In early May of 2019, Echo 7 Foxtrot joined Secrets True Crime on the case of Susan Osborne and Evan Chartrand, who both went missing from their Elmore County home over Memorial Day Weekend in 2017. Secrets True Crime was midway through their first season producing a serial, True Crime Podcast. They had chosen the Osborne/Chartrand case, and Echo 7 Foxtrot joined the team to provide investigation services to Secrets True Crime’s effort to shed light on the case and increase public awareness.
It was a perfect match. Echo 7 Foxtrot worked behind the scenes of the podcast for several episodes, providing insight, research, and intelligence on the case, and prioritizing, planning, and coordinating field investigations that would be conducted with and eventually released to the public via the podcast. By the end of the season’s 15 episodes, Echo 7 Foxtrot and Secrets True Crime had conducted and reported on multiple grid and cadaver dog searches, investigated a hand-dug well, and investigated a former rock quarry complete with a collapsed mine shaft and 12-acre pond.
While not an entirely new concept, the partnership between Echo 7 Foxtrot and Secrets True Crime provides listeners with a different kind of True Crime Podcast. Rather than a short episode reviewing the facts of a case, Secrets True Crime produces a binge-worthy, serial podcast that puts fans right in the middle of a professional investigation. The listener response to Season 1 was overwhelming, with new episodes downloaded by thousands within the first 24 hours of release, and fans sending messages and encouragement daily on social media and begging for more.
Season 2 Launched
And the team delivered. In October 2019, Echo 7 Foxtrot and Secrets True Crime launched Season 2: The Eric Cates & Gypsy Story. Eric Cates and his beloved dog Gypsy were found burned alive in his truck on March 22, 2015 in the small Alabama town of Empire. Although the focus of the season is telling Eric & Gypsy’s story, the investigation quickly led to multiple other murders and missing persons cases in East Walker County, all of which seem to be tied to drugs, public corruption, and much more. When the Attorney General’s office took over the case, the team turned their attention to another and more recent case in the county, that of Hayden Mayberry, with several mini-series episodes devoted to his case. As the investigation of Eric & Gypsy’s murder progressed, the team made the decision to go quiet for a while so as to not disturb the investigation. We continued to work on the case behind the scenes, turning over evidence and interviews to the investigators and assisting with various tasks.
Season 3 Announced
In May 2022, while still waiting for the Attorney General’s office to finalize Eric & Gypsy’s case, the team decided to start Season 3 of the podcast, choosing a case that Michael had been providing assistance to Sound Mind Investigations on since 2019: The Disappearance of Jessica Hamby. Jessica Hamby went missing in Marion County, AL in January 2018 after leaving an in-patient detox facility and spending the night with a friend and her brother about halfway between Hamilton and Hackleburg. After a mysterious Facebook message on the morning of January 3, Jessica vanished.
Echo 7 Foxtrot and Secrets True Crime perform these investigations at no charge to the families, or to the listeners. To help defray the costs of conducting professional investigation and producing a high-quality podcast the team also launched a Patreon membership site along with Season 2. With the Patreon site, fans can pledge a small monthly amount to help keep the series going and allow the investigation to employ new tools and dig deeper into the case. In exchange for their fan’s support, the team is releasing exclusive content to members via the Patreon site. Depending on the membership tier for the pledge, fans get access to photographs, videos, behind-the-scenes content, episode notes, investigation reports, and much more, including access to monthly calls with Echo 7 Foxtrot and Secrets True Crime to hear updates on the case, ask questions, and participate in the investigation.
Become a Fan
Secrets True Crime Podcast is available on iTunes, Pandora, iHeart Radio, and Podbean, and is free to listeners. Be sure to follow the team on Facebook, @secretscrime and @echo7foxtrot, and visit the Patreon site to see how you can become a fan and get access to exclusive season content.
