Pod Insights Heart Starts Pounding: Horrors, Hauntings and Mysteries 92. Long Haul Horror: Ghost Sightings and Creepy Encounters on The Open Road About this episode From ghostly hitchhikers and terrifying truck stops to suspicious looking roadkill and strange noises in the dead of night, these stories will keep you on the edge of your seat. Whether it’s an eerie sense of being watched or bizarre encounters with the supernatural, truckers share the scariest moments they've had while driving through the darkness. Buckle up and join us for a ride into the unknown – it’s going to be a long, dark road.
Show Notes: https://www.heartstartspounding.com/episodes/longhaul
Subscribe on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/heartstartspoundingfor bonus content and to become a member of our Rogue Detecting Society. Patrons have access to bonus content as well as other perks. And members of our High Council on Patreon have access to our after-show called Footnotes, where I share my case file with our producer, Matt.
Apple subscriptions are now live! Get access to bonus episodes and more when you subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Follow on Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@heartstartspounding?lang=enand Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heartstartspounding/ for a daily dose of horror.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Kaelyn Moore? This episode is brought to you by Toyota. Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability. And it all starts with a great deal from your local Toyota dealer. Make a smart buy on an all-wheel-drive Camry, Corolla Cross, or get a Corolla sedan packed with the latest features, advanced tech, and head-turning style. Take a test drive in two of Toyota's most popular SUVs, the spacious, family-friendly Grand Highlander and adventure-ready RAV4. And with so many hybrid and plug-in hybrid models available across the lineup, plus efficient all-electrics like the BZ, BZ Woodland, and all-wheel-drive CHR, you can drive your way and skip the pump. And long after you leave the lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with legendary resale value
0:44 Kaelyn Moore? built on a reputation for quality and reliability. So when it's time for your next Toyota, you could trade in for more. From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places. This episode is brought to you by Rover. Every pet parent has the document. You know the one. The overly detailed, slightly unhinged list of everything a sitter needs to know about your pet. On Rover, you can browse sitter profiles and read verified reviews from other pet parents to find someone who genuinely gets your pet. You can even do a meet and greet beforehand so you know that it's the right fit before you commit. I have had wonderful experiences with Rover. The biggest one that comes to mind
1:28 Kaelyn Moore? is when my dog Fitzgerald needed to stay somewhere. I was traveling with him and I had something to do for a full day. So I found a sitter on Rover and he had the best time. He played outside in a big backyard all day with a couple of other dogs. I got pictures the whole time. Getting photo updates while you're away turns panicked texting into real peace of mind. Exclusively for new users of Rover, use code HEARTSTARTS20 for a $20 discount off your first booking. Valid only on eligible bookings. Offer expires January 24, 2027. Terms apply. Last year, a trucker named William Church was driving down the Arizona State Highway 87, a route he had done a bunch of times.
2:11 Kaelyn Moore? He was in between Phoenix and Payson, a part of the highway that runs mostly through desert with really nothing on either side for miles. It can be really mind-numbing, driving through the empty landscape, especially at 2:30 in the morning, like William was doing. So I imagine he was doing his best to stay awake, when all of a sudden, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was like a flash of light on the right side of the road, almost like there was a piece of metal or something that his lights reflected off of, a car on the shoulder perhaps? But as fast as he saw it, he drove past it. He checked his rearview mirror only to see...nothing.
2:56 Kaelyn Moore? Whatever was there was completely gone. Eventually, he pulled over to a truck stop, but was still thinking of that weird light. So he decided to look at his dash cam footage. It had been recording the whole time, and maybe it had caught a clearer image. But he could have never guessed what he was about to see. There was something on the side of the road, near the 200-mile marker, and it wasn't a solid object. William looked on in confusion and honestly terror, as the video showed him passing by a transparent, human shape in the road. It looked like a small woman or a child walking.
3:40 Kaelyn Moore? The footage ended up being picked up by news organizations, and the public could not believe what they were seeing either. No matter which way you look at the footage, it's hard to deny that it does look like something supernatural. Now, anyone familiar with the area knows that Highway 87 is considered one of Arizona's most dangerous roads. It was constructed in 1927 and has intense looping turns and steep hills, and it can be really difficult to drive at night. As a result of that, there have been a lot of fatal accidents. William wondered if what he saw was a ghost from one of these accidents.
4:22 Kaelyn Moore? And it didn't take him long to find that just one month before the sighting, there was a fatal car crash at almost the exact spot where he saw the figure. And now, many people are wondering if the two are related. But that got me thinking. I've heard a lot of scary stories about what truck drivers see while out driving. I mean, I have a lot of listeners that are truck drivers and you guys reach out to me all the time. So after I read this story last year, I started down a really deep rabbit hole. And what I read chilled me down to my bones. Not even just ghost sightings that people have seen.
5:02 Kaelyn Moore? I'm talking close calls with scary people and even closer calls with scarier creatures. And so, of course, that's exactly what I'm going to share with you guys today. I know a lot of you also listen in the car, so buckle up for this one. It's gonna get bumpy. And as always, listener discretion is advised.
5:25 Kaelyn Moore? This episode is brought to you by Prenuvo. When it comes to your health, there's a lot that you can't see or feel. And sometimes having more information can make all the difference. That's where Prenuvo comes in. Prenuvo offers proactive whole body MRI scans designed to help identify potential health concerns, including many cancers, aneurysms, and other conditions, sometimes before symptoms appear. The Prenuvo scan is non-invasive, uses no radiation, and is designed to give people a detailed picture of what's happening inside their bodies. Taking care of your health isn't just about responding when something feels wrong. It's about being proactive and making informed decisions. Prenuvo is helping people take a different approach to understanding their health.
6:08 Kaelyn Moore? To learn more about Prenuvo and get $300 off your whole body MRI, go to prenuvo.com/hsp and use code HSP. That's P-R-E-N-U-V-O dot com slash HSP. Terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by GU Skincare. GU just launched their Heal and Seal Trio, a simple three-step Korean skincare routine that replaces those complicated seven-step regimens. Polish pads to exfoliate, toner pads for dark spots and redness, and NAD Plus cream to lock in hydration overnight. These three products, three minutes a day. Dermatologist tested with over 650,000 happy customers and a 90-day money-back guarantee. Recently, I've been using their NAD Plus cream, which has been so nice to put on at night.
6:53 Kaelyn Moore? I really love it. It's not super heavy, which I love, but it still feels very moisturizing. It doesn't have a lot of scent, which I'm really sensitive to, which is why it works great in my routine. For a limited time, GU is having a crazy deal for our listeners. Their Heal and Seal Trio is already up to 50% off right now, but our listeners can now get an additional 20% off plus free shipping with code HSP at J I Y U skin dot com. That's J I Y U skin dot com and use code HSP for an additional 20% off. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you.
7:27 Kaelyn Moore? This is Heart Starts Pounding, a podcast of horrors, hauntings, and mysteries. And boy, oh, boy, is this one in the horrors category today. Driving alone on an open road at night with no other cars around is something I've always been afraid of. Imagine pulling off at a rest stop and it's pitch black and you're by yourself and you don't know what you're about to walk into. I remember one time I was driving in Idaho at like 3:00 in the morning and I saw these police lights in my rearview mirror. I wasn't speeding or anything, so I had this very real and terrifying thought of, what if this is not a real cop and it's just someone pretending to be one pulling me over at 3:00 in the morning? What would happen if I pulled over?
8:11 Kaelyn Moore? Obviously, it was a real cop. I did pull over. My taillight was out and he was very nice about it. But still, it could have gone south very fast. And on this show, when we're afraid of something, we don't ignore it. We go all in and read all of the scary stories we can about it. And so, believe me when I tell you, it is so much scarier out there than I ever thought it was. But before we get into it, I just wanted to remind Everyone that we have some really fun bonus episodes on Patreon and Apple Podcast subscriptions, and I would hate for anyone to miss them. For October, I did another episode on horror stories from Appalachia, specifically caves and abandoned coal mines in the area. So you're definitely gonna want to check that one out. And this month, I'm doing one on haunted and cursed paintings.
8:57 Kaelyn Moore? If you'd like to have a say in the bonus episodes, you can sign up for the High Council tier on Patreon, where you'll be able to cast your vote for the bonus episodes every month. Okay, I really want to share with you guys what I found, because people are not talking about this enough, and there's something going on out there on the roads. Also, a lot of these stories come from the book, Trucker Ghost Stories and Other True Tales of Haunted Highways, Weird Encounters, and Legends of the Road, which has a lot more stories, so definitely go check that out if you're interested. Okay, let's get into it.
9:30 Kaelyn Moore? One night in 2021, a trucker in Australia was doing an express run on the Newell Highway from Melbourne to Toowoomba. Newell Highway is a long stretch of road in the southeast of Australia. And while the landscape at parts is diverse, ranging from rolling hills to little farms to small towns, there are long stretches that feel totally desolate, with only the occasional road stop or sign of wildlife. So doing long hauls at night in a truck can start to feel pretty mind-numbing with not much to look at. Outside of the truck can be so dark, it's like an abyss is surrounding the driver.
10:14 Kaelyn Moore? At least, that's how this trucker, who we'll call Jeff, felt. The sound of the truck engine and the empty landscape was starting to lull him to sleep after a long day on the two-lane road. Earlier, he had spoken to his manager, who assured him that he could pull over at any time if he got too tired. The manager warned him that this stretch of the highway that Jeff was currently on was so monotonous that few truckers could do the whole stretch in one night. It wasn't worth the safety risk for Jeff to keep going. So he decided that at the next truck stop, he was just gonna pull over and get some rest.
10:56 Kaelyn Moore? His headlights shined out into the darkness as he looked for a sign, when all of a sudden, out in the distance, he saw that his lights were reflecting back off of something. It was the whites of two beady little eyes. And at first, he thought it must be some sort of animal, but as he got closer, he could see that it was a woman, standing on the side of the road. Jeff looked around the landscape. There weren't any other cars pulled over. He hadn't seen a house for miles. Where had this woman come from? He immediately thought about an old wives' tale he had heard about trucking,
11:40 Kaelyn Moore? that sometimes, people will set traps for drivers. A woman would stand on the side of the road with her thumb out, waiting for a kind driver to come and help her. And just as one would pull over, a man would jump out from the woods behind her, and they would rob the driver, or worse. But as Jeff's truck rolled up to the woman, she looked frail and helpless. It didn't look like there was anyone hiding behind her in the shadows. This woman legitimately looked like she needed help. He rolled down the window, and he gave her a nod. And he said, "Hop in." So the woman slowly climbed up to the door and popped it open. Once she crawled into the cab,
12:25 Kaelyn Moore? Jeff got a much better look at her. And he felt the energy inside completely change.
12:33 Kaelyn Moore? See, she had this thin, wiry hair, and her skin was so sunken in, she almost looked like a corpse. Dark circles underscored her bloodshot eyes, and dirt was caked around her mouth. Her clothes were tattered and filthy. It almost looked like she had climbed out of a ditch. She didn't say anything to Jeff. She just stared forward at the open road, almost like she was looking for something. Ten minutes went by in complete silence. Jeff was practically praying for a gas station, or a hotel, or anywhere he could just drop this woman off. But there was nothing on
13:16 Kaelyn Moore? this road. When all of a sudden, the woman slowly raised her arm and pointed up the road to an unlit area. "Here," she said. "You want me to drop you off up there?" Jeff asked. And the woman nodded her head. Okay, so he pulled over to the side of the road, the woman got out, and just walked off towards some trees in complete darkness. Eventually, Jeff got to the next town, Narabri, where he pulled over and got some rest. The stench of the woman was still thick in the cap of his truck. And the next morning, when
13:58 Kaelyn Moore? he was grabbing a cup of coffee at the stop with a group of truckers, he brought up the strange woman that he had seen the night before. She must have been on drugs or having a psychotic break, Jeff suggested. He thought that would maybe get a laugh from the group, but he saw that one of the guys looked pale, and his eyes were wide. Without missing a beat, the guy rattled off the markers on the highway near where Jeff had picked up and dropped off the woman. How did the guy know that? Then, he said something that made Jeff's blood run cold. She's not real.
14:40 Kaelyn Moore? He went on to tell Jeff that other truckers had seen that woman in the area, always at the same markers, always asks to get dropped off at the same spot near some trees. One driver had done some digging after hearing her story, and found out that a woman had died in a particularly bad car wreck in 2014 on the highway near where the woman is always seen. So they all just assumed it was her. Jeff laughed at the guy. He was clearly just trying to scare him. Every truck driver had some scary story of something that they had seen on the road, and most of them were just urban legends. But when Jeff finally made it back home after his assignment,
15:25 Kaelyn Moore? his boss called him into the office. He said he had heard from another driver that Jeff had picked up a woman on the side of the road. A huge no-no. Jeff tried to explain himself. The woman looked like she had been in an accident, like she needed help. But it didn't matter. His boss wanted him to come into his office. He had pulled the surveillance footage from the cab of Jeff's truck and had it up on his computer. He needed Jeff to show him at what point he stopped for the woman. And yes, actually, I do know it sounds strange, but a lot of truck drivers have cameras inside their trucks that surveil them as they drive. Jeff started scrubbing through the footage until he got to the part where he stopped for the woman.
16:09 Kaelyn Moore? And he and his boss watched in horror as the video showed Jeff pull the truck over, the door opened, and then no one got inside. 10 minutes later, he pulls the truck over again with no one in the passenger seat, and the door opened once more. His boss had this look on his face that was almost a smile, like he had seen this before. And he said, "It looks like you met the Princess of Piliga."
16:43 Kaelyn Moore? Apparently, so many people have seen this apparition on the side of Newell Highway that she's earned herself a name: The Princess of Piliga. Some reports, like what the trucker told him after the encounter, say that she's the ghost of a woman who died in a car wreck in 2014. But others say it's the ghost of a woman who was hit by a truck in 1993, named Claire Whibson. Either way, the amount of people who have reported seeing her is staggering. But maybe she's there to keep drivers on their toes. After all, it is the most boring part of the drive, the one where the most drivers fall asleep at the wheel.
17:25 Kaelyn Moore? So maybe, in a way, she's there to shock them back awake, to save another person from her fate.
17:36 Kaelyn Moore? This next story comes from a driver who encountered something on the road that he thought might be a cryptid, but he's not sure. He writes: "This was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I was delivering and installing machines for the company I was working for. I was in a 26-foot box truck with 12 machines in the back. I was having trouble with the truck the day before, had it checked out by the rental company, and they said it was all good. Since I was behind schedule due to the truck and problems with installations, I decided to drive late to my next destination. It was about 11 o'clock at night on the state route through the Upper Peninsula. There were no streetlights, there were no other cars.
18:21 Kaelyn Moore? The headlights from my truck were the only thing illuminating the road. I was already creeped out. At the peak of feeling like I was in the middle of nowhere, because I was, in fact, in the middle of nowhere, every single light on the dashboard of the truck lit up. And then, it stalled. So now, it's pitch black, I'm stopped, and the truck is not restarting. Rather than eat up the battery trying to turn it over, I just shut everything down and started making phone calls. As I was calling everyone and anyone that would listen, I sat in the dark night with the only light being the hazard lights.
19:02 Kaelyn Moore? I looked up, and I saw something move in front of the truck, just out of the distance of the flashing lights." At first, I thought it was my imagination. I finally got ahold of someone and they told me that it would be two to three hours before they could get a mechanic to me. So now, I'm sitting in silence. The only noise is the clicking of the hazard lights. And I'm staring out of the windshield into a void of darkness. When I see that movement again. Just as I was getting nervous, my phone rang. And it scared the hell out of me. It was a mechanic that wanted me to get out, open the hood, and check some things out.
19:46 Kaelyn Moore? No, I'm not getting out of the truck. Without an explanation as to why, he was irritated with me, but I just didn't care. I wasn't getting out. So finally, after seeing the movement just out of range with the lights one more time, I threw on the headlights with the high beams. The headlights caught three wolves snacking on something that looked like roadkill. I honked the horn and they looked at me like they were irritated more than scared. I was safe. The wolves more than likely weren't going to bother me. But it was just spooky knowing that they were there. So, I shut the lights off. I would turn the lights on occasionally to check and see if they were still there. I was basically just sitting there, listening to the hazard flashers click while surfing
20:31 Kaelyn Moore? on my phone. Each time I turned the lights on, the wolves were still there. And just to remind you, I'm in the middle of nowhere. No homes, no businesses, nothing but trees, wilderness, and now, wolves. I suddenly heard what I can only equate to a woman's scream of terror that sounded like it came from right behind my truck. Then, something slammed into the side of the truck, hard enough to rock it. I wasn't afraid of the truck tipping over, but whatever hit it, hit it hard enough to rock the suspension enough to move around the cab. It was a pretty heavy truck, too.
21:16 Kaelyn Moore? I turned every light that the truck had on, slipped it into reverse so the reverse lights came on, and laid on the horn. I was checking both mirrors, and the only thing I saw was a shadow bolt across the road. I couldn't make out what it technically was, but in my head, it was like a werewolf-y Yeti Bigfoot lizard monster that was going to end my life, and it was going to be agonizingly painful the entire time. I also noticed that the wolves were now gone. And from every nature documentary I've watched, the only time predators leave food is when there are bigger, badder predators around. Whatever crossed the road didn't cross very far off the road. I could hear it thrashing around in the brush,
22:01 Kaelyn Moore? breaking sticks and what sounded like logs. There was no noise pollution. I only had my window cracked a little bit, but I could hear it really well. Finally, I saw some headlights through one of my mirrors. It seemed like it took hours for them to close the distance to me. The noise stopped as the headlights approached, which were obviously the mechanic, because no one else was stupid enough besides me to be out there. The mechanic pulled out in front of me. My headlights were shining on him and his truck. And as his door opened to step out, we both hear the woman screaming in terror type of yell again, and the brush thrashing intensified. Whatever it was, it was still close to us and pretty pissed off.
22:46 Kaelyn Moore? His door immediately closed, and my phone rang. The mechanic called my phone, asking me what it was. And he sounded even more panicked than I was. But I had no clue, and neither did he. So the mechanic ended up calling the cops. He wouldn't work on my truck until we could secure the area, which I don't blame him. He didn't like the idea of getting out of his truck just to check on things. And eventually, two Michigan State Police officers showed up. They lit the area up like it was a stadium. I finally stepped out of the truck for the first time since it all started. We heard that scream three more times while the mechanic was working on my truck. And thankfully, they were getting further and further away. But the cops had no idea what it was either, and even they were spooked.
23:32 Kaelyn Moore? The mechanic finally got my truck running and I made it to my hotel for the night. The next morning, I walked the truck for inspection and the side that was hit, there was an indentation about the size of a basketball. Whatever hit it, didn't hit it hard enough to push all the way through, but it definitely mushed the fiberglass. The indentation was about seven feet off the ground. I have no idea what it was and I probably never will. I do confidently know that I will never, ever, drive through the Upper Peninsula at night again. More after a short break.
24:18 Kaelyn Moore? This episode is brought to you by SiJoh. A new season always makes me want to reset things. My space, my routine, how my mornings feel. And honestly, upgrading my bedding has made a big difference. And that's why I have been loving SiJoh Home. I have the Airyweight Eucalyptus Sheets from SiJoh. They have a lightweight feel, cool to the touch texture. And now my bed feels like a real reset at the end of a long day. I know that every little bit of improvement I can do with my sleep routine makes a huge difference. And so I'm so happy I was able to get SiJoh Sheets. The Airyweight Sheets are made with 10 Cell LioCell. They're doctor recommended, Ecotec certified, and even HSA and FSA eligible, which I genuinely did not know was a thing for bedding. And if you're someone who prefers a more lived in texture,
25:01 Kaelyn Moore? their Luxe Weave French Linen Sheets are stone washed and get softer with every wash. Really beautiful for a bedroom refresh. Go to sijohome.com and use code HSP to get 20% off your first order. That's S I J O H O M E dot com and use code HSP for 20% off at checkout.
25:19 Speaker 01 Some days call for a light jacket. Others an umbrella. And occasionally a rowboat.
25:30 Speaker 01 It's good to have options. Your personal protection is no different. It's why Burna offers more ways to defend yourself. Whether it's a night out, a weekend away, or an evening at home with the kids, Burna gives you defensive options from less lethal launchers to sprays and alarms that fit your life and the situation at hand. Burna launchers deliver serious stopping power against threats from up to 60 feet away, giving you valuable time and distance to respond without getting too close or taking things too far. They're simple to operate, even if you've never used one before, and no background checks or permits are required. Plus, they ship directly to your door. Find the right option for you at B-Y-R-N-A dot com.
26:14 Speaker 01 Must be 18 plus. Purchase and shipping restrictions vary by state and municipality.
26:22 Kaelyn Moore? Though a lot of truckers have reported seeing supernatural things while out on the road late at night, sometimes, the scariest thing you can come across is something from our world. Take for instance, a driver named Digio, who was doing what's known as a meet and turn. Basically, Digio was going to drive halfway to his destination and then hand over his trailer to another driver who would finish the delivery. This was a route that he had driven dozens of times. He knew it like the back of his hand. So much so, that he could just be on autopilot while he was driving. But he made sure to stay sharp, just in case he came across something that he wasn't expecting. The night that he was set to meet the other driver,
27:06 Kaelyn Moore? he pulled into a truck stop at around 3:00 in the morning. He had been at this truck stop before. It was a rundown, small stop on the side of an empty highway. It had a big iridescent sign that shone through the night like a lighthouse, except some of the letters had been burnt out. This night, though, something felt different. It was eerily quiet outside, and when he got out of his cab to grab some water, he saw that there was only one other truck, all the way across on the other side of the stop. The guy he was supposed to be meeting hadn't arrived yet. Usually, the area was full of sounds of people chatting and truck engines.
27:50 Kaelyn Moore? But that night, all he could hear was the fluorescent lights buzzing. He decided to just get in his truck and take a nap for a bit. He turned the ringer on loud in case the guy called, and then he just leaned in his seat all the way back. About 10 minutes into his nap, though, he heard something outside of his truck.
28:13 Kaelyn Moore? It was a dog barking. He tried to shut it out and keep sleeping, but it kept getting closer and closer. It sounded like a big dog, too, and it was heading straight towards him. Eventually, it got so loud that he opened his eyes to see what was going on.
28:32 Kaelyn Moore? But when he looked out, he didn't see anything, just the empty lot. He checked his phone to see that the guy had not called yet, so he leaned back in the seat.
28:45 Kaelyn Moore? But there the dog was again, and this time it was even closer. That's it. Digio grabbed some chips from the passenger seat. He was going to go try to get the dog to calm down. Maybe it was just looking for some food. He got out of his truck, turned in the direction of the barking, and what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks. Instead of a hungry dog, he saw that the sound was coming from a man bent over near the back of his truck. The guy was about 35 years old, skeletal and dirty. His clothes were all roughed up, and his hair was a mess. It was his eyes that Digio really remembered, though.
29:31 Kaelyn Moore? They were deranged, staring straight at him as he continued to bark like a dog. He was getting so worked up that he was foaming at the mouth. Not knowing what else to do, Digio backed away slowly and crawled back up into his truck. He started peeling away, and in the rearview mirror, he saw that the man was now chasing him, still foaming at the mouth. Eventually, he watched as the man disappeared in his rearview mirror. But the memory haunted Digio. Now, whenever he's at a stop at 3:00 in the morning and he hears a dog barking in the distance, a chill runs down his spine.
30:12 Kaelyn Moore? So that story makes me absolutely freak out because I am so afraid of being alone with someone and not knowing what they're capable of. Who knows what was going through that guy's mind? But if someone is barking at you so badly, they're foaming at the mouth, I think for your own safety, it's best to get out of there. But that kind of brings me to my next creepy story about another man who saw something very much from our world, but was really thrown off by it. A driver who I'll call Paul was making an emergency fuel stop on a dead quiet pitch black night. He realized his company had miscalculated his mileage and he was nearing
30:56 Kaelyn Moore? an empty fuel tank. Normally, he would try to push through these long nights without needing fuel, but he was not going to make it tonight. To get to the nearest gas station, though, he had to pull off of the highway and get on a back road. He was up in the Pacific Northwest, so the two-lane back road was lined with tall pine trees that were suffocating compared to the open road of the highway. But it was just going to be a short detour, so he wasn't really that worried about it. That is, until his headlights caught the glimpse of something coming up on the road. It was pink and fleshy over on his passenger side. As he got closer,
31:39 Kaelyn Moore? he could see the white tips of bone sticking out from the mass. It looked like someone had hit an animal, bad, which made sense for how thick the woods were around him. But the question was, what kind of animal looked like that? Paul started getting a bad feeling, like something inside of him was telling him to pull over. So with no other cars around him, he slowed his truck down to a stop right in front of the roadkill, and he hopped out. The scene was so much more grisly than he could have imagined. The creature had no head, no limbs. It just
32:24 Kaelyn Moore? looked like a chest cavity and abdomen that had maybe been hit so hard by a car it exploded. That was the only explanation Paul could think of at the time. Everything that was on the inside of the dead creature had spilled out onto the blacktop.
32:42 Kaelyn Moore? But one thing that was very obviously missing from the area was any fur. And that's when his stomach dropped. What was left of the corpse on the road was about the size of a full grown man. On the chance that this was a person, though, there was no way that it was just hit by a car. There were no identifying factors like the head or the hands. Those had been removed from the scene. So if this was a person, it was intentional. He wondered if he should call the police. When off in the distance, he heard the howling of wolves.
33:25 Kaelyn Moore? They must have smelled it and now they were coming to eat. Paul needed to get out of there quickly, so he jumped back up in his truck and he took off. He never did call it in. He said it was maybe because he really, really, really wanted to believe it was just an animal. But there has always been a part of him that, to this day, worries it was something else. Now, when I hear stories like that, all I can think about is how some highways are known to be dumping grounds for serial killers. I talked about it in the Help Wanted episode I did over the summer when the Jack family disappeared after Ronnie Jack met a kind stranger one night who offered him a job.
34:11 Kaelyn Moore? The Jack family was last seen in a truck heading towards the Highway of Tears, which is a stretch of Highway 16 in British Columbia. Since the 1970s, over 80 people have been found murdered or have been reported missing along that stretch of highway. For instance, plenty of long haul truckers drove past a watery ditch on the side of the highway on October 10, 1981. There was an anomaly in the lake, but no one noticed until a man collecting firewood stumbled upon it later that day.
34:48 Kaelyn Moore? There, he found the body of Jean Mary Kovacs, a 36-year-old woman who had been picked up and murdered by serial killer Edward Dennis Isaac. Edward would go on to kill two more girls near that same highway, both young teenagers, before his girlfriend turned him into police. While people hear about these stories, no one expects to come face to face with it. But that wasn't the case for one driver, who we'll call James, who thought he might have stopped a murder from happening. This episode is brought to you by Bigelow Tea. By now, you should all know that I'm obviously a very curious person, and I'm also a big tea drinker.
35:33 Kaelyn Moore? So I've always heard about this tea called Bigelow Constant Comment. It's been around forever, and people absolutely love it. I realized I had no idea what it actually tasted like. Obviously, I had to investigate, and now I'm obsessed. Constant Comment is this incredible black tea with real orange rind, cold-pressed orange oil, and sweet spices. The best way I can describe it is it's like Christmas in a cup, except you get to drink it all year long. Then I learned the story behind it, which made me love it even more. Constant Comment was created by Ruth Campbell Bigelow and her New York City kitchen in 1945. She shared it with her friends, and everyone kept talking about it. And all of those "constant comments" actually gave it its name. The recipe is still a Bigelow family secret over 80 years later.
36:18 Kaelyn Moore? So this one is a mystery worth investigating for yourself. Bigelow Constant Comment: Curiously different, impossible to forget.
36:27 Kaelyn Moore? Now, we've heard a lot of stories today: supernatural sightings, the eerie, the unexplained, the downright chilling. But James's story offers us something a little different. Still terrifying, though. James's story reminds us how important it is to pay attention, and how sometimes, stopping to inspect something can make a huge difference. He writes: I service fire equipment, so I drive a box truck and cover parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia. I was in rural northwestern Pennsylvania, returning from a service call and heading towards the interstate to go home.
37:10 Kaelyn Moore? On the way to this customer, I saw a small pickup truck on the interstate whose right side tire was steadily deflating. A mile or so before the exit, they had pulled off to the side. I didn't stop to see if they needed help, and I felt a little bad about it. As I drove down this dark, twisty road, I passed a Dodge Durango, pulled over into a barn driveway. There was a person lying on the ground behind it, struggling with something. It looked like the guy was trying to change a tire or get the spare out from under the Durango. Remembering the pickup truck from earlier, I decided to turn around and see if they needed help.
37:51 Kaelyn Moore? I pulled into the first driveway I saw about a quarter mile down the road, turned around, and headed back. Halfway back, the Durango passed me, going the direction I had originally been headed. I got back to where I had seen the Durango originally, planning to turn around again, but as I swung into the driveway, my headlights caught a figure lying motionless in the snow. I stopped and jumped out just as the figure sat up. It was a woman, maybe in her 40s, in a thin, torn, black skirt and top. Her hair was must, her eyes were starting to swell, she had red marks on her throat
38:35 Kaelyn Moore? and her lip was bleeding. I helped her up, got her into my truck, and cranked up the heat. I had taken my jacket off, so I gave it to her, and she covered her torso and arms. She didn't really want to say anything. Her throat was sore, and she was pretty badly frightened. I called 911, and they dispatched a police car. I gave her a bottle of water, and she whispered, "Thank you." Then sat with her head bowed and eyes closed. It took about 15 minutes for the police car to get there and she stayed silent that whole time. As the car pulled in, she said mostly to herself, "He's gonna arrest me."
39:19 Kaelyn Moore? The trooper walked up and motioned for me to exit, asked her if she needed an ambulance. She declined, and then asked me what happened. I explained everything I had seen and he wrote all of it down and then talked to her for a few minutes. He helped her out of the truck and into his car. She quietly thanked me for coming back because she thought that guy was gonna kill her. As far as I know, she wasn't arrested. She was pretty badly beat up and the trooper spoke and handled her as if she were the victim of an assault. It was almost certainly a transaction, sex or drugs, that had gone badly. I never found out what happened. I watched the news outlets for that area for a while, but never found anything.
40:04 Kaelyn Moore? I think the thing that really gets me about that last story is it's a common theme with most of these. It's the not knowing. Not knowing if you're coming upon a stranger who just needs help with a tire change or on a murder taking place. Not knowing if the man barking at you is capable of something horrible and not knowing what the flash of light is on the road. Even not knowing if the thing you found dead on the road was a person or not. And the last place I want to encounter the unknown is in the middle of nowhere at 2:00 a.m. So be careful out there. I know a lot of you are driving as you listen to this, but just don't stop for any hitchhikers if you're in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night.
40:46 Kaelyn Moore? I feel like I don't really have to say that to you guys, but just in case. What's the creepiest thing that you've seen out on the road? You can always submit your stories to heartstarts pounding dot com and next week, we're gonna dive into some more mysteries, specifically internet mysteries, ones that were solved this year. Until next time, stay curious.
41:09 Kaelyn Moore? Heart Starts Pounding is written and produced by me, Kayla Moore. Heart Starts Pounding is also produced by Matt Brown. Additional writing and research by Hannah McIntosh. Sound design and mix by Peachtree Sound. Special thanks to Travis Dunlap, Grayson Jernigan, the team at WME, and Ben Jaffe. Have a heart pounding story or a case request? Check out heartstarts pounding dot com. Until next time, stay curious.
41:36 Kaelyn Moore? Do you want more Darkly Curious stories in your life? Sign up for our Patreon for free and get access to a rotating shelf of bonus content, our weekly Rogue Detecting Society newsletter, and the HSP Book Club. Paid members also get monthly bonus episodes and archive access, which I think is more than 40 episodes at this point. You also get a cool jinx sticker after your first three months. And you can check it all out with a free seven day trial. Link in the bio or go to patreon dot com backslash heart starts pounding. But whatever you do, stay curious.
Previous 91. Folklore's Most Wicked Witches Next 93. Internet Mysteries That Were Solved This Year Page updated November 6, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated