Introducing Bear Brook Season 3: A Private Matter

Today we're sharing the season three trailer of Bear Brook, the critically acclaimed true crime podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio's Pulitzer Prize-nominated Document team. This season, award-winning journalist Jason Moon investigates the disappearance of Jay Hickey, a beloved Christmas tree farmer with dementia who vanishes from his small New Hampshire town. His wife Patty never reports him missing. And it turns out, that's not necessarily a crime in New Hampshire. What follows is a story about family estrangement, the growing dementia crisis, and the legal gaps that leave vulnerable people behind. Follow Bear Brook and listen to the full season here: https://play.megaphone.fm/6ddryt3vqm-ovdhamgnbxg

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Hey, it's Sydney. Today, I wanted to share the new season of Bear Brook. It's a critically acclaimed true crime podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio's Pulitzer Prize nominated documentary team. I'm drawn to cases that don't always get the attention they deserve. Bear Brook, season three, is exactly that kind of story. Journalist Jason Moon investigates the disappearance of Jay Hickey, a beloved Christmas tree farmer with dementia, who vanishes from his small town in New Hampshire. His wife never reports him missing. And it turns out, that's not necessarily a crime. Be sure to follow Bear Brook on your favorite podcast app. Here's the trailer.

• 0:35Speaker 01

  Unfortunately, it is not illegal to not report your husband or your wife missing.

• 0:41Speaker 02

  Was that a surprise to you?

• 0:43Speaker 01

  Yes, it was. Yes, it was.

• 0:50Speaker 03

  A couple of years ago, an elderly Christmas tree farmer in New Hampshire went missing. But for almost a year, his wife didn't tell anybody. The police ask her, "Why didn't you report your own husband missing?" They were not ready for the answers.

• 1:08Speaker 04

  He told me not to talk about it, which obviously now legally I have to. And what's the other thing? Oh, time flies. Like, chwo.

• 1:22Speaker 05

  The whole thing is like, just a bizarre mystery. It's like, all these questions that the town has, the community has, are just like, unanswered.

• 1:34Speaker 06

  Honey, let's take a walk up into the woods and get hit over the head with a shovel and buried.

• 1:41Speaker 07

  My initial thought was she killed him, because that was what I always thought would happen.

• 1:49Speaker 04

  No way. They have no idea how much we loved each other.

• 2:00Speaker 03

  I'm Jason Moon, coming soon from New Hampshire Public Radio and Bear Brook, A Private Matter, a five-part series about a mysterious disappearance and a search for answers that led me places I never imagined.

• 2:17Speaker 07

  In astrology, every one of us that are counselors are comically responsible for everything we say.

• 2:25Speaker 03

  She would tell me, "Don't use your mind. Come from your heart center."

• 2:32Speaker 05

  I'm gonna be speaking in medium terms, so... That's fine. Try to bear with me.

• 2:38Speaker 04

  If you knew Jay as well as I do, he's private. He doesn't want everybody to know his business.

• 2:46Speaker 01

  Beth, I don't believe you.

• 2:55Speaker 05

  I kind of revert back to like, that Bear Brook saying, like, what if we were to just come across something? I know I will probably get more resources for a missing two-year-old search than a missing 72-year-old search. You know, and I wrote down, she said, you know, "I found him."

• 3:15Speaker 03

  A Private Matter, beginning October 21, 2026. Listen by following Bear Brook on your favorite podcasting app.

• 3:30Speaker 03

  Listen to the whole season ad-free for $20 and support our journalism at patreon.com/bearbrook.