If I Go Missing - Talina Zar E5

Summary

Detailed Summary of "If I Go Missing – Talina Zar E5"

Podcast Title: What Happened to Talina Zar
Host: iHeartPodcasts
Episode: If I Go Missing - Talina Zar E5
Release Date: May 29, 2025

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Introduction

The episode "If I Go Missing" delves deeper into the mysterious disappearance of Talina Zar during the COVID-19 lockdown. Host Melissa Jeltson navigates through interviews with Talina's family, particularly her sister Cheryl Jones, and highlights the role of internet sleuths like Jess in unraveling the case. The narrative explores Talina's secret life within the Gorean community, her relationships, and the subsequent investigation into her disappearance.

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Talina Zar’s Dual Life and Family Insights

Cheryl Jones' Perspective
Cheryl Jones, Talina's sister, provides a heartfelt glimpse into their upbringing and Talina's secret life. Raised in a strict Pentecostal household in Bloomington and later Washington, Indiana, Talina was known as Jana within the family. However, she harbored a private identity as Talina, deeply involved in the Gorean BDSM community.

• Cheryl on Talina’s Duality:
  "She kept a part of her life private from the family... We just didn’t know the details of the secret." [03:09]

Cheryl recounts their close childhood bond, describing Talina as shy and someone she often stood up for. As adults, their paths diverged—Cheryl pursued a career in nursing and started a family, while Talina remained single, supporting her nieces generously.

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The Gorean Community and Talina’s Involvement

Talina was an active member of the Gorean community, a niche BDSM group inspired by the Gorean novels, which depict a strict social hierarchy with men as dominants and women as subservient. For nearly a decade, Talina lived as a 24/7 slave to her husband, Tom (also referred to as Master Zarius), fulfilling his every demand both domestically and sexually.

• Cheryl on Understanding Talina’s Lifestyle:
  "Yes, we kind of got it that it was something along that line." [04:14]

Talina’s commitment to this lifestyle was evident through her online activity and the choices she made in her personal life, including legally changing her name while retaining her birth name, Jana.

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Disappearance During the COVID-19 Lockdown

By March 2020, Cheryl and Talina had lost touch due to diverging lives. Talina had moved to Oklahoma and was last in contact with her niece Chantel via Facebook. On March 27, 2020, Talina informed Chantel that she was unwell and needed to rest, marking the last confirmed communication.

• Talina’s Final Messages:
  "I'll catch up with everyone on the other side." [12:35]
  "Couldn't have felt better." [07:04]

Shortly after, Talina ceased all online activity, and attempts to reach her were unsuccessful. Cheryl expresses immediate concern, noting that Talina's disappearance was uncharacteristic.

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Investigation and Suspicions

Involvement of Internet Sleuths
Jess, an internet sleuth from Minnesota, becomes a pivotal figure in the investigation. She builds a rapport with Marty, Talina's ex-husband, who appears increasingly unstable and defensive.

• Jess on Marty’s Behavior:
  "He'd become really vulnerable with me. He'd cry." [07:29]

Jess uncovers that Marty had a history of financial misconduct, including stealing from Talina, and suspects his potential involvement in her disappearance. Concurrently, suspicions arise around Corey, another individual in Talina's circle, who was named as the beneficiary in Talina's will shortly before her disappearance.

• Key Quote Highlighting Suspicions:
  "They’ve heard through the grapevine about Corey burning Talina’s mattress, selling her items on eBay. And Corey’s criminal past suggests she’s no stranger to lying and manipulation." [25:48]

Corey's Polygraph Test
Corey undergoes a polygraph test, which yields inconclusive results. Despite volunteering to assist the investigation, discrepancies in her statements and Corey’s suspicious activities raise red flags.

• Polygraph Discussion:
  "The instrument doesn’t lie and it doesn’t dislike you. It just reads your body and tells me you were deceptive on those two questions." [44:07]

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Challenges Faced by the Sleuths

Jess faces significant challenges in her investigation, including:

• Manipulative Behavior:
  Jess admits to manipulating contacts to gain information, raising questions about the reliability of her findings.
  "I lied to a lot of people... I just lied my way into their life." [28:31]

• Personal Safety Risks:
  The investigation puts Jess in potential danger, highlighted by threatening messages and unsettling encounters.
  "He sent me his ID and a knife and called me a Gorean slave and said he was going to come get me." [31:03]

• Emotional Toll:
  The relentless pursuit affects Jess’s mental and emotional well-being.
  "The days are becoming blurred... How did this happen?" [30:27]

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Evidence and Revelations

Detective Joel Weber's involvement brings new evidence to light, particularly regarding the timeline and discrepancies in Talina's last known activities.

• Forensic Findings:
  At Talina and Corey's house, forensic spray reveals suspicious stains in the garage, but results are inconclusive due to chemical interactions.
  "Bleach is also known to make Blue Star react, so for now, the officers take photos and samples of the floor to be tested for DNA." [41:01]

• Inconsistent Alibis:
  Corey claims to have taken Talina to the hospital, but no records corroborate this, further raising suspicions about her involvement.

• Final Facebook Post:
  Talina's last Facebook post appears fabricated, suggesting Corey may have tampered with her account to mislead investigators.
  "Please respect my privacy and give me my alone time on the lake with Tom." [49:34]

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Conclusion and Ongoing Investigation

The episode concludes with heightened tension as suspicions around Corey and Marty deepen. The sleuths remain determined, though exhausted, in their quest to uncover the truth behind Talina's disappearance. The next episode promises to escalate the investigation, potentially leading to significant breakthroughs.

• Cheryl’s Final Thoughts:
  "I am thankful and grateful that I do have someone watching out for me and running the household." [50:27]

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Cheryl Jones on Talina’s Secret Life:
  "She kept a part of her life private from the family... We just didn’t know the details of the secret." [03:09]

• Talina’s Final Message:
  "I'll catch up with everyone on the other side." [12:35]

• Jess on Marty’s Vulnerability:
  "He'd become really vulnerable with me. He'd cry." [07:29]

• Corey's Polygraph Test Results:
  "The instrument doesn’t lie and it doesn’t dislike you. It just reads your body and tells me you were deceptive on those two questions." [44:07]

• Jess on Investigation Struggles:
  "My days are spent researching people, connecting dots that may not even be there, and chain smoking... How did this happen?" [30:27]

---

Final Thoughts

"If I Go Missing – Talina Zar E5" offers a gripping exploration of Talina Zar's mysterious disappearance, weaving together family testimonies, internet sleuth efforts, and investigative breakthroughs. The episode highlights the complexities of dual identities, the impact of secret subcultures, and the relentless pursuit of truth amidst personal and external challenges.

For listeners new to the series, this episode serves as a comprehensive deep dive into the ongoing investigation, setting the stage for future revelations and developments.

Transcript

[Melissa Jeltson]

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[Cheryl Jones]

Dsw.Com we are not a family that is all up in each other's business. We never have been. We are very close without having the need to talk or even see each other on a regular basis. It's like I live my life, she lives her life, my brother lives his life.

[Melissa Jeltson]

It hasn't been easy to get people in Tolina's life to speak to me on the record. It's clear she was well loved, and you've heard from some of her friends already. I've reached out to many more and to her family, but for whatever reason, most have been apprehensive to participate. I was able to talk to Talina's sister, Cheryl Jones. She called me back the day she received my letter. She said she was relieved to have the chance to talk about her sister. She refers to Talina as Jana, her birth name.

[Cheryl Jones]

My sister kept a part of her life private from the family. Talena, I believe, comes from that secret part of her life. The secret part that we all knew was a secret part. We just didn't know the details of the secret.

[Melissa Jeltson]

As you may recall, Talina was part of the Gorean community, a niche group of BDSM followers who live by the strict social structure outlined in the Gore books, a sci fi series where men are the dominant gender and women are naturally subservient. For the better part of a decade, Talina lived as a 247 slave to her husband, Tom, or master Zarius, doing whatever and acting however he wished in the bedroom and outside of it. Gor was a world of slaves and beautiful women, of human domination by the alien secret priest kings. Did you, like, have any sense of what this secret life was about? Like, did you get the sense that it was, like, sex related?

[Cheryl Jones]

Yes, we kind of got it that it was something along that line. Yes.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Talina was active online, and her nieces were too. They saw the types of things she posted, the terms she used, and eventually worked out that Talina was part of the BDSM community and. And that that identity was very important to her.

[Cheryl Jones]

We figured it out through clues amongst us. We didn't talk to her about it. And when I say us, I mean me, my mom, and my three daughters. We had figured out that that was the secret life.

[Melissa Jeltson]

One day, Cheryl heard her sister Jana refer to herself as Talina.

[Cheryl Jones]

When I first heard St. Helena, I'm like, Talina. And I finally got up enough nerve to just flat out ask her, you know, where does Talina come from? How did you come about choosing that? And she was very evasive about it.

[Melissa Jeltson]

And it was also the world of Talina, the tempestuous daughter of Gorr's great warlord. She waited for the man who could subdue her, the man who would be her master. When Cheryl learned that Talina legally changed her name, she was surprised to find out that she kept Jana as her middle name.

[Cheryl Jones]

To me, it spoke of the acknowledgement that she had two different identities. She still identified with Jana because Jana was her identity to family. And then the Talena. I think that was probably the first time I kind of really saw the duality and her embrace of the duality.

[Melissa Jeltson]

We all have duality in our lives, present different versions of ourselves in different contexts. On Instagram, the image we portray might be a lot shinier than reality. The voice we adopt on a work call might be more optimistic or confident than we really feel. But what happens when the line between our different selves becomes sharper, severing the two worlds, when the people in one part of your life can't protect you from the other?

[Cheryl Jones]

We thought we were respecting her privacy. She said she wanted this to be a private part of her life, and we accepted that because that's the kind of family we are. But I have to wonder, did she ultimately maybe feel a little alienated because of that too? I think that's why she kept it from us. She thought that maybe we wouldn't love her or accept her, maybe. And the thing was, it wouldn't have changed it at all.

[Melissa Jeltson]

From I Heart Podcasts I'm Melissa Jeltson, and this is what happened to Talina Czar. I just took it to mean that if she passed away from COVID she was at peace with it because she would be with Tom. How well did I adapt to being Property? Well, that depends on whether you ask me or Master. Lol.

[Jess]

We built kind of a trust. He'd become really vulnerable with me. He'd cry.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Just because they're missing doesn't mean anything was nefarious.

[Jess]

So all of us wear masks, right?

[Melissa Jeltson]

Episode 5 if I go missing.

[Cheryl Jones]

My birthday is November 4th and her birthday is November 3rd. She was born one day before I was one years old. So we were raised a lot like, almost like twins.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Talena's sister Cheryl is now a 58 year old nurse who lives in Pennsylvania.

[Cheryl Jones]

We grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. And then When I was 12, where she would have been 11, my dad was transferred to a place called Washington, Indiana. My parents joined a Pentecostal church and that's the way we were raised. It was strict, you know, we didn't have TV in our home growing up. You went to church and you went to Sunday school and those kind of things.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Cheryl remembers Talina as a shy kid, someone she felt she had to stand up for.

[Cheryl Jones]

I remember getting in fights growing up because somebody would pick on her. If they called her a name, I would have to be the one to go and kind of Shove them around when we were kids. And then the funny thing was when we got older, as we grew up. I am only 5 foot tall and she was 5 foot 10. She ended up being much taller than me. But I was a big sis when we were really young. Even though there's only a year between us in our personalities, somehow she seemed to be a little more free spirited, whereas I was always like very task oriented and goal oriented, that kind of thing.

[Melissa Jeltson]

As kids, Cheryl and Talina were inseparable. As adults, their lives moved in different directions. Cheryl went to nursing school, got married, and had four children before getting a divorce and moving to Pennsylvania. Talina stayed in Indiana, wandered a bit to find her way. She joined the National Guard, then got into computer programming like her sister. She also got married and divorced at a young age to a man named Russell Lovick. But she never had any kids. Instead, to Talena played the auntie role with glee.

[Cheryl Jones]

I had four kids and some money would be tight, especially around Christmas time. And, you know, she always made sure my kids had a good Christmas. That was one of her deals. She would bring a whole van full of presents and, you know, and that was a good relief to us.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Cheryl's kids loved to come visit Aunt Jana, where they were often spoiled.

[Cheryl Jones]

Nava spend weeks at her house, and they always did fun things. She'd take them one at a time, but everyone got a turn to go and spend a couple of weeks with Aunt Jana and do all of the fun things that Aunt Jana could.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Talena's close relationship with her three nieces, Cherie, Chantal, and Chelsea, continued into their adulthoods. The girls all settled in the Indianapolis area, close to Talina and most of their extended family. Even after Talena moved to Oklahoma, she made a point to visit frequently.

[Cheryl Jones]

Jana came through Indiana every two, three, four months, three, four times a year.

[Melissa Jeltson]

By 2020, Cheryl and Talena had fallen out of touch. And so when her little sister goes missing, she hasn't spoken to her in almost three years. But her daughters are in regular contact with Talina. Talena was especially close with Chantel, Cheryl's middle daughter. They both had office jobs, and so it was common for them to send messages back and forth throughout the workday. In late March, during the start of the COVID lockdown, Telina and Chantel are chatting like usual.

[Cheryl Jones]

It just happened that her and Shantel, my middle daughter, had been communicating throughout the day on Facebook, which is something they often did.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Then Talina messages Chantel that she has to go. She's tired and Has a headache.

[Cheryl Jones]

She was going to lay down for a while and said that she would chat with her later. The next day she's not online and then the next day she's not online and then the next day she's not online. And so then she began to try to call her. Didn't get an answer. Didn't get an answer. She then contacts Cherie, the oldest one, and she's telling Cherie, I think something's wrong here.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Then on April 7, Chantel sees Talena's Facebook post. I'll catch up with everyone on the other side.

[Cheryl Jones]

That's when they decided that they needed to tell the family that something was going on.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Chantel tells her mom, there's no way Talina wrote the post. She thinks someone else must have.

[Cheryl Jones]

I said, well, what makes you think it's not Jana? She said, this was sloppy. Not at all, not at all like anything Jana would have written or the way she would have written it. She was alarmed immediately.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Once the whole family is in the loop about Talina's disappearance, they start comparing notes, trying to work out the last time anyone had any real contact with her. The date they come up with is March 27, 2020. That's the day Chantel was last Facebook messaging with her aunt.

[Cheryl Jones]

And now we're up to near two weeks later. My immediate gut response was, this is not good. I just knew this was not good. Of all the crazy things my sister was would do and flighty things and air brain things she might do, just totally dropping off the face of the earth, he's not one of them.

[Melissa Jeltson]

A few days later, the Wagner County Sheriff's Department calls Talena's family and speaks to her mother and brother.

[Cheryl Jones]

They did probably close to two hour talk with the both of them. And it was the questions that you would normally expect. Is there any place you can think of she might have gone? Are there any friends somewhere that she might have gone to visit? What would she normally do? And of course, you know, when did you last talk to her?

[Melissa Jeltson]

Talena's family, who are spread out across multiple states, face a difficult question. Should they go to Wagner, Oklahoma to look for Talina themselves in the middle of COVID lockdowns?

[Cheryl Jones]

You know, after we had to wrestle around, we'll do we stay here and wait. Does somebody go out there? That was really hard and we were torn about it.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Even if they went, they didn't know where to start looking. Talina had kept so much of her life their secret.

[Cheryl Jones]

She made it clear her life with these group of friends were her and Tom's private matter. And that's what made it so difficult because we don't know this part of her life.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Cheryl and her family knew of only one person in Wagner that Talena had ever mentioned.

[Cheryl Jones]

She talked about Marty alpine. She had 100 pictures of Martha on her phone. They were the best friends. They were so close.

[Melissa Jeltson]

But the last time they'd seen Talena, she told them that Marty was out of the picture.

[Cheryl Jones]

And she says, marty and I are not friends and I don't want to talk about it. I'm like, oh, we've heard about this Marty for freaking last month. And all of a sudden, boom. Marty's gone. No explanation. No, this is what happened. Marty's gone.

[Melissa Jeltson]

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[Jess]

I was questioning him as early as beginning of May.

[Melissa Jeltson]

This is Jess, our Internet sleuth in Minnesota. A few weeks into her own investigation, she's also discovering that Talina and Marty's relationship with may not have been exactly how he described it. And she's beginning to suspect that he's been lying to her, which is tough because they've become very close very fast.

[Jess]

I probably spent six plus hours a day on facetime or the phone with him or texting about what we knew, theories, who we'd talk to. We talked about a lot of stuff. I mean, some of our conversations weren't even about to Lena. They were about life. Like we had conversations about when his mom was murdered. His mom was murdered in front of him. And he got really vulnerable with me. And sometimes like trauma bonding is a thing. Talking about stuff like that with somebody, you get close really quick.

[Melissa Jeltson]

When Marty talks about his relationship with Talina, he makes it seem as though they were extremely close, the best of friends. But Jess is learning new information about that introduces some ambiguity into the picture. For one, she finds out from another friend of Talina's that Marty had allegedly stolen from Talina a few months before her disappearance.

[Jess]

I'd heard from Rachel that in December Marty had stolen from Tlena. Tlena didn't exactly tell her what kind of theft it was, but she had told Rachel that Marty was no longer welcome in her home.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Jess also suspects that Talena had been helping Marty out financially for a while.

[Jess]

My thoughts at the time were that he was taking advantage of Talina monetarily wise, because there was at one point where he said, I miss my Talena wife. You know, if I went over there and I was upset, she would slip some money into my pocket and make things better. So I mean, that sat with me kind of funny. Like she was financially supporting them. And there was a bunch of stuff that he said she would help him, quote, unquote, help him with where I think his idea was help was her fully funding it.

[Melissa Jeltson]

As Marty explains to Jess, he suffers from chronic pain and addiction, has had a hard time holding down a job. On one of their calls, Marty even goes so far as to ask Jess for some money for his pain medication. But that's a line Jess isn't willing to cross. According to Jess, Marty said Talina would sometimes pay his phone and water bills, even chip in for his meds.

[Jess]

He needed painkillers and she felt for him because she was kind of a bleeding heart with people and probably gave him the money to help him alleviate some of his pain. And he was in treatment several times for illegal drugs. Dependency of them.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Things were messy between Marty and Talina. But when I asked Jess about Marty and Talina's friendship ending abruptly just before her disappearance, Jess didn't think it was that black and white. As far as she could tell, the two had been communicating regularly.

[Jess]

I don't know if she was willing to forgive him for whatever had happened or maybe he had paid her back. Their relationship was strained, but I don't know if she was willing to forgive or if she was so used to that master slave relationship that they had all enjoyed. I can't speak to her feelings. I never actually talked to Talina, and Marty I don't feel is a reliable source anymore.

[Melissa Jeltson]

By the pandemic start, it looks as though Corey, not Marty, had become the primary recipient of Talena's generosity. According to Jess research, Corey was living rent free in Talena's home. She used Talena's cars to get around. And while she worked odd jobs, it was Talena's steady paycheck that provided the household income. It seems in those crucial months, both before Talina's disappearance, the people in her close orbit were shifting places. Marty's star was fading and Corey's was ascending.

[Jess]

She did remove him from her will and change it to Corey.

[Melissa Jeltson]

I was able to get a hold of a copy of Talina's will. I, Talina Jana Galloway of Wagner County, Oklahoma, being of full age and of sound mind and disposing memory, but sensitive of the uncertainties of life and desiring, which makes five months before she went missing. I appoint Corey Bommeli Adams to serve as the personal representative of my estate. The Sleuths feel certain that Corey had something to do with Talina's disappearance. I mean, becoming the beneficiary of someone else's estate months before they go missing. That's motive 101. They've also heard through the grapevine about Corey burning Talina's mattress, selling her items on ebay. And Corey's criminal past suggests she's no stranger to lying and manipulation. But what about Marty? To the Sleuths, he presents himself as someone who's also suspicious of Corey. Even though they're friends, he tells the Sleuths he'll use his friendship with Corey to try to get more information. Here's Brittany. He was like, I've been talking to Corey, trying to get her to tell me what happened.

[Cheryl Jones]

He said at one point he'd even drove by the house to see if.

[Melissa Jeltson]

He saw anything weird.

[Cheryl Jones]

And that had upset Corey.

[Melissa Jeltson]

But the sleuths aren't sure if he's being entirely transparent about his relationship with Corey either. Here's Rosie.

[Jess]

I felt like he would give us half truths and then backtrack on things.

[Melissa Jeltson]

And some of the stories that he.

[Jess]

Told me, I couldn't verify in, like, any sort of legal records anywhere. He wanted us to believe him so much that it felt like he was hiding something.

[Melissa Jeltson]

And they're hearing rumors from other people in Wagner that contradict how Marty describes his relationship with Corey.

[Jess]

I remember he had said that he.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Had gone over there and really laid into her and yelled at her.

[Jess]

And the neighborhood reported something completely different. That it was like a friendly interaction. And, you know, it just felt he was very much trying to control the story.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Jess, as usual, cuts to the chase.

[Jess]

I questioned about why he played both sides of the fence with Team Talina and then Corey. Cause he'd always have good terms with her. And he keep telling me, well, I have to play nice. You catch more flies with honey than you do vinegar. I have to, you know, play nice with Corey. Cause then maybe she'll tell me something.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Jess suspects. Maybe they're in cahoots. Maybe Marty's telling Corey everything they're telling him. And Jess tells him that, too.

[Jess]

Anybody that plays both sides of the fence is definitely not your friend. And so I told him that. I said, I can't sit here and confide in you about what we're finding about Corey and all these people that are coming to us with information when I feel like you're going to feed it right back to her. You know, you come to us and you say, oh, Cory's doing this. And I'm outside the house while watching her do that. And then I find out from somebody in Wagner that they seen you guys at the gas station together, down by the lake together. Or that you were sitting outside the house, or that you went into the house. Like, it was a constant questioning. Because Jess was the person who was calling and asking the questions. It really took up a lot of her time, emotionally and mentally.

[Melissa Jeltson]

And I'm sure that it was draining.

[Jess]

For her to try to keep all of that straight.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Jess is starting to feel exhausted. The investigation is hard work. So is changing her Persona. With each new source she reaches out to, trying to get them to open up, trying to find the thing that's going to crack the case wide open. Sometimes she pretends she knew Talina. Other times she gives fake pain backstories to gain access.

[Jess]

I lied to a lot of people. A lot. Friends of Talina's, friends of Marty's. I mean, I just lied my way into their life. I manipulated them.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Can you give some examples of, like, the kind of lies we're talking about?

[Jess]

Mm, there's a lot. Oh, I know so and so. You know, I lie about who I knew or I think on one of the things I had said I was a private investigator, which isn't a huge lie, but it's a lie nonetheless. I told people that I got their information from a friend of a friend when I'd actually like use an app online to get their information.

[Melissa Jeltson]

When Jess told me all of this, that she lied to get information out of people, I had to wonder, could I trust her to be completely truthful with me? After all, in her very first email, she had mischaracterized her relationship to Talina, saying she was her friend. Over the year I spent reporting this story, I've tried to confirm every detail Jess told me. In some cases, I only have her account to rely on, but her version of events has held up. I believe she's been honest about everything that transpired, even when it reflected negatively on her. And she's been especially candid when talking about the personal toll of all of this.

[Jess]

The whole thing seemed kind of. Sometimes I felt like I was in over my head.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Talina's case is consuming Jess day and night. She's strategizing with her fellow sleuths, managing Marty, and sharing her findings with the Wagner County Sheriff's Office, whose reaction to her tips vary depending on the day and their level of pain patients. And for what? Sometimes the absurdity of the whole endeavor catches her off guard. What is she even doing trying to solve a missing persons case involving a woman she never met? Jess keeps meticulous notes of her investigation and her feelings about all of it. Here's a little glimpse of her writing from this the days are becoming blurred.

[Jess]

I talk too much to too many people. All I wanted was to find a missing moment. What I ended up with was so much more. My days are spent researching people, connecting dots that may not even be there, and chain smoking. I sit back with my seeming cup of coffee and think, how did this happen?

[Melissa Jeltson]

More than just her time and energy has Jess put herself in actual danger. She's now entangled with people whose true nature and capabilities she doesn't know. One day, she gets some threatening texts from a former Gorean master she'd reached out to.

[Jess]

He sent me his ID and a knife and called me a Gorean slave and said he was going to come get me.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Another time, a gruff stranger comes into her bar. And something about him, his accent, the way he talks to her, makes her extremely uncomfortable. She's not sure. Is she being paranoid? Jess decides to take some precautions. She gets a concealed carry permit and a gun. Based on advice she finds online. Jess and Rosie create if I go missing folders, complete with a list of older passwords, photos of scars and tattoos, and the names of friends, friends and family with descriptions of their relationships for safekeeping. The two women who first connected mere weeks ago, share these confidential documents with each other. Like my if I go missing file. Yeah, like it just felt like something that we should do. Like at some point it kind of. Our eyes kind of opened that, you know, I don't.

[Jess]

I had never given that information to anyone other than my husband, and I don't think she had done the same. And so just to have someone, like, outside of the bubble of people who we usually interact with, to be like, if I go missing, call the cops.

[Cheryl Jones]

And tell them xyz.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Like, it just felt like at that moment, like it just felt like that made sense to share with each other. And I still have her information and I know she still has mine. Whatever reservations Jess has, she's undeterred. And she has a feeling that this will all come to a close soon. It has to. Surely the cops have enough evidence to at least detain Corey. Were you scared at all? Did you feel like, what have I. What kind of characters have I gotten myself involved with? No.

[Jess]

I was angry with her. I was just on a mission to take her down. I wasn't scared, so I was mad. I think all of us were mad. We were like, what the hell? It's plain as day what she's doing, right? Like, she might as well have a guilty light flashing on her forehead.

[Melissa Jeltson]

They're all waiting for something to happen, for an arrest, for a big break in the case, for Talina to be found alive or dead. Meanwhile, Jess continues her daily, no hourly check ins with Marty, who's growing more erratic and confused.

[Jess]

And then at 9:20, he says, I've been sitting here trying to find myself. I said, what do you mean? And he said, I am trying not to admit the man that I am. I said, you need to get some sleep. But I can't get past the things I've done and should have stopped a long time ago.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Often it seems to Jess, he's drunk or high when they're on the phone or texting.

[Jess]

I said, you didn't sleep last night. Just sleep on it. Nothing's going to change if you sleep, aside from your state of mind. And he said, you can't get away with this. I can't live with this anymore. And I said, she won't. The police are onto her. So is everybody else. He said, I love you. Thank you for all you've done.

[Melissa Jeltson]

And then late one night while sitting on the couch, she gets a call from Marty.

[Jess]

He was sitting outside Talena's house and he was drunk and high and you could always tell when he was drunk he was slurry and just I wondered how he had driven there, right? I said, what are you doing? And he said, I've got my AR and if she comes outside. And I was like, get home. Like, you can't, you can't kill somebody. Like that's. He goes, well, she killed my Talina wife. And I said, if you know that, let's get the sheriffs. Like let's, let's do. You can't just kill somebody.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Like that's not.

[Jess]

I know you're mad, but let's get her in trouble, right? Let's call the police, let's get the sheriffs out there if you have something. He goes, I know Shelina's dead.

[Melissa Jeltson]

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That's why I started taking Addi and let me tell you, I have seen firsthand what a difference it can make in how you feel. Addi is the only FDA approved pill clinically proven to help certain premenopausal women have more interest in sexual have more satisfying sex and lower the stress from low libido. ADDI has helped hundreds of thousands of women get their drive back, including me. Talk to your doctor or visit a d d y I.com to learn more about Addy, the Little Pink Pill. Individual results may vary. Addi or Flibanserin is for premenopausal women with Acquired Generalized Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder HSDD who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past who have had low sexual desire. No matter the type of sexual activity, the situation or the sexual this low sexual desire is troubling to them and is not due to a medical or mental health problem, problems in the relationship or medicine or other drug use. 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This spray causes blood to glow blue. I'm sure you've seen it on TV shows. Corey shows the officers into the garage and tells them that her dogs had recently peed on the concrete she'd attempted to clean clean it up using a combination of chemicals she had around the house bleach, pine sole, lime powder, and kitty litter, the latter of which is sprinkled around the garage floor, still visible to officers. They get to spraying and the results are instantaneous. The floor glows. There's a large area in the center of the garage, maybe two feet in the same place where some of the kitty litter is. The visual is striking, but officers know it's not conclusive of anything. Bleach is also known to make Blue Star react, so for now, the officers take photos and samples of the floor to be tested for DNA. A week later, Corey goes to the sheriff's office for her scheduled polygraph appointment. She's volunteered for a lie detector test in an effort to help police rule her out as a suspect.

[Cheryl Jones]

Hi, I would shake your hand, but I'll give an elbow to you.

[Melissa Jeltson]

The polygraph is being administered by Scott Miller, who works for the Department of Public Safety. This is a recreation of some of their interview I don't think this is a. I don't think you're a suspect. I think we're here to clear you, right?

[Cheryl Jones]

Yeah. To my knowledge, there's not even a crime at this point. What we are trying to do is just clear me from my end because I was the last person to see her, at least to see her in our residence. I'm here on my own accord because I've been through six weeks of grief and I just want the grief to end.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Miller attaches the instrument to her body. There's a cuff on her arm to watch the dips and rises in her blood pressure. Two electrodes on her fingers to measure her pulse and sweat production. And two tubes wrapped around her chest to track changes in breathing. Miller explains he's going to ask her a series of questions multiple times. He instructs her to be truthful, except for for one question where she's supposed to purposefully lie. This helps the machine establish the way Corey's body reacts to deception. The question she's supposed to lie about uses the phrase in your entire life. Here we go. This portion of the test is about to begin. Please remain still. Do you understand? I will only ask you the questions we discussed.

[Cheryl Jones]

Yes.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Regarding the questions about whether or not you harmed Talena, do you intend to answer each question truthfully?

[Cheryl Jones]

Yes.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Are you now currently sitting down?

[Cheryl Jones]

Yes.

[Melissa Jeltson]

In your entire life, have you ever told even one lie about something embarrassing?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Since April 5th, have you participated in any harm of Talena?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Do you sometimes drink water?

[Jess]

Yes.

[Melissa Jeltson]

It goes on and on like this with Miller repeating the questions. Are the lights currently on in this room?

[Cheryl Jones]

Yes.

[Melissa Jeltson]

In your entire life, have you ever told even one lie?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Since April 5th, have you harmed to Lena?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Are you currently sitting down? Yes. In your entire life, have you even told one lie to someone who trusted you?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Since April 5th, have you participated in any harm enough to Lena?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Do you sound sometimes drink water?

[Cheryl Jones]

Yes.

[Melissa Jeltson]

In your entire life, have you ever told even one lie about something embarrassing?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Do you know for sure who harmed Tolina?

[Cheryl Jones]

No.

[Melissa Jeltson]

They finish up. By this point, Corey's been in the interview room for over three hours. Miller reads through the results and he tells Corey they need to talk about what the machine found. Yeah. So I've looked at it. We've had three clean charts there at the end. But you were having problems on two of the questions.

[Cheryl Jones]

Which two?

[Melissa Jeltson]

Did you harm Talina and did you. Do you know for sure who harmed Talina? Those were two you had significant reactions to. Really? Yeah.

[Cheryl Jones]

So I wonder if. I don't know if you know. There are just so many scenarios that go through your mind. I try and not think about things when I'm answering questions. I don't know what else to say. I don't know.

[Melissa Jeltson]

The instrument here is, you know, it doesn't like you and it doesn't dislike you. It just reads your body and tells me you were deceptive on those two questions. When Corey doesn't offer any explanations, Miller gives her some hypothetical stories. Maybe there was an argument, an accident. Corey says no, maybe Talina wanted to end her life and someone helped her. And maybe it wasn't even Corey. Barring a stranger, if you suspected something like that happened, not the nefarious stuff, but helping someone out, who would be the people you would suspect the most?

[Cheryl Jones]

I mean, Marty is the most obvious one. I mean, everyone would say it's Marty.

[Melissa Jeltson]

And she adds, there was a recent rift between Marty and Talina, you know.

[Cheryl Jones]

And the only animosity there towards the end is Marty. Marty has had had a falling out this year because of he was originally the executor for her estate, and he was caught several times stealing meds or he almost got her car repossessed because he claimed it was his own on a bank loan. And then just a few other things where Talena came to me about a year and a half ago and said, I can't trust him.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Even so, Corey says she doesn't think Marty would hurt Talena. Miller says the detectives will talk to him if they haven't already. Their conversation wraps up. He tells Corey that while she didn't do so well on the test, she's free to go. Detective Weber will be in touch soon. Lie detectors are unreliable. In Oklahoma and many other places, they aren't allowed as evidence in court. Mostly cops use them as a tool to get people to confess, and Corey didn't, so they can't arrest her. But then Weber finds evidence that changes their whole understanding of the timeline of events, and he presents that evidence to a judge in order to get a search warrant. This investigation has been unable to locate anyone that spoke with Talina or saw her since 27th March, 2020.

[Cheryl Jones]

She was going to gift that bed to us.

[Melissa Jeltson]

She was checking to see if we.

[Jess]

Were coming to get the beds this weekend.

[Cheryl Jones]

Her and Shantel had been communicating throughout the day on Facebook. Jana had signed off. She was going to lay down for a while and said that she would chat with her later.

[Melissa Jeltson]

This leaves Talena unaccounted for for a full 10 days before Corey says Talena left home.

[Jess]

That next morning, the 28th, I got.

[Cheryl Jones]

A message that said about Abort mission.

[Jess]

I've got a terrible migraine and I'm.

[Cheryl Jones]

Staying in bed today.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Abort mission I've got a terrible migraine. I've been staying in bed today. It has been discovered that Corey called in sick for Talena to work on Monday, March 30, 2020 and told them she would not be at work for the remainder of the week. My weekend migraine developed into a fever last night and it is currently hovering around around 100.5. Another recently obtained screenshot from Talena's Facebook page on March 30 shows Talena saying she called her doctor and was told to stay in bed and self medicate. I called my doctor and was told to stay in bed and stay hydrated and self medicate and call back or go to the ER if my temp reaches 102. We know this is untrue because of the information obtained while at the Wagner Community Hospital. I think Oklahoma's medical system is stretched thin right now. Stretched thin. Subsequently, it was discovered there is no record that Talina ever went to the Wagner Community Hospital or was ever seen. Even though Corey states she drove Talina there herself. It is verified that the hospital hospital documented everyone that was screened, including people that were not admitted to the hospital.

[Cheryl Jones]

Those of you who know me well know why I have DNR orders in my health directive and I'm not going.

[Melissa Jeltson]

To let anyone intubate me. This investigation recently discovered Internet usage on Talina's cellular phone stopped at 2:15pm on April 7, but the final Facebook post on Talina's account indicated indicates she was, quote, almost there, unquote at 3:15pm the same day.

[Cheryl Jones]

Didn't feel up to driving so I hired a ride. I'm almost there. After I post this, I am turning off my phone.

[Melissa Jeltson]

This final post appears suspicious and unlikely to have come from Talena or her cellular phone.

[Cheryl Jones]

Please respect my privacy and give me my alone time on the lake with Tom.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Probable cause exists that Corey fabricated a final Facebook post on Talina Galloway's account.

[Cheryl Jones]

I didn't want to be talked out of this plan. I'll catch up with everyone on the other side.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Given the numerous fabrications offered by Corey and areas of suspicion surrounding Corey, I believe it is likely she was or has been involved in the disappearance of Talina Galloway.

[Cheryl Jones]

I am thankful and grateful that I do have someone watching out for me and running the household.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Next time on what Happened to Talina Zara Things get wild in Wagner.

[Cheryl Jones]

Out of instinct I grabbed for my pistol that I did not have and.

[Melissa Jeltson]

Jess Investigation reaches a fever pitch.

[Jess]

One of the last conversations Wolf and I had had, he was extremely drunk and high and he said, I can't believe you figured it out.

[Melissa Jeltson]

What Happened to Talina Zar is a production of iHeart podcast. It's written, reported and hosted by me, Melissa Jeltson with writing and story editing by Lauren Hanson. Our Executive producer is ryan Murdoch. For iHeart podcasts, executive producers are Jason English and Carl Cadle. Fact checking by Maya Shukri. Zoe Denkla is our Associate producer. Jeremy Thahl is our editor. Original music by Erin Kaufman with additional music by Jeremy Thall and Gideon Creviche. Additional sound design by Marita Speh. Episodes are mixed and mastered by Carl Cadle. Voice acting by Lizzie Gore, Chris Ferry, Stephanie Frame, Pete Monica and Molly Maslin. Our logo is designed by Ido Moore. Thanks so much for listening. Your future patients are counting on you and at Ferris State University you'll be ready for them. Isn't just a career, it's a calling. At Ferris State you'll find the perfect path to meaningful community service with hands on clinical experience. From day one you'll develop essential skills, get real world training and support to unleash your potential and change lives every day. Start your healthcare journey at Ferris. Edu Ferris State University. Healing begins here. This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Have you ever felt that uneasy anxiety when the 4pm hour strikes? That CRE meal related distress that happens when you don't quite feel prepared? You know, dinner dread. Let's get rid of that unpleasant feeling forever with one word. Stouffers. No matter what happens, you'll have a dinner plan that everyone loves with Stouffers, some chicken enchiladas or a cheesy chicken and broccoli. Pasta. Bake is always welcome, whether it is Plan A or Plan Delicious. Not gonna lie, I eat the lasagna once a week and that's a fact. Mm when the clock strikes dinner, Think Stouffer's. Shop now for family favorites. Love starts with you. Celebrate your unique story with Pandora jewelry. Crafted with meaning, love and exquisite artistry. From sparkling lab grown diamonds to vibrant enamels, personalized engravings and iconic charms, Pandora offers endless ways to express what's in your heart. Style your favorites with hand finished designs and playful cuts that reflect your individuality, Pandora is more than jewelry. It's a celebration of you. Shop Pandora today in store or [e-mail] every day is a chance to be love. Let Pandora Jewelry remind you that love starts with you. Do you own a business that's ready to thrive? It's time to let Intuit QuickBooks take things like unpaid invoices and tracking expenses off your plate so you can take things to the next level. Intuit QuickBooks is an all in one business platform that can help with those day to day tasks like invoicing and expenses. Manage and grow your business all in one place. Intuit QuickBooks your way to Money Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments, Inc. Licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

[Jess]

This is an iHeart podcast.