The Moth: "Lost and Found" – The Moth Radio Hour

Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Sarah Austin Janess

Episode Overview

“Lost and Found” explores the powerful, often emotional journey of losing and finding—whether it’s people, identity, a sense of belonging, precious objects, or ways of life. By sharing true, personal stories live on stage, The Moth brings together tales of near-miraculous rescue, the unmasking of vulnerabilities, reconnection after estrangement, and the realization of family across unexpected lines.

Key Stories & Discussion Points

1. Ross Jessup: "Lost in Lolo National Forest"

Tale of duty, desperation, and hope from a Montana police officer.

• [03:32] Ross, working as a police officer in Missoula, responds to a call about a disorderly man seen running into Lolo National Forest, possibly with a baby.
• [04:06] Under personal strain (his marriage is struggling, it’s his wedding anniversary), Ross embarks on the search in the vast woods in scorching July heat.
• [06:00–12:00] Develops: The suspect is a dangerous, wanted felon with a history of violence. Ross and colleagues find the suspect’s camp, laden with evidence of a child (diapers, clothes, toys), but no people.
• [08:35] The suspect is apprehended and cryptically confesses:

  “He says to me, ‘He’s dead. I buried him alive. I crashed off of a cliff. You won’t find him. I don’t know where he’s at.’” (Ross Jessup, 09:14)

• [10:00–15:00] The search intensifies in darkness and cold. After hours tracking debris, Ross, exhausted and praying for guidance, hears:

  “There’s a moment of silence in a black forest. And in that moment, I hear this small, precious little baby whimper...the sound of a baby that has cried and cried until he couldn’t cry anymore.” (Ross Jessup, 15:34)

• [16:00] Against all odds, the baby, Grayson, is found alive, buried under sticks, filthy but resilient.
• [16:48] Ross links the story to his own struggles:

  “I made a difference last night.” (Ross Jessup, 17:33)

Memorable Moment: The raw relief and emotion when Ross finds Grayson alive is palpable, as is his honesty about trauma and the toll of the job.

2. Christine Gentry: "Taking off the Mask"

Story of confronting vulnerability and redefining self-worth.

• [22:59] Christine shares the awkwardness of a promising first date, which collapses when the man mocks a previous girlfriend who revealed she was bald (from a medical condition)—the very condition Christine has herself.
• [23:45] Christine recounts her lifelong secrecy about her hair loss from alopecia, tracing back to painful early experiences and trauma from an abusive relationship:

  “He would do things like snatch my hair off during fights because he knew that it would just break me.” (Christine Gentry, 25:08)

• [25:19] She describes the two deep fears she carried:

  "If anyone ever got into that space again, they would hurt me. And the second was that no one would ever love me for who I really am anyway.”

• [26:24] Inspired by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s public revelation of alopecia, Christine bravely reveals her baldness to her new partner. He responds with acceptance:

  “He kissed my head, and he told me I was beautiful. And this time, I believed it.” (Christine Gentry, 27:22)

Notable Quote:

“I had to ask him to see me. Like, all of me, the real me. And I knew it was for me and that it was something I needed to do no matter how he responded.” (Christine Gentry, 26:58)

3. Gregory Pereira: "Brotherhood Lost, Family Found"

The search for family through gangs, addiction, and acceptance.

• [28:48] Gregory’s early home is filled with love for The Beatles shared with his mother—a short-lived period before addiction devastates his family.
• [29:30] Caught by the “tidal wave of heroin” in the South Bronx, his mother’s addiction propels Gregory towards gangs, seeking the belonging he’s lost.
• [32:10] Gregory is shuffled between coastlines, constantly searching for family, and repeatedly returns to the gang life, but is ultimately betrayed and left for dead.
• [34:45] Hitting bottom opens up new possibilities: he gets clean, earns two degrees, and starts working in prevention.
• [36:30] Unexpectedly finds love—first dancing with his mother to The Beatles, then encountering a colleague, a woman with seven children, for whom “laughter I’d never heard before” rekindles “that magic feeling.”
• [38:45] Her sons confront him (testing his intentions), and after passing their test, he finds acceptance in this "modern family.”
• [39:35]

  “That magic feeling started to emerge, because they became my angels with dirty faces. That was my modern family. So we’ve been together now nineteen years.” (Gregory Pereira, 39:41)

4. Joseph Gallo: "Oh, Holy Cow"

On friendship, grief, and the power of memories in objects.

• [43:24] Joseph recounts a friendship forged through a love of baseball and the Yankees’ Phil Rizzuto, cemented by the gift of a special book, Oh, Holy Cow.
• [44:40] After AJ’s death from a brain tumor, the book becomes Joseph’s symbolic link to his friend.
• [46:45] Decades later, while packing up his late mother’s house, he accidentally donates the book, leading to obsessive visits to the bookstore and an evolving emotional attachment to the book as long as his mother is alive.
• [48:00]

  “If the book is alive, then in some abstract way, AJ is alive. And I want them alive.”

• [48:15] He finally reclaims the book from the basement after telling the owner the whole story.
• [48:59]

  “[She] reads the inscription inside aloud. ‘To Joseph. Instant Stories from the Field of Dreams. I thought you would enjoy this. Love, AJ.’... She closes the book, and she hands it to me, and she says, ‘You should tell that story.’ And so I just did.” (Joseph Gallo, 49:05)

5. Erin Wolfe: "Goodbye to Grandpa Bernie’s New York"

Losing a home and finding identity in new places and people.

• [49:37] Erin’s wife lands her dream job—prompting a move from New York to Boston—shaking Erin’s self identity (“I have been a New Yorker for 38 years”).
• [50:27] He grapples with personal and traditional attachments: their family apartment full of his grandfather’s belongings, including a broken-old clock.
• [52:00] Erin’s farewell walk through New York ends at his cousin’s monument shop—one last tie to Grandpa Bernie’s legacy.
• [53:40]

  “Who am I going to be if I leave this place? This is my New York. This guy is my New York.”

• [54:30] Symbolically, the shop is also closing; as his old world disappears, he realizes legacies endure in family rituals, foods, and, especially, stories.
• [55:35]

  “But also like a time machine, my New York, my Grandpa Bernie’s New York, it’s gone. It doesn’t exist anymore. But I still see it here, of all places... in the stories we tell each other around the dinner table at home, underneath the clock that says Forsyth Monuments, established 1911.” (Erin Wolfe, 55:49)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Ross Jessup, [15:34]: “If I was to describe this sound, it would be the sound of a baby that has cried and cried and cried and cried until he couldn’t cry anymore. I’ve never heard anything like it. And I hope I never have to hear anything again like it.”
• Christine Gentry, [26:58]: “I took everything off, and I asked him to see me. Like all of me, the real me.”
• Gregory Pereira, [39:41]: “That magic feeling started to emerge because they became my angels with dirty faces. That was my modern family.”
• Joseph Gallo, [48:59]: “She opens it up, and she reads the inscription inside aloud... She closes the book, and she hands it to me, and she says, ‘You should tell that story.’ And so I just did.”
• Erin Wolfe, [55:49]: “I see it in my son’s love of Chinese food and smoked fish, and in my daughter’s laugh and her scream. But most of all, I see it in the stories we tell each other around the dinner table at home.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ross Jessup: Lost and found in the forest – [03:32] to [17:39]
• Christine Gentry: Revealing vulnerability – [22:59] to [27:32]
• Gregory Pereira: From the streets to family – [28:48] to [39:46]
• Joseph Gallo: Searching for a memory – [43:24] to [49:07]
• Erin Wolfe: Leaving New York, carrying legacy – [49:37] to [55:56]

Episode Tone

Mixing tension, perseverance, humor, and deep emotion, “Lost and Found” is classic Moth: poignant, reflective, and at times cathartic. The storytellers speak candidly, sometimes with dark wit, sometimes with aching honesty, always with the vividness of lived experience.

Takeaway

This episode demonstrates that loss—of people, places, identity, or even a simple object—can become the raw material for new chapters, fresher identities, and the rediscovery of what matters. In each story lies the evidence that beginnings are embedded in every ending, and that “found” is often more profound for being forged through “lost.”