also be dangerous."
  — Stephanie Young (05:53)

• On responsibility and gender:

  "Anyone that says, well, this is why we shouldn’t believe women. I never liked those comments...That’s a dysfunctional mindset." — Clayton Echard (08:45–09:22)

• On collective trauma:

  "I think these people..., are really fighting for themselves as well. They were brought into this all because of their own trauma that likely Laura triggered..."
  — Clayton Echard (71:50–72:57)

• On never finding closure:

  "At a certain point, you have to let go of the idea that there’s going to be a moment of clarity, a confession, an explanation that makes this all make sense."
  — Stephanie Young (72:57)

• On Laura’s refusal to take accountability:

  "It's just more of the same. Personal digs, legal threats, and much like in the body cam footage, no accountability for anything whatsoever." — Stephanie Young (70:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 01:19–04:16| Laura’s missed plea deal and legal delays | | 05:44–09:45| The “crazy” label, stereotypes, and gender impact | | 10:01–12:57| Laura’s silence and failed attempts to get her side | | 12:57–16:34| Interview with “Emily” (Laura’s childhood friend) | | 17:01–22:51| Clayton’s reflections and investigation bombshells | | 24:07–35:06| The role of the online community/citizen sleuths | | 35:40–44:25| Mike & Danielle’s ordeal; restraining order update | | 44:54–50:30| Broad impacts on real victims, Gabby Petito’s mother| | 52:30–57:03| Laura’s self-identified mental health conditions | | 57:03–70:22| Laura’s email campaigns and refusal to participate | | 71:50–72:57| Clayton on community healing, legacy of story | | 72:57–74:09| Stephanie’s final thoughts; open-ended conclusion |

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Tone & Language Notes

• The episode is candid, empathetic, and self-aware—balancing criticism of Laura’s actions with broader societal concerns about gender, belief, and due process.
• While largely conversational, Stephanie and her guests avoid sensationalism, maintaining respect for real victims.

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Summary Takeaways

• This season finale grounds Laura's story as a singular tragedy—not a template—and focuses on how greater good and collective healing can emerge from trauma.
• The lack of closure is palpable: Laura’s legal fate is still undecided and she remains unrepentant.
• The show is clear: fabrications like Laura’s are vanishingly rare, but their impact is disproportionately damaging for real victims.
• Online communities played a crucial role in unearthing the truth and supporting those harmed.
• Victims’ voices—including those adjacent like Gabby Petito’s mother—underscore the dangers of false allegations and the importance, still, of believing victims and not letting single cases define the whole.
• Season 1 will return with updates as the criminal case progresses, but for now, listeners must draw their own conclusions from the facts.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Stephanie Young]

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[Clayton Eckerd]

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[Stephanie Young]

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[Clayton Eckerd]

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[Stephanie Young]

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[Clayton Eckerd]

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[Stephanie Young]

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[Clayton Eckerd]

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[Stephanie Young]

A legacy is a beautiful thing, but only if it survives. There's a fire inside you you can't ignore. Stand still. Not a chance. You're a lifelong learner who's come this far. Now we are here to help you keep going further. Capella University. What can't you do? Visit Capella Edu to learn more. We left you on a cliffhanger at the end of the last episode. A real time development in the story of Laura Owens. Would she take the plea deal? The deadline came and went and I didn't hear anything, so I called Clayton to see if he had any news.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Nothing. We have no idea. We are still waiting for an answer

[Stephanie Young]

in a shock to no one. We still don't have an answer, at least not at the time I'm recording this. Laura could be in plea negotiations or she could be doubling down and refusing to take the plea.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I mean, is it anything that we're surprised about? I didn't really expect an answer because Laura's tactics are delay, delay, delay. And that's just the way that she operates. It's like, let's drag this out as long as I can. So we have no information, which means, like from here, I will wait with everybody else for a docket update.

[Stephanie Young]

Clayton's seen this pattern so many times, he's exhausted by it.

[Clayton Eckerd]

There's thousands of loopholes in the court system. She could do this until her Face turns blue. And she will. Laura will just go, oh, loophole. Oop. Another loophole. Oh, another loophole. Okay, that's my 50th loophole. Let me slug this monster energy drink and go for my 51st. And that's what she does. All right, loophole 100. Loophole 150. Loophole 300. That's where we're at right now. We're on loophole 300.

[Stephanie Young]

Just because this plea deal expired, it doesn't mean her window to plead guilty is closed. She can plead up until the day of the verdict. And between now and then, there's an untold amount of loopholes. The plea deal that expired on April 30 was the prosecution's first offer and likely its most lenient one.

[Clayton Eckerd]

If she does not take this, it's only going to get worse for her. But with that being said, the plea comes with the fact that she has to admit wrongdoing, which we know Laura does not like to do. So, again, will she take the plea? I mean, this is in her best interest to do so, but I don't know if she's capable.

[Stephanie Young]

The state usually tries to avoid going to trial. It's expensive. Only 2% of cases go to trial in Maricopa County. I asked Clayton what he thinks is going to happen from here. He started with a disclaimer.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I don't think I've been right about Laura once. With every single prediction that I make, I'm always wrong. So keep that in mind. If I had a crystal ball and I was to tell you where we go from here, I feel very strongly that she will not take the plea deal, and she will go to trial, and she will end up with worse charges, and she will face prison time. And that would be best case scenario for everybody, including Laura. Like Laura, I know you're gonna listen to this. You are trapped. Wake up.

[Stephanie Young]

This might be the final episode, but I promise we're not just going to leave you hanging. I'm Stephanie Young. This is love trapped. Try to leave. There's a word we've avoided using throughout this entire podcast.

[Clayton Eckerd]

God damn, this lady's crazy. It's just some crazy woman.

[Stephanie Young]

Crazy.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Crazy.

[Stephanie Young]

She's crazy. So crazy.

[Clayton Eckerd]

This is the crazy girl you're talking about, right?

[Stephanie Young]

The crazy woman? The woman who brings false allegations of sexual assault, the woman who fabricates pregnancies, the woman who spins a victim narrative at every turn, leaving a trail of destruction behind her. She's a kind of folk villain in our society. And what she's Done can be weaponized against all women. Apparently, these kinds of stories are pretty popular. They can also be dangerous. As women. A lot of us remember the times we've been called crazy. I've been called crazy. You double text, you call too many times, you say I love you too quickly. You want to have conversations about the future. You want to process something that hurt your feelings. You've been gaslit and you react. Or worst of all, you've been abused and you tell the truth. And then all of a sudden, you've been assigned the label crazy. I've thought about this word a lot. We've all seen it used to discredit women. I was cautious about taking on a story where the antagonist is such a polarizing figure. I also didn't expect the facts to speak as loudly as they do. After just a few weeks of reporting, I had a realization similar to what reality Steve described.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I think it was reading the Dating Contract. That's when I knew we were not

[Stephanie Young]

dealing with a person that was living in reality. And that was the most shocking thing to me. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Fabricated claims like the kind alleged here are incredibly rare. Since the very start of this production, my team and I have been talking about the larger impacts of sharing this kind of narrative, if just retelling it perpetuates this negative stereotype about women and how we can minimize that. In the end, this is what I've come to. I've reported on the facts. I've utilized public records, many of them submitted by Laura Owens herself. I've also relied on multiple accounts of people who experienced this firsthand. I believe their stories deserve to be told. I've heard this described as a cautionary tale. I want to challenge that a bit. I think the cautionary aspect really falls on each of us. How we interpret it and retell it, and why it's our responsibility to see it as what it is, one single story. When I first talked to Clayton, I didn't expect him to have thought about these repercussions and nuances, but to my surprise, he had, and he brought it up to me.

[Clayton Eckerd]

That's the delicate balance with this whole story. Which is why I do appreciate you being a woman and why I do appreciate the vast majority of the supporters of me during this whole fiasco being women. Because if it was just a movement of men, then it would be seen as misogynistic. Like, oh, if you get attached to this story, there's an ickiness to it. It's a men's right activist led movement. It's never been that, never will be. And anyone that says, well, this is why we shouldn't believe women. I never liked those comments. I never agree with them. That's a dysfunctional mindset.

[Stephanie Young]

Clayton's never seen this as some broader commentary on women. To him, it's always been about one person, Laura Owens.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Laura is one woman that has left a stain greater than just impacting me and the previous victims. This is going to potentially hurt women from being believed in the future. I don't want to be associated with a movement where we believe women less. I don't want that. What I want is for people to believe victims. And that's it.

[Stephanie Young]

I wanted to end this series by finally hearing from Laura Owens herself. And believe me, we've been trying. On at least five separate occasions, we've sent her or her attorney a request for an interview starting as far back as May 2025, nine months before the podcast came out. I heard from Laura as recently as last week. We'll talk about her emails later in this episode. And even though we've asked, she still hasn't agreed to sit for an interview on the record. I've been asked why we're not hearing more from Laura's side, and it's this simple. No one's been willing to talk for a long time. The closest thing we had was this one website, justiceforlora.com on the homepage there's a photo of Laura smiling. We've had a voice actor read from the about section. Justice for Laura exists because of a prosecution that simply does not resemble anything we normally see in American courts. A large, coordinated faction of Clayton's fans, which came to call itself justice for Clayton jfc, had seized on the story and fixated on a single claim that Laura had faked the pregnancy and fabricated everything around it. Actually, on June 10, 2024, a judge ruled that Laura was never pregnant with Clayton's twins. We don't know who owns this website, but I have a few guesses. I asked Reality Steve, who's been covering this for almost three years, if he's ever talked with a friend of Laura's. He said no, neither him nor Dave Neal have.

[Clayton Eckerd]

For two people like Dave and myself who were coming at her hard as we were to never get one thing sent to us. Even if someone said, I don't want

[Stephanie Young]

to reveal my identity, but just know

[Clayton Eckerd]

I went to sixth grade with Laura. She was a great girl. I went to high school with Laura. I was A high school boyfriend of Laura's.

[Stephanie Young]

I knew Laura two years ago.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Somebody you would think would come to

[Stephanie Young]

Dave and I at some point and say something.

[Clayton Eckerd]

And I never got one email.

[Stephanie Young]

In episode two, I said the same thing. No one who knew Laura would go on the record for an interview. But that changed this week. One of Laura's childhood friends reached out to our show. She had something to say. She would only speak to us if we kept her anonymous and disguised her voice. We asked for verification of her friendship with Laura and she sent receipts. We didn't know what to expect, if she would defend Laura or not, but we agreed to the interview. We're going to call her Emily, which isn't her real name. What you're going to hear is a voice actor replicating Emily's tape word for word. We wanted to preserve her intention and emotionality. We started by asking her why she reached out to us. It just felt like some background was probably needed. There's just no context to her anymore. She's just this rich horse girl and she puts on this big, I'd say, almost a facade. That's just not who she was. At least when she was a child, into early adulthood. We asked Emily to describe what Laura was like back then, going back into, like, high school, middle school. Laura wanted to be famous. Laura's parents were famous. She always wanted to be in the limelight. She was a country singer at one point in time, trying to get famous. Laura, I would say, is best described as a keyboard cowboy. She was very popular behind a screen, but in person, not that popular and just boy crazy. We wanted to know if she'd ever met Laura's mom, Jan. She had. She and her mom were besties. Jan would drive her around every day. Laura didn't get her driver's license until she was like, 18. She and her mom just spent all day every day together and had this very strange relationship. Laura could do no wrong. Laura did what she wanted with full, unbridled support of her parents. You want a new horse, you get it. You want a new saddle, you get it. You want this? Just order it. I don't think she learned how to be rejected. I don't know if she ever really learned how to be told no. Before Laura was publicly identified, Emily saw the headline about a former bachelor being in a paternity dispute with an anonymous woman. And I was like, what a dick. Like, how rude of this guy to knock up some chick and then deny paternity and all this. Not that long later, I saw Laura post Some article on Facebook, and I was like, holy shit. I read about this immediately. Emily reached out to her childhood friend to check on her. I DMed her to be like, laura, what the heck, girlfriend? Like, this is insane. Are you okay? Like, I don't know, thinking that she would be like, yeah, this is nuts. I'm pregnant. This is hard. And she left me on read. That's when the puzzle pieces started coming together for Emily. Once the initial shock wore off of, like, holy crap, I know that person. Like, I spent the night at their home. I spent years with this person. It didn't surprise me. Like, she so desperately wanted to be famous. So as soon as I started following the story and saw that it wasn't just some random person, but Clayton had been on the Bachelor and that he was famous per se, I was like, of course she did that. Like, she wanted to be the Bachelor's girlfriend. She wanted that storyline, and she took it too far. Like, wildly too far. But it. It didn't shock me at all. Like, she wanted that, and I think she's always wanted that. When I started reporting almost a year ago, one of my first steps was to visit Clayton Eckert in person. We sat down at his house in Arizona and talked for a long time. He told me the whole story and gave me the LO file. Back then, I had no idea what I was in for. Now that I've become fully immersed and so have all of you, I return for another conversation with Clayton. I want to revisit the pivotal moments in his story and ask some outstanding questions of my own. So, Clayton, you and I have talked a lot over the last year, and we've done hours of interviews, and a lot of new information has come out since we first started this process. New indictments, a lot of new information along the way with the investigation report. So I kind of want to go back to the very beginning of this story when Laura first reached out to you. Knowing what we know now, what do you see differently?

[Clayton Eckerd]

I cannot stress enough to you that Laura was one of the most normal girls that I've ever met and been and interacted with up until she snapped and the darkness washed over her.

[Stephanie Young]

It did seem pretty normal until it wasn't. Until you rejected her.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Yes, exactly. But until that point, there was nothing. She was intelligent. She was talking about homes, and she was excited about buying some properties. I had no idea what I was getting into because she was so good at hiding it.

[Stephanie Young]

Did Laura change your approach to dating and how you're looking for a relationship in the future?

[Clayton Eckerd]

Yes. And I realized that I was allowing people into my circle that should never have access to my energy. We saw that photo that Laura got me on. Everyone's like, that's all it took.

[Stephanie Young]

Clayton's talking about the photo Laura sent him early on, the one where she's wearing riding leggings with her back turned to the camera. After she sent that, Clayton invited her over.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I kind of reflected on that. I was like, clayton, that's all it took. I really had a serious conversation with myself, and I'm like, that's all that it takes for a woman to get access to you. So with that, I still want to date. I still want to settle down. I want to have a family. Like, I want to have a partner that I can grow with and take on the world with. But it's like, hey, I'm holding myself to a higher standard. Therefore, I'm also holding the people that I interact with to a higher standard. That's what's changed.

[Stephanie Young]

One of the things that I keep thinking about with this case and your brother Nate actually brought it up to me, is how different this story might have been if you and Laura actually had sex that night of May 20, 2023. Do you think we'd be where we are today if you had had sex?

[Clayton Eckerd]

Oh, my gosh. Wow. That's a hard question, Stephanie. Like, my mind's racing, because I think she could have convinced me, probably. Like, I, I. It's almost like, could things be different? Yes. But ultimately, I'll tell you this much. Laura will always find a way. So no matter the circumstances, no matter how they played out, Laura still would have found a way to get right here where she is today.

[Stephanie Young]

According to Clayton, they only had oral sex. Even still, he believed there was a small chance she could have impregnated herself in the bathroom.

[Clayton Eckerd]

So I believe that she was potentially pregnant until I found out about Greg. I believe that she successfully performed that spit maneuver.

[Stephanie Young]

That's interesting.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Yeah.

[Stephanie Young]

Because now you don't believe she was pregnant ever.

[Clayton Eckerd]

No, I know that she wasn't pregnant now because, again, if she ever was, she would have utilized that. Like, she would have then went and got an ultrasound. Because you could have gotten an ultrasound and proven you were pregnant and then just avoided the paternity test so that you didn't have to prove it was mine. She could have gotten pregnant by somebody else. Right. And then claim.

[Stephanie Young]

Which was a possibility.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Which was a possibility and was something that I was concerned about.

[Stephanie Young]

There is this big bombshell in the investigation report. Which is that she slept with another man two weeks before she hooked up with you, and then one week after. But she told you that she hadn't hooked up with anyone else in a year. In over a year. How does that make you feel to

[Clayton Eckerd]

see that in the investigative reports? It, to me, was a bit. It's like, scary in a way, because you realize, or you. You start to draw conclusions or make assumptions. You say she slept with a guy before and after she accused me of impregnating her. So, like, what was her M.O. there? And again, my brain leads to she was trying to get pregnant by him so that she could then carry out this tactic of being pregnant by the Bachelor, and she could have made it far.

[Stephanie Young]

When I first met with Clayton, he described what he'd been through as attempted trapping. It's another one of those tropes in society. Basically, a woman trying to get pregnant for money, fame, or even just for a relationship, all while the man she's having sex with is unaware of her goal to get pregnant. Clayton told me that during his time as a pro athlete and in the world of reality tv, this is a real phenomenon men are wary of. I knew what he was talking about because I'd worked in professional sports and saw it firsthand. It's rare, but sometimes it actually happens. Do you still believe in trapping, or do you consider what Laura did to you something else?

[Clayton Eckerd]

Yeah, that's what she was looking to carry out, and she failed. But. But she. She did try to pull me into a relationship that I did not want to be in, and that is the definition of trapping, at least in my eyes.

[Stephanie Young]

Now that we have the full picture and we know what the state alleges and what we read in the investigation report, they said, I'm going to read it to you. Laura Owens, an adult female podcast host, created a scheme to elevate her notoriety and increase her commercial value by attempting to blackmail Clayton Eckard and a television celebrity into a romantic relationship. So, basically, the state believes that she targeted you. The investigation report doesn't go into the details of why they came to such a strong conclusion, but we can imagine that the investigators have her search history, her text messages, any other details that they probably haven't released yet. Why do you think the State believes that they're right?

[Clayton Eckerd]

They've uncovered her motives because they have access to more than I've ever even seen. They have not just my exchanges with her over text and email. They have everything. Her text messages, probably to her mom. They have access to all that they confiscated all of that information. So I would be led to believe that they're pretty spot on with being able to uncover her motives. I think absolutely she was looking to leverage this.

[Stephanie Young]

You were kind of struggling with your mental health because you'd just come off this horrible season of the Bachelor. You. You'd been dragged through the mud on the Internet. You broke up with Susie, you moved to Arizona. You were trying to start fresh. So if she did target you, she did pick you specifically at a low point. Have you ever thought about it that way? And, like, why do you think she did that?

[Clayton Eckerd]

Why do I think she came after me at a low point? Yeah, because that was going to be her easiest prey. She saw me as somebody that was a wounded celebrity, somebody that was a weak celebrity. Right. Somebody that was vulnerable, somebody that was polarizing and somebody that had a chink in their armor that she could manipulate and she could attack and win.

[Stephanie Young]

When Laura posted the I am the anonymous woman thread on Reddit, Clayton watched in horror as so many people immediately took Laura's side.

[Clayton Eckerd]

For those that didn't believe and were ready to pick up their pitchforks and go after me, because there were plenty. There were plenty. There's a lot of revisionist history out there. People saying, well, we believe Clayton from the beginning. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. We can go back to those early Reddit posts. You definitely did not. So let's call it for what it is. You kind of want me to be the villain. And why is that?

[Stephanie Young]

In your situation with Laura, there's a lot of people who think that, oh, this would never happen to me. I know better. Clayton is naive. Claire Clayton should have known that she was making all of this up. He should have just stopped responding to her messages and her text messages. He should have gone to the police on day one. All of these things. What do you think about that kind of response?

[Clayton Eckerd]

I've seen the comments like, well, if I was him, I would have just ignored her. And I'm like, that is such an ignorant comment because I tried. Did you not hear me talk about 13 phone numbers? Did you not hear me talk about blocking the email? Did you not hear me talk about the restraining orders? Like, did you not hear any of this? All you're hearing is just like, well, I would have done it better. It's triggering because I didn't.

[Stephanie Young]

When I look at the story as a whole, I see two big mistakes Laura made. The first was taking this story public. That's how Clayton found out about Greg Gillespie. And Laura's pattern of behavior. Without Laura sending the story to the tabloids, the Internet might have never found it. When Clayton first saw the headline in the sun, he couldn't have known where we'd end up. Today I asked him to revisit that moment when the news broke. Ah, man.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I remember because I was sitting in a locker room at a pickleball venue by myself and I'm staring at the screen. My vision got blurry. I just remember, like, disassociating in that moment and thinking like, I don't. I just don't even feel like what I'm experiencing is real. It just feels like there's a script running or a movie playing and I'm. I'm in the Truman show and I'm being watched for everyone's entertainment. This is past the point of me making decisions and living a normal life. Like, I feel that I am meant to be this dramatic character in this movie that I didn't sign up for but somehow became the lead role in.

[Stephanie Young]

The second mistake I think Laura made was choosing Clayton. She underestimated him.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I mean, look at the outcome. I am seeing Laura facing 14 felony charges and everybody knows about her previous victims. Everybody knows about her past. She believed that there was a version of me that existed that she was wrong about. She thought that knowing the version of Clayton that I believe exists, this will crush him. And what she perceived me as was completely off. And she found out the hard way. What's up baby? It's Bretzky. And I'm here to tell you that spinquest.com is giving out free sweeps coins. All you gotta do is purchase a ten dollar coin pack and guess what? They're gonna give you the coins from a thirty dollar coin pack that lets you play all your favorite games like Blackjack, Wanted, Dead or Wild. And we're talking real cash prizes, baby. Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. You're a pro at running your life. At committing to your workout, at showing up every day. At Bombas, we're pros too. Pros at making socks. Our sport assortment has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to. Running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat, wicking yarns, blister fighting details and targeted arch support. Bombas sport is pro level socks from the pros of Socks. For another pro, you go to bombas.com audio and use code audio for 20% off your first purchase. That's bombas.com and use code Audio support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETF PDFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.com disclosure disclosures when people turn to telehealth for weight loss, they're looking for real support. That's why more people are choosing orderlymeds.com orderly meds connects you with real doctors and access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzeptotide. No guessing, just a more supportive experience. And all shipped directly to your door in discreet packaging. Do your research, ask questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. That's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice, eligibility required. C site for details.

[Stephanie Young]

This story has a way of pulling people in. It happened to me, and I'm far from the only one. In fact, I was late to the crowd. Dave Neal has been following it since the day the sun article came out.

[Clayton Eckerd]

The first time that I knew like how big this story was. I had a show in Huntington beach and everyone afterwards wanted to come and talk about the case. People just they. They bond over it in a weird way.

[Stephanie Young]

It started with Bachelor Nation fans. That's how Dave and Reality Steve found Clayton's story to begin with. But quickly they realized this was something much larger. Here's Reality Steve. I was like, I think this is

[Clayton Eckerd]

the biggest story Bachelor Nation has ever had.

[Stephanie Young]

There was just something about it. And this is before we knew anything,

[Clayton Eckerd]

before we knew about a Greg Gillespie

[Stephanie Young]

or a Mike Maracini.

[Clayton Eckerd]

And before we knew about Laura's past,

[Stephanie Young]

I was like, this is the biggest thing ever.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I just couldn't think of anything else

[Stephanie Young]

that's ever happened to a contestant outside

[Clayton Eckerd]

of this show that was more, quote, unquote, scandalous.

[Stephanie Young]

As the story grew, it became kind of a viral sensation. Dozens more content creators started commenting on it. Thousands of armchair detectives logged onto Reddit and YouTube. Even before the criminal charges or the investigation report, the online community put critical pieces of the puzzle together. Looking back on all of their connections and discoveries, I genuinely don't know if we'd be here today without them. She had a video she sent us

[Clayton Eckerd]

of her father in the hospital rubbing.

[Stephanie Young]

Rubbing her pregnant belly. You can clearly see this isn't Laura Owens.

[Clayton Eckerd]

The audience, they're doing mold checks. They're matching fingernail follicles. It wasn't Laura. She's stealing from other people and claiming as her own. Dave and I said to each other, there is zero chance that she is producing two babies. We guarantee she's gonna say, I had a miscarriage.

[Stephanie Young]

Oh, my God. We have a smoking HCG injection here that we've always thought happened. She could have done a million different

[Clayton Eckerd]

things to get that hcg, and it wasn't till they actually investigated her that they realized maybe she bought it and shot it herself.

[Stephanie Young]

It's well documented that she uses Reddit, and she had a Reddit account.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Through a reverse Google search, people were able to locate this ultrasound photo as

[Stephanie Young]

the one that Laura had stolen.

[Clayton Eckerd]

She had ways to do things differently,

[Stephanie Young]

and she chose not to. And now you fuck around, you find

[Clayton Eckerd]

out, and that's what it's come down to with Laura.

[Stephanie Young]

For two years, there's been someone behind the scenes quietly collecting information, cataloging it, making timelines, and tracking down legal documents. You've heard about her. And a few months ago, Clayton finally met her in person.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I am sitting here with the infamous schnitzel Ninja.

[Stephanie Young]

Schnitzel Ninja's been doing all this work anonymously out of an abundance of caution, and she hasn't profited from it. When Clayton met her, he was almost starstruck.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I just have to say, when you came up to me today, it was like the big Superman reveal. I would love to have that passion that schnitzel Ninja has where she's just pouring into this and not receiving a dime. You know, I was like, I honestly can't understand it. It's people like you that have this genuine fascination and continue to find new things. And keep people interested that, like, has now brought life and has kept it going until this point. So my question to you is, where is this interest coming from? And why do you continue to be such a passionate advocate? Which, by the way, I'm very grateful for.

[Stephanie Young]

I'll say that when I first got involved, I never planned on streaming or revealing my voice or anything about me. And I don't know that if I was told back then this is what it would be, that I would even believe it or necessarily be on board because it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot of time, it's a lot of dedication.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I am just blown away by what you've done and I just want you to understand it has not gone unnoticed and I can't thank you all enough.

[Stephanie Young]

He's talking about not only Schnitzel ninja, but the whole community who organized online support for Clayton, Greg and Mike. One of the Day One supporters was Dave Neal. You've heard from him throughout this series. He told me covering this case has been one of the wildest rides of his career.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Every day was a new twist and that's why it's so hard to explain this story to people. When people ask me about the story, I always say, how much time do you have? I will give you a 10 hour version that's just as interesting as a 30 minute version because so much has happened and if there's anything anybody can take away from this, it is.

[Stephanie Young]

If you're ever dealing with private threats, if you're ever dealing with private bullies or even a husband or anybody that's in the dark treating you a certain way, air that shit out and the

[Clayton Eckerd]

communities will rally around you. I've said it all along, sunlight's the greatest disinfectant and it's led us to the truth. I'm glad that we're able to have these conversations in a place where we did everything we could. We got it to the finish line and it's kind of out of our hands.

[Stephanie Young]

It's one thing to report on a story, it's another thing to experience it. This past year, I got to follow Mike Marcini's journey in real time. When I started reporting, Laura was already charged with seven felonies. No one expected she would file to renew the restraining order against Mike again, but as we all know, she did. Witnessing the emotions in San Francisco gave me a visceral understanding of how Laura's actions affect other people. When Laura didn't show the first time and the judge Issued a continuance. Mike and Danielle were devastated the night it happened. I sat down with Schnitzel Ninja because she was in town too. I think one of the hardest things to hear Danielle say was, I just want to get home to my kids. Mm. I'm not a mom. But as a mom, like, how does that make you feel? I didn't know she said that. It makes me sad. None of them deserve any of this. Elora fully intended on not coming at all today or yesterday. And she knew they would have to leave their kids with somebody. The night of the DVRO renewal hearing, Mike and Danielle's daughter noticed her parents anxiety. She's only a toddler. Danielle remembers that evening vividly. My daughter's very empathic and she picks up on a lot and she knew that something was wrong and she would

[Clayton Eckerd]

be like, are you okay, daddy?

[Stephanie Young]

Are you okay? And we actually ended up explaining it to her because we do best and worst part of our day every day at dinner. So I said, you know, worst part of my day was this woman is really mean to daddy. And she goes, who? What's her name? Tell me her name. And I go, her name's Laura. And she's been very mean to daddy. And she looks at Mike and she goes, daddy, are you okay? Did she yell at you? And then before he could answer, she goes, well, if she ever tries to get me and yell at me, you're going to say something, right? And I go, oh, don't you worry. If that ever happened, yes, there would be conversations they had to tell their daughter about bad people in the world. Here's Mike.

[Clayton Eckerd]

She's like the Most friendly little 4 year old. She opens the door for everybody. UPS man, IMSAN person included, always just waves and says thank you. And so I told her, I was like, you cannot answer the door, that

[Stephanie Young]

you can't just trust everybody.

[Clayton Eckerd]

This person could be a bad guy is what I have to tell her.

[Stephanie Young]

There's one part of Mike's story we haven't talked about yet. While he was dating Laura, Mike's own mother believed her and empathized with her.

[Clayton Eckerd]

My mom always has like a really soft spot in her heart for people that are struggling and especially mentally. And she thought Laura was just going through a lot. She replayed it to me years later and she's like, I thought this person was going through through multiple abortions, thought this person was going through cancer. I thought this person was losing their father. I thought this person was struggling with their mental health of, you know, wanting to commit suicide. And so I just thought it would be a really low move for you to leave somebody. During that time, I was getting pressure from not just her family, but from my family as well to, to stay in a relationship with Laura. It was really painful, actually. I remember just my mom was so angry with me because she believed Laura over me. And Laura knew she could utilize my mom against me.

[Stephanie Young]

At the time I'm recording this, Laura's TEDx talk about Mike is still up. Maybe it's because that particular chapter was run by high school students, but the online community has been found fighting to get it taken down. Here's Mike.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I wish they would take it down. I don't know why it hasn't been taken down. I've reached out to have them take it down. I know other individuals have reached out to have them take it down. I know more powerful people with a bigger influence have reached out to have it taken down. And nothing has worked.

[Stephanie Young]

Before we close the chapter on Mike, there's one more update I wish I didn't have to share. At the end of the last episode, we heard about how the domestic violence restraining order against him was dismissed.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I just feel really, really. I feel really, really good because this has been such a long time coming. I've been fighting for almost 10 years and I've had the support of everybody. That's the only reason why I've been able to get through this.

[Stephanie Young]

But there's been an update. Laura didn't let it go. She filed to appeal the dismissal. I talked with Mike's attorney, Rachel Juarez, about the news. After the dismissal of the DVRO by the trial court, Laura filed a notice of appeal. The purpose of a notice of appeal is simply to indicate to the court or I will be appealing. A notice of appeal does not by design disclose the grounds for appeal. Subsequent to that, there were some filings in the trial court that gave an indication what her grounds for appeal might be. Laura's appellate brief was due on April 28, 2026. But a few days before Laura filed an extension with the San Francisco Superior Court, she asked for an additional 60 days and it was granted. It's now due at the end of June 2026. I've had a voice actor read from her filing. Petitioner hereby advises this court and places respondent on formal notice that independent of the outcome of this application, she intends to seek a new domestic violence protective order arising from the respondent's recent and ongoing conduct. Here's Rachel again. I can't imagine for the Life of me what that conduct would be. It doesn't surprise me that she has made that statement. It's also very consistent, the sort of putting people on notice with a threat of litigation that hasn't come yet. This is one of her mos. She constantly tells people, I will be sending you a cease and desist letter. I will be suing you. I will be charging you with something. The conduct Laura's referencing is that Mike has been participating in public media appearances. Laura doesn't specify which appearances in her filing, but Mike has appeared on Inside Edition, on interviews with YouTube content creators, and on this podcast. Laura claims those appearances contain material falsehoods. Mike says he's just telling the truth. I don't believe there are any grounds here to find that Mike sharing his story as part of this broader narrative that's coming out would be considered domestic violence. It means that it's still not quite over, and it likely won't be for a long time. Mike is currently looking for appellate counsel. Appeals are a very different animal than trial court proceedings. Even if somebody brings a claim against you that doesn't prevail in the trial court when they appeal the dismissal, you have to find a new attorney, an appellate attorney, because most trial attorneys are not also appellate attorneys. So it really underscores that even defending against a claim that ultimately ends up to be unsuccessful can involve hundreds of thousands of dollars, multiple attorneys, multiple different courts. So I think it's important that simply because this appeal may not be successful, it is still another tremendous use of resources and a significant burden on Mike just to fight an appeal of a dismissal. And then there's always the possibility that Laura files for an entirely new domestic violence restraining order against Mike. Yes, that will always be on the table. The possibility of another dvro. Mike and Danielle have come to accept that fact. Here's Danielle. This is never going away. She is never going to let this go. Danielle told me that she and Mike will get through this and that she's already overcome a lot in her life. The amount of work that I have had to do on myself and the

[Clayton Eckerd]

demons that I have had to face

[Stephanie Young]

are not for the faint of heart. And I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, but Laura Owens could never be anything close to me. I asked Danielle what she would say to Laura if she had the opportunity. I would want her to know how much she's hurt me, that she did not break me. That ultimately the life that she missed out on is tragic. And I do feel bad for her to Never experience the love that, that I have with my husband, the love that I have with my children, the friendships that I have worked to keep for as long as I have. Like, that is a shame. That's a real shame. And ultimately get help. All of the men that have been involved at one point or another had said, like, if you, you just like, take accountability and say you're guilty and like, get help, like, we would accept that. I know Clayton has said that. I know Mike has said that these men were willing to walk away from her with just an apology and her taking accountability and she'll just have to pay the price. Now, we've heard from a lot of strong women in this series, and without my prompting, so many of them brought up one specific concern about Laura's actions. Ultimately, the mockery that she has made of all of these systems that serve real victims is what gets me really fired up. She just lacks empathy. It's incomprehensible the amount that she has wasted. Even Clayton's ex girlfriend, Susie Evans, who he met on the Bachelor, told me that of all the things Laura's done, this is what offends her most. When the story first came out, Clayton told Susie what was going on and she believed him. But then the news broke online. Here's Susie. I saw so many comments saying, believe women, believe women, believe women, and ask someone that also feels that way. I'm like, if we just believe women, so many things would be resolved and people would be more inclined to come forward. I've been in a position where I was afraid to speak out about something that happened to me on a college campus. I reported an incident that happened and it was not taken seriously. And because there's no evidence, like nothing can be done. And to see somebody put themselves out there and fabricate a lie and basically, I don't want to say set us back because I don't want to believe that. But, like, that's what it kind of is. It feels like a total slap in the face to women. A waste of resources, a waste of energy and time. Mike's attorney, Rachel Juarez, said something similar. She used very scarce victims advocate resources, attorneys that represent victims of domestic violence who are excellent at what they do and it is so wonderful that they exist, but they can't help everybody. And she took the place of somebody who probably really needed their help. There are so many scarce resources that are being used and there are resources people aren't even thinking of that she's using. And in a resource strapped environment, it's really horrible. It's not just about judicial resources, although that's an important part. One of Clayton's attorneys, Deandra arena, brought up an even larger concern. I think that when people come forward with false or illegitimate claims, it detracts from all of the real victims in those cases. So I certainly don't appreciate that as a woman. It absolutely affects the others who have legitimate stories and have been perpetrated against. This story clearly strikes a nerve. Since the show began airing, dozens of listeners have reached out to express their outrage. I think it's because so many people have their own traumatic personal experiences with the things Laura's claimed, like pregnancy loss, sexual assault or domestic violence. A few weeks ago, I got an email in the LoveTrapped inbox from a woman named Nicole Schmidt. You might not recognize that name, but you'll probably recognize her daughters. Gabby Petito. Five years ago, Gabby was murdered by her fiance. She was only 22. The case became nationwide news. I followed it every day. Nicole used the platform to start the Gabby Petito Foundation. According to the website, they help free others from the dangers of intimate partner violence. Gabby Petito's mom has been listening to this podcast. I asked her if I could share part of her email. Here's what she so many real victims have to fight to be heard and believed, and situations like this only make it harder for others to come forward out of fear they will not be believed. But it also leaves me asking, how do we begin to undo the damage that has been done by this one horrible person? Because every false story does not just mislead people, it silences the real ones who are still trying to find the courage to speak.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on spinquest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love, with hundreds of slot games and real cash Prizes. That's at spinquest.com S-P-I-N Q U-E-T.com Spinquest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. You're a pro at running your life. At committing to your workout. At showing up every day. At bombas, we're pros too. Pros at making socks. Our sport assortment has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat, wicking yarns, blister fighting details and targeted arch support. Bombas sport is Pro level Socks from the Pros of Socks. For another pro you go to bombas.com audio and use code audio for 20% off your first purchase. That's bombus.com and use code audio. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETF PDFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures when

[Stephanie Young]

people turn to healthcare for weight loss, they're looking for real support. That's why more people are choosing orderlymeds.com orderly meds connects you with real doctors and access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide. No guessing, just a more supportive experience and all shipped directly to your door in discreet packaging. Do your research, ask questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. That's Orderly Meds. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice. Eligibility required. See Cite for details. There's one big question I know everyone wants the answer to. What's wrong with Laura Owens? I am not a psychologist and I am not her psychologist. I've seen a lot of comments speculating about diagnoses Laura might have, but we can only report on what she's self identified with. And Laura's got quite the running list. In her own court filings. She's claimed to have epilepsy, post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa, and autism Spectrum disorder. She really wants the public to know about her alleged autism diagnosis because in December 2024, right as the criminal investigation began closing in, Laura published this Medium blog. We've had some segments read by a voice actor over the years. I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD and ptsd. Each one explained a piece of the puzzle, but never the whole picture. Then, after my life fell apart in ways I could never have imagined, I found out the truth. I have high functioning autism. The blog is titled I Was Just Diagnosed with Autism and it explains everything. The vast majority of the blog isn't about autism at all. Instead, Laura tells the story of how she's been unfairly treated by Clayton, by the courts, and by the quote unquote JFC culture. I'm not here to ask for your approval and I don't need your sympathy. But if there's one thing I hope you take away from this, it's that you never knew me. My reactions freezing, withdrawing, hesitating weren't signs of deception or manipulation. They were shaped by a developmental disorder I didn't even know I had the online community had a lot of feelings about this blog post. Here's a few of the Reddit and YouTube comments read by voice actors. I have a 34 year old autistic son. I resent the hell out of her using autism to excuse her actions.

[Clayton Eckerd]

As a board certified psychiatrist, no, as

[Stephanie Young]

a special education teacher who works with many kids. Kids on the autism spectrum. This is insulting. If she has autism, it explains none of her behavior.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I have 12 year old autistic twins. One thing about them is they don't

[Stephanie Young]

like to lie or break rules. She literally can't stop herself from offending every group of people. Possible cancer, miscarriage, domestic violence, sexual assault, racism, cyberbullying, etc. Now autism. What will she pick next? My husband got diagnosed a few months ago and my 5 year old son got diagnosed last year. Neither of them would pull the diabolical crap that she did. This is utterly offensive. Like we said at the start of this episode, we wanted to end this season by hearing from Laura directly. I would like to ask her more about how her alleged autism diagnosis explains everything. But Laura, much like her story, seems to be a moving target. When Laura's been questioned in the past, she turns to a familiar the angry email. Most people you've heard from in this story have received one, usually more than one, and they all describe the same feeling, a suffocating, all consuming anxiety every time they saw one in the inbox.

[Clayton Eckerd]

It's hard to explain to somebody how the hairs on your neck immediately go up when you See, you get an email from Laura Owens. She always tagged our emails with read receipts. Laura had a propensity to use email tracking and she would comment about how many times we opened her emails. When I tell you 500 emails, it was just every freaking day.

[Stephanie Young]

You have to understand every email you'd

[Clayton Eckerd]

get from Laura would mess up your day.

[Stephanie Young]

It was a threat.

[Clayton Eckerd]

It was like, at some point, you just don't want to open these emails.

[Stephanie Young]

Laura's emails are so notorious that her usual sign off all the Best has become an inside joke in the online community. There's even a website dedicated to exposing Laura's alleged crimes. It's called all the Best Research. The content creators told me about how personal and vitriolic her emails can be. I sympathized, but I didn't fully understand it. That was until Laura started emailing me. When our production company first began developing this series, we actually had a meeting with Laura. Our CEO Nancy Glass and executive producer Ben Federman talked to her for 43 minutes on a Zoom call. They discussed her participation in a potential podcast and documentary. That was nine months before the first episode of this podcast came out. In an email ahead of that meeting, Laura provided a timeline of her version of events. For background, all the emails you're about to hear are being read by a voice actor. Let me pull out some of the most illuminating points from Laura's initial timeline. I was intimate with Eckard. I didn't want to have sex with him, but he admits in his deposition on February 2, 2024 that he did. I alleged non consensual sex immediately afterwards to my family and friends. And in an email to content creators Dave Neal and Steve Carbone, who were harassing me on October 23, 2023, I also accused him of it in my deposition on March 1, 2024. My claim has been ignored by MCAO. MCAO stands for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. They're the ones who brought the criminal charges. I strongly believe that if Eckard were a janitor and I were a maid, this case would have ended quietly the moment I filed to dismiss it. The only reason it didn't is because he's, quote, famous and his fans demanded a spectacle. In her initial email, Laura told our production company that the investigation into her is a horrible use of taxpayer dollars. On April 8, 2025, my sister, Sarah Owens Navarro, who lives in New York, received a call from her doorman who said that four MCAO detectives were at the front desk and needed to speak with her. She was in Mexico at the time and spoke on the phone to a detective named it seems like a horrible use of taxpayer dollars for MCAO to send this many detectives across the country to talk to my sister when they didn't even have a subpoena to speak with her. They didn't even leave business cards with a doorman. Detectives have since tried to call her four times, but she has not responded. Near the end of the email, after she talks about being indicted on seven felonies, she writes, I am absolutely terrified of the potential jail time I could receive, even though I have never been charged with anything in my life. The next day, Laura met on Zoom with our production company, Glass Podcasts. Apparently it was a positive interaction. After that, the ball was in Laura's court, but she stopped responding about her participation. About a month later, we asked to talk with her mother, Jan Black. We got a reply back stating that because Jan was listed as a witness in the criminal proceedings, she couldn't speak either. A few months later, I emailed Laura's then criminal attorney, Joshua Colesrud, requesting a statement from him or Laura. This was his reply.

[Clayton Eckerd]

Dear Ms. Young, thank you for reaching out. As much as we appreciate your fair and balanced approach, our professional rules require that we decline your interview request. Lawyers are forbidden for making extrajudicial statements about an ongoing case in the requested format. Ms. Owens will also not be making any statements at this time. Best regards, Joshua Colesrud.

[Stephanie Young]

We reached out to Laura again before the first episode aired. This is what I sent her on February 11, 2026. Hi Laura, I'm reaching out to follow up on the podcast project we are producing in collaboration with iHeart, which you previously discussed with Nancy Glass and Ben Federman back in May 2025. At the time, your former attorney Josh Colesrud indicated that you wouldn't be making a comment given the change in your legal representation. I wanted to personally extend the invitation again to see if your stance has changed and if you'd be interested in sharing your perspective with us, we'd like to ask you a few questions and give you the opportunity to speak on your own behalf. If you would like to participate, we need a decision by Friday, February 13th at 5pm Eastern Time. If you're interested, we could schedule an interview with the signed release on any of the following days Monday, February 16, Tuesday, February 17 or Wednesday, February February 18. We completely understand if ongoing litigation prevents you from speaking at this time. While we haven't reached out to your parents or sister out of respect for their roles as witnesses in the upcoming trial. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with them if they are willing. Please feel free to share my contact information with them or any friends, colleagues or representatives who might be open to an interview. We want to ensure that we include as many relevant voices as possible possible. Please let me know how you'd like to proceed. Thank you. This was Laura's reply to me hi Stephanie, I hope this email finds you well. It is very upsetting to receive a 48 hour deadline to respond to an interview request for a project that has been in development for months, particularly when I appear to be the central figure. You have known since the December that I am no longer represented by Josh, yet only now in February are you reaching out directly and requesting my participation on such short notice. That does not constitute a meaningful or equitable opportunity to contribute. That timing further reinforces the appearance that one perspective has already been developed over an extended period while the other is is being compressed into a last minute window. In an apparent attempt to check the box that I was contacted, cover your back legally and push forward with a narrative that is completely out of context with the facts. As a reminder, Laura met with our production company about nine months prior to discuss her potential participation in this series. Her email went on to allege her mother reached out to me, but that I had not replied. I have no record of communication from her mother and my company or personal inbox. She also said that a dear friend of hers replied to my request for comment twice, but I have no record of that either. Laura ended her email by letting us know there would soon be new information. I'm still waiting on that. There is substantial information that will soon become public which will materially affect how this situation is understood. Other documentary and podcast producers have put their projects on hold while the story plays out. If you choose to go forward with yours, please be advised that I will aggressively pursue appropriate legal remedies with respect to any portrayal that is inaccurate or unfair. Warmest regards, Lara Owens. After this email, we expected to start seeing one every week, but it was few and far between. That was until episode seven when we played this teaser at the very end.

[Clayton Eckerd]

My name is Mike Maracini. I dated Laura from March 2016 through summer of 2017.

[Stephanie Young]

This is when we found out Laura herself was tuning in, because after that episode, Laura sent an email Subject Line Formal notice regarding LoveTrapped content scheduled to air 4926 hello, I am writing to raise concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the narrative being presented in Lovetrapped, including prior episodes recent promotional materials and information I have obtained regarding upcoming segments involving Michael Maracini. It seems like Laura heard Mike's voice in the teaser and she was upset about it. This email is about five pages long. According to her, Mike Maracini is misrepresenting himself as a victim. Laura says he's lying. At the time she sent this email, Mike's episode hadn't aired yet. All she heard was the teaser, and she signs off by saying, you are now on notice of the nature of these statements. Any decision to include or rely on them as factual within your production carries corresponding legal risk. I trust this information will be taken into account before any further content is aired. We received another email the following week to Whom It May Concern I am writing to place you on formal notice that Episode eight of Love Trapped contains numerous false, defamatory and materially misleading statements about me, Lara Owens, as well as my parents, Ron Owens and Jan Black. This email included five PDF attachments with a total of 21 pages. They were broken down into categories Iceland, Dubai, Family Relationships, Post Relationship Conduct, and my favorite category, Other Notes Let me summarize these Attachments Iceland Laura said it was a personal trip, not a work trip. According to her, she and Mike stayed in the same room that seemed particularly important to her. She again referenced Napkin Lady's account of the events on the flight, calling it sworn third party evidence. Dubai I'll read this quote directly. The Dubai segment of the show constructs a narrative in which Mr. Maracini is portrayed as a reluctant participant pressured into international travel. That framing is not supported by the contemporaneous record Family Relationships. She contradicts Mike's account that her parents pressured him into staying in the relationship. She claims the portrayal of her parents involvement is false and unsubstantiated post relationship conduct. Laura claims after their relationship ended, Mike was the one initiating contact with her, even following her, not the other way around. Other Notes this is where Laura goes into detail about quite a few grievances, big and small, but most were about the way her relationship with Mike was portrayed. It seemed like her biggest issue is what she calls the trap narrative. She writes that because no baby was born, quote, a pregnancy that produces no child creates nothing that keeps a man anywhere he does not want to be. Again, these are all attachments full of selected excerpts from documents and recordings. The attached materials document specific, concrete instances in which the episode's claims are directly contradicted by sworn deposition testimony, contemporaneous text message records, medical records, court filings, and third party declarations. Then in advance of the last episode, I reached out one final time for a written statement from Laura. We asked her to keep her statement to 1000 words so we could reasonably read it on this episode. At the last minute, she sent this. Stephanie, I have been offered 1,000 words at the end of more than 15 hours of audio constructed to destroy my reputation and that of my family. No response I could give in that space would begin to address the damage that this production has done. She went on to again refute Mike Maracini's claims in this series. She challenged our use of her bankruptcy hearings in episode 11. Those recordings are available in full on YouTube. I wish I could say there were more meaningful takeaways from Laura's final email, but it's just more of the same. Personal digs, legal threats, and much like in the body cam footage, no accountability for anything whatsoever. Laura remains adamant in her communications that we've got the story all wrong. As we wrapped up production, I reached out to Greg Gillespie one more time to see if he wanted to make a comment. Greg is the victim Laura met before Clayton. He sent me a short statement that I'm able to share with you. Stephanie. What we have gone through as a result of Laura's alleged fraudulent actions and alleged criminal behavior has been nothing short of an experience from hell. My story is vastly different from the one being shared publicly. We will not be satisfied until Laura Owens is in prison and restricted from bringing further chaos into our lives. Bonus for exposing those who assisted her alleged fraud along the way. Greg has his own story to tell, but he's not ready to do that yet. All three of these men are looking forward to a day where they don't have to think about Laura Owens anymore. As for Clayton, you don't need to worry about him. He says he's doing better than ever and he's got an entire community around him.

[Clayton Eckerd]

I never would have thought that this journey would lead us to this point where there are people fighting around the clock for me and the other victims. But I think these people that are fighting for me, Mike and Greg, are really fighting for themselves as well. They were brought into this all because of their own trauma that likely Laura triggered when she claimed that she went through something that they've actually went through. And I don't think, like people rally around a cause if they don't have a strong emotional pull to it. And typically the emotional pull is they've experienced something similar. I believe that this support system has been created from trauma triggering that Laura has done. She's triggered more than just me and the other victims. She's triggered a community. I keep saying this, but I'll say it again. It's not even about me at this point. It's about this community healing. So for me to be a small part of that has been awesome.

[Stephanie Young]

Like we said at the beginning of the episode, there still isn't an answer about Laura's plea deal. We don't know yet if she's going to trial or if she'll admit her guilt. We might not have an answer until her pretrial hearing, which is currently scheduled for May 20, 2026. That being said, we'll be back to bring you important updates. Season one of Love Trapped will continue when there's news to share in the criminal case against Laura Owens. And if Laura goes to trial, I'll be there. Before we end the episode, I want to leave you with one final thought. I know it's maddening to watch someone be confused with the same facts over and over again and still refuse to accept them. At a certain point, you have to let go of the idea that there's going to be a moment of clarity, a confession, an explanation that makes this all make sense. For Clayton and the other men in this story, that moment may never come.

[Clayton Eckerd]

My truth is still my truth and it sucks. And I'm ready for it to be over.

[Stephanie Young]

Laura's listened to the same 12 episodes you have. She's read the reporting, she's seen the evidence, she lived it, and she's come to her own conclusion. You've heard the same material. Now you have to come to yours. At the end of the day, there's one thing that isn't a matter of opinion. Laura owens is facing 14 felony indictments. Clayton Eckerd is not. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to follow Love Trapped on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a review. A five star rating helps others find this show. We're grateful for your support. If you would like to reach out to the Lovetrapped team, email [e-mail] that's lovetrappedpodmail.com Lovetrapped is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with Iheart Podcasts. This show was executive produced by Nancy Glass, Andrea Gunning, and Ben Federman. Written, produced and hosted by me, Stephanie Young. Our story editor is Monique Laborde. Producer on this episode is Sydney Gladue. Additional production support from Todd Ganz. Our production manager is Kristen Melkiri for iHeart podcasts. Ali Perry was our Executive producer. Audio editing and Mastering by Anna MacLaine Additional editing support by Tanner Robbins and Matt Del Vecchio. Thank you to our voice actors Leslie Tolley, Trey Morgan, Leah Jablo, Tanner Robbins, Taka Zen, Caitlin Golden, Anna Maclean, Sidney Gladue, and Todd Ganz. This podcast was developed in collaboration with Danny Passman and Leb Abramoff at Crybaby Media. The Love Trapped theme is composed by Oliver Baines Music Library provided by My Music. A special thanks to Carrie Lieberman, Will Pearson, Jessica Kreinscheck, Ali Kanter and the entire iHeart podcast team. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. I'm here with spinquest, where you can

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[Stephanie Young]

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