MFM Minisode 458

Summary

My Favorite Murder – Minisode 458 ("Or So We Thought")

Hosts: Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark
Date: October 20, 2025
Theme: Listener-submitted “Or So We Thought” twist stories—hometowns, family dramas, awkward encounters, and surprising mysteries.

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Episode Overview

In this minisode, Karen and Georgia dive into a collection of listener stories centered around the theme, “Or So We Thought”—narratives that start out ordinary but take a wild, dark, or hilarious turn. As always, the duo injects their signature wit and camaraderie while reading emails ranging from true crime to family secrets to laugh-out-loud misadventures. The stories serve up a mix of murder, mistaken identity, surprise animal visitors, and good old-fashioned cat burglary, each with a twist the tellers—and listeners—didn’t see coming.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Twisted Family Secrets & Small-Town Scandals (02:24 – 06:07)

• Story: A seemingly perfect family, led by a well-respected police officer, turns out to be at the center of a shocking murder-suicide, all revealed after a private investigator's photos and a mysterious disappearance.
• Karen: “And also how often where everybody in town compares themselves to this perfect family and then the other shoe drops.” (02:57)
• Georgia: Incredulous at the extreme twist: “The mother was found three days later, bound with duct tape in her trunk and her throat was slit.” (04:46)
• Memorable Moment: The son, furious after the truth emerges, has his father’s body moved across the cemetery.
• Lesson: “Stay sexy and don’t marry a cop.” – Brandy (the storyteller) (05:49)
• Karen’s Reflection: “Or so we thought. That was like. It's not just a standard affair... everything falls apart." (05:56)

2. Pool Heroine Mom Fends Off a Creep (06:07 – 09:20)

• Story: Listener Jay recounts how her teen mom, after a lifeguard shift, chased a supposed kid peeping in the women’s showers—only to discover it was a grown man, whom she then marches to police in only a towel.
• Georgia (reading): “My mom marched the man into the pool to report him to staff and eventually the police… never mess with my mom.” (08:22)
• Reflection: Both hosts relate, with Karen noting the stress and absurdity: “The idea of having to chase someone in a towel is so stressful and insane. And then that reveal…just a short man!” (09:31)
• Memorable Line: “Hooray for all those moms out there that keep the spirit alive and strong.” (09:12)

3. The Amish Meth Lab Explosion (12:03 – 14:15)

• Story: Mal (a trans listener) shares about moving to a Mennonite farm in Indiana, only to find themselves neighbors to an Amish-run meth lab—exposing a fatal explosion with wild rumors swirling.
• Karen’s Favorite Part: “According to my aunt, there was an Amish run meth house just up the road and it had exploded.” (12:50)
• Georgia: “The Amish fucking grow meth. Grow meth? You can’t grow meth.” (13:01)
• Closing Thought: Even rural life isn’t safe from chaos: “Just thinking you’re going to start a new life and just immediately a meth house that’s run by the Amish blows up.” (14:05)

4. Uncle’s Secret Stash & Accidental Hotboxing (15:18 – 17:32)

• Story: After an uncle’s death, family searches a rural cabin for sentimental “treasure” and finds a secret weed-growing operation worth $10k. Unsure what to do, they burn it in a massive bonfire—getting everyone high unintentionally.
• Georgia (reading): “Turns out my quiet private uncle was the local drug dealer.” (16:19)
• Karen: “A bonfire of weed.” (16:56)
• Family Lesson: “Keep them close and let them know you love them. You never know when a phone call or text may be your last. Stay sexy and maybe don’t burn your uncle’s entire weed supply. At least not at once.” (17:01)
• Georgia: “Where was the cash hidden, though? Because where there’s $10,000 worth of weed, there’s cash you can’t put in a bank.” (17:38)

5. Texas Teacher’s Possum Surprise (19:56 – 23:27)

• Story: An elementary school teacher describes the chaos when a student’s hoodie pocket is revealed to contain a live baby possum, which escapes during reading time.
• Karen (narrating): “A tiny, mostly hairless blur hissing between the copies of ‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing’… surely this was some toy gone wrong, right? Wrong.” (21:49)
• Student’s defense: “I found him on the way to school and I didn’t want him to be lonely, so I put him in my pocket.” (22:23)
• Resolution: With much chaos, the possum is wrangled and returned to the wild; hosts highlight the resilience and creativity of teachers.
• Memorable: “Check your students’ pockets for wildlife.” (23:27)
• Teacher’s Wish List: The hosts agree to share the teacher’s Amazon wish list to support underfunded classrooms, inviting listeners to help and add theirs. (24:38–24:48)

6. Cat Burglars with Good Intentions (24:53 – 28:14)

• Story: A woman and her mom, searching for a missing black cat, accidentally break into a neighbor’s house to “rescue” a lookalike—realizing much too late that it isn’t their pet. They then stealthily return the cat before being found out. The real cat returns days later.
• Georgia (reading): “I think it was at this point we realized she was...this is not my cat. We fucking stole, with the best of intentions, my neighbor's cat, all caps right out of their damn home...” (27:36)
• Karen: “You burglared that cat?” (27:42)
• Moral: “Stay sexy and lock your fucking doors, or your crazy neighbor and her mom may steal your cat and then return it.” (28:08)
• Karen: “Thank God they didn’t have to break back in and put the cat in... Like, it’s just through that cat door.” (28:14)
• Hosts reflect: On mischief, mistaken identity, and good intentions gone sideways. “Keep sending us your ‘or so I thought’ twist stories and we can include them in the regular hometowns. I fucking love them so much.” – Georgia (28:29)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Isn’t it weird 10 years later that people thought… no, we’re the normies.” – Karen & Georgia (02:39)
• “Turns out my quiet private uncle was the local drug dealer.” – Listener email (16:19)
• “Thank God they didn’t have to break back in and put the cat in... Like, it’s just through that cat door.” – Karen (28:14)
• On Listener Support:
  “So if you have a little extra to give, we can do that.” – Karen, discussing sharing teacher wish lists. (24:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Description | |-------------|-----------------| | 02:24–06:07 | Shocking cop family murder-mystery twist | | 06:07–09:20 | Pool peeper caught by badass mom| | 12:03–14:15 | Amish meth lab explosion in rural Indiana | | 15:18–17:32 | Uncle’s secret weed room, accidental family bonfire | | 19:56–23:27 | Baby possum chaos in Texas classroom | | 24:53–28:14 | Mistaken catnap: neighbors become cat burglars |

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, irreverent, and heartfelt: Both hosts blend dark subject matter with supportive, relatable humor.
• Warmth for listener submissions: Both Karen and Georgia express appreciation and empathy for the stories, often adding their own perspectives or similar anecdotes.
• Encouragement and call to action: Particularly strong in their discussion of supporting teachers and inviting further story submissions.

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Final Thoughts

This minisode encapsulates the offbeat and often poignant nature of the "Or So We Thought" theme—where every seemingly mundane or safe situation turns on a dime. Between wild small-town scandals, brave moms, unexpected criminal enterprises, and droll suburban misadventures, Karen and Georgia celebrate the unpredictability of real life. Listeners are encouraged to keep sending in their twisted tales—because as this episode proves, the truth is always stranger (and funnier) than fiction.

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For More:

• Submit your own story: myfavoritemurdermail.com
• Support teachers by checking Instagram for classroom wish list links
• Stay sexy and don’t get murdered.

Transcript

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

Hello and welcome to my favorite Murder the Minisode where we read you your stories. This one's a special edition.

[Karen Kilgariff]

This one is themed Out. We were getting a lot of emails that had this theme, so Molly and Allison started collecting them. And it's basically the or so We Thought stories.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I fucking love this. I could just do this for the rest of.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's so great.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Infinity.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

Yes.

[Commercial Announcer 4]

This is so good.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You want to go first?

[Karen Kilgariff]

What better way to tell a story? Here's a classic version.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I won't read you the subject line. It says, hi, Karen and Georgia, I love your show and thank you for helping me know that my obsession with murder stories is not weird and I am not a freak. Yeah. Isn't it weird 10 years later that people thought that it's just like, no.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, we're the normies.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. It says, my mom was engaged to a man that has two daughters that I went to high school with. One daughter was engaged to her high school sweetheart and he had the best family. Or so we thought.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Starting off fucking strong.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, like, you just know exactly what we're talking about now.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes, something is wrong.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And also how often where everybody in town compares themselves to this perfect family and then the other shoe drops.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, we've all watched Euphoria.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We know what's going on. So the boyfriend's name is Scott, and they called the parents the Cleavers. They would host block parties. The mom baked for everyone. And the dad was also a local police officer. They had a family friend, Lisa, that was also the ex wife of a fellow police officer and a personal trainer that helped rehabilitate Tom when he was hurt during a big police chase. Got it. My mom mentioned a big family jet ski day where Lisa wore a thong, and she thought it was odd. I think the mom, she thought it was odd that Tom and Lisa shared a jet ski.

[Georgia Hardstark]

A thong right off the bat is like, red flag. No, I mean, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. But a family holiday, At a family.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Holiday, when you are not family, but you're not family, and you're also not young enough, where it's like, hey, guess what? High school, college, early 20s maybe, depending on what's going on. But when you are like another mom and you've got a thong on, you're basically saying, I'm gonna express something through my bathing suit.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Right. And there are kids around.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm gonna send a message. That's actually kind of a private message. I should actually be sending it on AOL message.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It should be private. I'm not.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But I'm gonna thong it up.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, my God. Okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Which is also these days, very common. And also I was raised Catholic, so everything seems inappropriate to me. Okay. So the husband started working late on Tuesdays, and the mom hired a private investigator that took pictures of the dad and Lisa at a motel out of town on their wedding anniversary. The mom was seen at Costco and then never seen again?

[Georgia Hardstark]

No.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The husband led a search party. The mother was on the news as a missing person. The mother was found three days later, bound with duct tape in her trunk and her throat was slit.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, man.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Our family friend found her. He was in another precinct, and her car had been parked out of jurisdiction. People went looking for her murderer. And then three days later, the husband went missing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

What?

[Karen Kilgariff]

We thought whoever took the mom must have taken the dad. He was found later that day on top of a mountain with a self inflicted gunshot wound through the back of his head. There was a huge double funeral with a ton of police to honor their fallen partner. And they were buried together with caskets on top of each other. It all started to come out about the pictures and the affair. And someone saw them arguing in the forest. That day, the mom had leaves and dirt in her hair and clothes. When all of this came out, the son was so mad that he had the dad dug up and moved all the way across the cemetery.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Holy shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And then it says, stay sexy and don't marry a cop. Brandy.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow. That is not what I thought was going to happen.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, or so we thought. That was like. It's not just a standard affair, which is bad, right? Bad in a small town when everybody knows each other, but everything falls apart.

[Georgia Hardstark]

All right, let's change the tempo a little bit. My first one's called My mom the Pool Locker Room Hero. Ladies, what can I say? Other than you bring seemingly endless joy, laughter, and wisdom to me weekly, and in this economy, that's really all I could ever hope for.

[Karen Kilgariff]

This economy.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Thank you. And I will soak up every word from you two stars for as long as you choose to fight this good fight. My mom, among many other accolades, was also a hero at her local swimming pool back in. Let's call it the 1960s. What do you think her mom would say about that?

[Commercial Announcer 5]

Bitch?

[Georgia Hardstark]

It was the 90s or something, right? Back then, my teenage mom earned money that would eventually send her to college by babysitting and lifeguarding at her hometown pool in Akron, Ohio. One fateful, chilly winter day, my mom was wrapping up a shift at the pool indoor and was hanging around socializing with the next staff member on duty. It had been a quiet day at the pool and it was turning into evening, and my mom needed to get showered and changed to head home for her next job, likely babysitting a neighborhood kid. My mom headed into the empty locker room, got undressed, and started to shower. Just then, she heard footsteps enter the locker room and the door close. Seeing how she knew everyone who was at the pool that day, and likely most people that swam at the pool, she called out to say, hey, who's out there? When she didn't get a response, she called out again, but no reply. She got a creepy feeling, so she turned the shower off, grabbed her towel, and peeked around the corner to see a kid slipping through the door, exiting the locker room in a hurry. Well, this kid picked the wrong day to try and get a peek at my mom in the shower. She wasn't having it and decided today was the day. This kid was learning a lesson. Without pause, she ran after the kid, only wearing her towel and no shoes, chasing them down the hallway of the building where they were running towards the exit. She caught up to them just as they were about to make it out the door. She had been yelling after the kid the whole time and when she finally caught up to them, she grabbed the kid by their shoulders and spun them around. Just then it became shockingly clear this was not a kid. Nope. Instead it was a very short adult man who had just been caught trying to peep on my mom in the shower. Instead of just letting this person go, which would be reasonable given the shock and awe, my mom marched the man into the pool to report him to the staff and eventually the police. Turns out this was not the first time this offender had been snooping around the women's locker rooms area. My mom never heard about what came of this man, but hopefully this was the last day he had to be taught this particular lesson. Never mess with my mom because she's fast, bold and isn't afraid to drag men through an auditorium while only wearing a towel. Admittedly, my mom said if she had known it was an adult man, she probably would not have chased them down. Fair Mom My mom used to tell me this story and many others during our many hours traveling to my youth sports practices and meets. She passed away in 2016 and never got to meet her grandson, my son, who was turning 7 this month. I tell my son age appropriate stories of his grandmother as often as possible so he can be sure to pass along the badass lady power spirit that lives on in everyone who knew her or knew of her. Hooray for all those moms out there that keep the spirit alive and strong. SSD DM Jay from Vermont Jay from.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Vermont Our mom's diet the same year. Oh, 2016.

[Commercial Announcer 4]

Wow.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Seven years ago.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It was a bad one. Isn't that weird?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I would have a seven year old child so weird.

[Georgia Hardstark]

What would they be like?

[Karen Kilgariff]

A lot like this, right? High maintenance. That was a good one. The idea of having to chase someone in a towel is so stressful and insane. And then that reveal of like it's not a child, it's just a short.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Man who can fight back.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, but what a creep.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

Hungryroot.com MFM Code MFM Goodbye. This one is crazy. I'm not going to read you the subject line. It says, hello, my name is Malachi Mal for short, and I'm a trans dude who grew up primarily in Wyoming. However, Due to a series of horrible and traumatic life events. Who doesn't have those? My mother flipped her shit and convinced my father that we needed to move to rural Indiana in a camper on my Mennonite uncle and aunt's farmland. Two days after settling in, we noticed that police officers were constantly driving up and down our small one lane county road. Of course, we asked my aunt and uncle what the hell had happened. Usually rural Indiana communities full of the Amish and Mennonites aren't chock full of criminals. Or so we thought.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Ah, there it is.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, I love it. According to my aunt, there was an Amish run meth house just up the road and it has had exploded.

[Georgia Hardstark]

What? The Amish fucking grow meth. Grow meth? You can't grow meth.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, you can't. Well, they naturally grew it, right?

[Georgia Hardstark]

And they have the old recipe from.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Back in the day. And then they raised the barn style, built a house.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Holy shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A meth house in one day. I mean, just the weirdest combination of ethos and aesthetics.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A few days prior to us moving onto my family's property, police had arrived to a destroyed meth lab and one survivor. All of the victims and the survivor were Amish, at least supposedly. We were later told by members of the community that the other two victims, the brother and the wife of the survivor, were dead before the explosion even occurred.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh. Cause of like chemicals and shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Whether this was because of a meth induced rage or because of familial issues, we never found out. In about six months, we moved back to Wyoming. Shockingly not because of the exploded Amish meth house. After that, I finished the rest of my high school life in Wyoming, which is a relatively boring state. Ssdgm Mal.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow. Perfect. Perfect.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Just thinking that you're going to like get away and like start a new life and just immediately a meth house that's run by the Amish blows up.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I didn't know they did that. I need more stories of this. Everyone.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I feel like this is like we owe a serious apology to the Amish and Mennonite community because we have encroached.

[Georgia Hardstark]

They're not listening. They're never gonna listen.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Can someone please run down the road, apologize, Run down the road and let them know that this is our fault.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hot twist. You fall in love with an Amish man and you become Amish. You move and you're like, you're off TikTok forever.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We're gonna reverse witness this thing and we're gonna raise a barn about it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay. Or so we thought. Uncle Story. Yes, hello, MFM cast, crew and furry extras. Longtime listener, something time writer. Recently you asked for or so y thought stories and boy, do I have the perfect one. Let's get into it. I'll set the scene. When my mom was little, her parents bought a riverside cabin in a rural part of the state. Think 70s charm. A hammock above a poison ivy patch and a small living space. We somehow managed to cram 10 to 15 people into fun. They visited every summer, a tradition that has continued and expanded to all of the children, grandchildren and cousins on my mom's side.

[Commercial Announcer 5]

Love it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Fun. I bet there's no air conditioning either.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, no, and pretty cold in the winter. But you're right there by that river.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, I bet there's a lot of fucking MDD being passed around. Anyway, after my grandparents passed away, my uncle moved into the cabin with no one but his dog to keep him company. Sounds amazing. In the 10 years he lived there before he died, he filled the cabin and a garage he built with piles and piles of stuff. He also suggested he hid treasure across the property, but never said where. My mom, my aunt and her husband all went to the cabin in the days after his passing to look for and sort through all his stuff. They found some sentimental things like old photos and toys and about 20 guns. Oh, my aunt's husband eventually came across a small rug placed suspiciously over a human sized hatch in the door. Obviously this is where my uncle's monetary treasure was hidden. Or so they thought. This basement contained rows and rows of marijuana plants. Oh, no one in my family smokes or was brave enough to admit it. But with some help from the Internet, we guessed it was about $10,000 worth of wee. Turns out my quiet private uncle was the local drug dealer.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes, that's right. That's what we're looking for. Or so we thought.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Or so we thought. I love it. What did they do with all this weed, you ask? The only reasonable thing they could think of. They period, burned it all. We were sent a photo of the massive fire and told it was a memorial for my uncle before we found out the truth a few days later. I know my uncle had a good laugh watching his goody two shoe sisters get high, possibly for the first time, off of his supply. Don't get too close.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A bonfire of weed.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, all the teenagers were like weeping in that town that day.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Just like. What a waste.

[Georgia Hardstark]

In the years since his passing, my mom has emphasized to her children how important it is for you to stay close to the people that mean the most to you. She, my aunt and my uncle called each other almost every day to say hi and check in on one another. So whether it's your siblings, your parents, a family member, a friend, or anyone else, keep them close and let them know you love them. You never know when a phone call or text may be your last. Stay sexy and maybe don't burn your uncle's entire weed supply. At least not at once. See, she her I thought that that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Was going to be keep them close because they might have a nice dime bag on them.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Just to make Christmas a little more relaxing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Where was the cash hidden though? Because where there's $10,000 worth of weed, there's cash that you can't put in a bank.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, you know, you better start pulling the boards off that like loft in the Seriously second floor or something.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Absolutely.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Treasure.

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[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm not gonna read you the subject line of this. It says, dear Karen in Georgia, is it normal for your heart to race? When typing an email to your favorite people ever, who you also consider to be your one way besties, just say yes. I'm an elementary teacher in a small town in Texas. We were just there. I first discovered your podcast during the pandemic, during which I would get my own kids started on their distance learning a phrase that still triggers my gag reflex. Getting my fifth graders started on their daily lessons, which consisted of a lot of what's the login? And then going for a long walk around my neighborhood. The only thing that truly kept me from going insane. Your voice has grounded me during the most anxious time in my life. And to this day, I turn to your podcast whenever I feel stressed or anxious. Which is, let's be real, Always. That's so nice. Well, I have a handful of hometowns I could share. And then in parentheses it says, serial killer Jason Massey, Unsolved Brutal murder. Cold Case of Missy Beavers. Have you heard of that one? But I thought I'd opt for something lighter and tell you one of the many stories I've collected from teaching elementary school for 16 years. It was a typical Friday in fifth grade, or so we thought. It's fun to deliver that dramatically, too.

[Commercial Announcer 4]

That's good.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Where's it gonna be?

[Karen Kilgariff]

We'd just started our cozy morning reading time. The lights were dim, soft instrumental music was playing, and the class was scattered around the room with books in hand, curled up like little library cats on beanbags and rugs.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That sounds so amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So cute. Enter Emily. Name changed on the off chance that this child's mother is a murderino. Sweet, quiet Emily, always prepared, always early, always suspiciously lumpy. This morning, I didn't think much of it until mid Read aloud. A scream erupted from the carpet, then chaos. Children were flinging themselves off the floor like a real live version of the floor's lava. One kid shouted, is that a rat?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh my God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

While another tried to climb onto a bookshelf like it was the Titanic and the classroom's rug was sinking. That's when I saw it. A tiny, mostly Hairless blur hissing between the copies of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. And because of Winn Dixie, surely this was some toy gone wrong, right? Wrong. It was a baby possum. Yes, I know the proper name is opossum, but you know, Tex, not here, not in California. A real live baby possum in my classroom. Oh my God. Emily. Emily stood up calmly, far too calmly, and said, don't call my mom. I found.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh my God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I found him on the way to school and I didn't want him to be lonely, so I put him in my pocket.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, like, okay, maybe I'll have one kid. That's when I hear these fucking stories. Just one.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Can I just give a little counter?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Those animals are covered in lice, you're right. And bugs and things. Yes. Okay, it says. And then it just says her period pocket, period. Apparently this poor thing had been peacefully snoozing in her hoodie pocket for hours until a dramatic plot twist in because of Winn Dixie startled him awake and straight into flight Mode. The next 10 minutes were a blur of possum wrangling, controlled screaming, and me Googling. Do you need a rabies shot if you handle a wild possum While on hold with the school nurse? Just in case, I told myself. The chase ended up dramatically when another student scooped it up into his shoe. Yes, you read that right. And started jumping up and down like he just won the Super Bowl. The possum was eventually safely returned to the wild after a short stay in the counselor's office and the classroom sort of recovered. Stay sexy and check your students pockets for wildlife.

[Georgia Hardstark]

J. Oh my God. Like the best day of those kids lives. How exciting.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's so good. And it's so like life in the classroom, right? This is just kind of what teachers have to deal with. Well, there's a P.S. that's other stuff teachers have to deal with. Okay, P.S. i'm switching grade levels this year and will be a fourth grade reading and social studies teacher at a Title 1 school in Texas. My classroom is my mission field. I strive to create lasting memories, build strong relationships, and give my students experiences that they might not otherwise have. As we all know, public school funding continues to be cut and the burden for creating these experiences falls on teachers who barely make enough to make ends meet. As it is, I've put together an Amazon wish list to help bring learning to life for my kids. If you're willing to take a look or share, I'd be so grateful. So we'll share this on our Instagram. And then it says, thank you for inspiring so many, including me. So we will put Jay's wish list up, and then this is just stuff that all teachers are going through right now because they're trying to put. My sister had to go into her classroom this year, and she's like, I'm starting over from scratch. Like, I have no teacher's assistant. I have to go in there and make this room great for little kids who've never gone to school before because she's a kindergarten teacher.

[Georgia Hardstark]

How about we put it on socials and then teachers can add their teacher wishlist links as well. Love it. Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. So if you have a little extra to give, we can do that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wish we were ending on that. But we're not.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We gotta keep going.

[Georgia Hardstark]

We're ending on cat burglars.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. Perfect.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay, fam. I present to you my mother and I's finest moment. I grew up in a household that always had cats and dogs, and in my adulthood, I carried on this tradition. I acquired two cats and one dog in my early 20s. Both of my cats were strictly indoors. I loved them, but I was not sure either of those ding dongs could have survived the wild suburban area that I called home. One morning, I woke up to feed the pack and noticed my little black cat, Cleopatra, or clo. Clo, was nowhere to be found. I panicked, took the day off work and canvassed the neighborhood, shaking a bag of treats, yelling, clo, clo, clo, clo.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Why not cliquely?

[Georgia Hardstark]

You know, the. That fake pet names don't ever make any fucking sense.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's true. That's just what it turned into.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I am sure the neighbors got an eyeful. The days went by and Cleopatra still had not turned up. I put up signs and set up a raccoon trap on my front porch, hoping to catch her if she came back. The trap did not catch her, but I think it caught every other damn cat in the entire neighborhood, along with one actual raccoon. My mom would come over some evenings and help me canvas the neighborhood, shaking that damn bag of trees. Now, this is the part of the story I need to remind you that Cleopatra is a black cat. I would also like to enter my first defense here and say that most black cats look very much alike. One early evening, as my mother and I walked down a street very close to my home, we spotted her. Or so we thought.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Or so we thought.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Since she had been gone for so long, we were not about to let her get away. We slowly started Approaching the cat, the cat sees us moving towards it and bolts, and we run after it. We chase this cat as it runs toward a home that was just around the corner from my own house. And we see the cat, cat enter through a side doggy door. We thought that Cleopatra must have been surviving all this time by taking shelter in this home that she just ran into. How clever she is. We knocked on the front door. No one answered. No cars in the driveway. We sneak around the side of the home and peek into the windows. Maybe sign number one that we should have just chilled and see CLO CLO sitting in the laundry room up on a counter. I'm not sure who had the bright idea of trying the back door knob, but one of us tried it and it was open.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I am also not sure which criminal mastermind schemed the next steps of our plan, but it was decided that I would enter the home, grab the cat, and then book it back to my house. Ugh. We entered this home, grabbing this cat and hightailed it, no pun intended, back to my house. I ran into my home and dropped this poor cat, thinking, oh, how relieved Cleopatra will be to be home. And this cat just starts flipping out, running around, looking for an exit, flying up and down the furniture. I think it was at this point we realized she was. This is not my cat. We fucking stole with the best of intentions. My neighbor's cat all caps right out.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Of their damn home through the back door. Burglared. You burglared that cat?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay, phase two. The cat calmed down a little bit, and I was able to pick the cat back up. And we put our genius plan into reverse. We bolted back to my neighbors and shoved that cat back into its doggy door, from which it came. Good news. Cleopatra returned from her outing 16 days after she left. Better news, cats can't talk, or else my mother and I may be serving hard time. Stay sexy and lock your fucking doors, or your crazy neighbor and her mom may steal your cat and then return it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

E. Thank God they didn't have to break back in and put the cat in like that. Like it's just through that cat door.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Like, the person came home and just had no fucking clue that someone was in their house. The cat was just like. You were not going to believe what happened to me, but I can't tell you. Cat's like, this is so fucking weird. Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Also, there's just like, a. You walk in, there's just like a weird smell. Just like a.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Someone was in here. Yeah. Keep sending us your or so I thought twist stories and we can include them in the regular hometowns. I fucking love them so much.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're so good. Have you ever been misled or misconstrued a situation that then it led to some wonderful storytelling? Right, Let us know.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Please let us know atmy favorite murdermail.com.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And stay sexy and don't get murdered.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Goodbye Goodbye Elvis, do you want a cookie?

[Karen Kilgariff]

This has been an Exactly Right production.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Our senior producers are Alejandra Keck and Molly Smith.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

[Georgia Hardstark]

This episode was mixed by Liana Squilacci.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Email your hometowns to my favorite murdermail.com.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And follow the show on Instagram at.

[Karen Kilgariff]

My Favorite murder Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And now you can watch us on exactly right's YouTube page. And while you're there there, please like and subscribe Goodbye Goodbye.

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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