...Who's There?

0:00You think you're safe when you're at home, but today's two stories prove you might not be. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. The links to the original YouTube videos are in the description. The first story you'll hear is called Who's Out There? And it's about a woman's worst nightmare that unfolds at a cabin in the woods. And the second and final story you'll hear is called Denver Spider-Man. and it's about a very unsettling secret that was found inside of a locked house. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do.

0:41So if that's of interest to you, the next time the follow button is looking to adopt a pet, tell them you just rescued a puppy and you'd love for them to take it. But don't tell them when you say puppy, you actually mean enormous saltwater crocodile. Okay, let's get into our first story called Who's Out There?

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2:30On the night of October 17th, 2019, a 47-year-old woman named Ada Quintal stepped out of her family's cabin in rural Michigan to take her dog for a walk and have a smoke. It was very late. It was about 1.30 in the morning. Now, this cabin where she was staying was very isolated. It was about a half mile away from any neighbors, but Ada actually enjoyed the solitude. You know, she was surrounded on all sides, by forest and swamps, and the wilderness actually made Ada feel a lot safer than when she was back home in the densely populated Detroit area where she lived full-time. And this was because, just a few months earlier when she had been back home in Detroit, she had been the victim of an unprovoked attack.

3:08She had been out in the city around all these people in broad daylight, and this guy came up to her and just jumped her, broke her nose, gave her a concussion, and then ran off. But the scariest part of this attack was not the fact that she had been brutalized. It was that this guy did not appear to have any reason to attack her. He didn't know Ada, and Ada had not been robbed or anything. It was like he just randomly identified her and attacked her, and the guy had never been caught. And so this ordeal had had such a profound impact on Ada that it really began to affect her health, both mentally and physically.

3:40She started to just kind of decline, and on top of that, she had been laid off from her engineering job, and so now she was unemployed and seriously depressed. And so recently, when Ada's uncle had called her and offered to pay her to come out and live in this two-story family cabin and fix it up for the winter, Ada had jumped at the chance. I mean, not only would this solve her unemployment issue, but also she loved this cabin. It had been in her family for 75 years, and some of her fondest childhood memories were in this cabin. And so she looked at this as a chance to kind of get away from the city and just be in her happy place and kind of reset and recover from the trauma of the attack.

4:18And so for the past week, Ada and her boyfriend had been staying in this cabin and doing small repairs and cleaning it up. But two days earlier, her boyfriend had had to leave and go back to the city where they were actually fixing up another property, a condo, and so now it was just Ada and her dog. But that was totally fine with Ada. She liked being out here by herself, so this was no big deal. But tonight, she was feeling frustrated because she couldn't sleep. About an hour earlier, she had taken a pill to help her sleep, but so far it hadn't worked, and so she was feeling kind of wired and anxious, and so she had decided to go on a walk with her dog in hopes that that would clear her mind and allow her to finally get some rest.

4:56Now, these roads that surrounded this cabin were kind of small and zigzaggy, and you know, there weren't any streetlights. I mean, this is not exactly a good place to go for a nighttime walk, but Ada knew this place like the back of her hand, and she also carried a nine millimeter pistol in her pocket, you know, just for protection. And so after walking for a few minutes down one of these dark winding roads, Ada's dog stopped to relieve himself on a bush. So as the dog was going to the bathroom, Ada just casually smoked and waited. But at some point, the dog just stopped going to the bathroom, turned slightly, and began growling, and its ears perked up, and it was looking off into the darkness right ahead of them.

5:31And so Ada instinctively took her flashlight and raised it up and aimed it in the direction her dog was looking. And right away, the cone of light illuminated these two eyes looking right back at Ada. And immediately, Ada knew what she was staring at. It was a mountain lion. And so doing her best to stay calm, Ada slowly reached into her pocket to pull out her gun. But before pulling it out, the two eyes blinked shut, and then she heard it kind of turn and run off into the forest. It was gone. Once Ada was sure the mountain lion really was gone, she breathed a sigh of relief and then very quickly tugged on her dog's leash, they turned around, and she hustled back towards the cabin.

6:08When Ada reached her cabin, which was all lit up because she had left all the lights on before she had left, she jumped up the front steps, she opened up the door, she went inside with her dog, and after letting her dog off the leash, she shut and locked the door. Then she grabbed her phone and texted her boyfriend to tell him about this mountain lion. And then after hitting send, you know, Ada felt relieved to be back in her cabin, but at the same time, she still felt very on edge. I mean, she had been, you know, just a few feet away from a mountain lion in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere.

6:35But as Ada was doing her best to calm herself down, she heard this noise coming from outside the living room window, almost like twigs snapping, like somebody was walking past the window. And so the way this cabin was set up is when you first walked inside, you were in the kitchen, and then the back half of the cabin was a living room, and then there were also stairs leading up to a second floor. But from in the kitchen, you had a clear line of sight into the living room, and vice versa. It was kind of like one big room with two functions. And so from where Ada was standing in the kitchen, she could clearly see the window in the living room where this noise had kind of come through.

7:09But because the inside of the cabin was all lit up and the outside was dark, you know, from her perspective, all she could see was a reflection on that window. So to look outside that window to see what had made that noise, she would need to get right up next to the window. And so feeling pretty nervous at this point, she walked across the cabin, she made her way towards this window, and then she pressed her face right up against the glass to look outside. But all she saw outside was just darkness. I mean, there was nothing out there. And so Ada stepped back from the window and started to wonder if maybe the sound she had just heard was maybe that mountain lion.

7:41You know, maybe it followed her back here. You know, that was terrifying, but at least she was inside. But also she was thinking to herself, you know, mountain lions are not known for being aggressive towards humans, and they wouldn't come up to her cabin like this and prowl around outside. That's just not what mountain lions do. But Ada didn't really have any other explanation. And so she told herself, you know, it's got to be nothing. you know, there's nothing out there, this is a safe place. And so she kind of forgot about the noise and she took off her coat and put her stuff down. And then she sat down on the couch in the living room, turned on the TV and tried to relax.

8:12But only about 20 minutes later, when Ada had finally relaxed and was even thinking about getting into her bed and going to sleep, she heard another noise coming from that same window in the living room. And this time when she looked up and looked out that window, despite the reflections inside the cabin, she could clearly tell there was something moving outside of her cabin. And it was definitely not a mountain lion. It looked like a man. And so Ada had to stifle a scream and then instinctively she lunged for her gun on the coffee table and then darted behind the couch and crouched down to make sure whoever was out there couldn't see her.

8:46And then, you know, with gun in hand, she began calling out to the person out there that, hey, I'm armed. If you come in here, I'm going to shoot you. But it was just silence. And then Ada strained her ears to try to hear any sound that would give away where this person went. You know, were they still outside that window? Had they moved somewhere else? But all she could hear was the sound of the wind whipping outside and an owl hooting off in the distance. But then, right as Ada was starting to wonder, you know, did I really see somebody out there? You know, is this all in my head? That's when she heard the distinct sound of footsteps on her front porch.

9:17And so again, Ada had to stifle a scream and she darted to the other side of the couch, you know, preventing the person from the front of the house to seeing her now. Then she grabbed her phone and she was dialing 911 and she was about to hit call when she stopped herself. And she began to wonder, am I just totally overreacting here? You know, I don't know if there's somebody out there. I could be hearing things. Or maybe it's just like an animal or something. And also, deep down, Ada knew that ever since that attack in Detroit that summer, that basically everything scared her. And she was starting to wonder if maybe she was just being totally paranoid and there was nothing going on.

9:49And she didn't want to embarrass herself by calling 911 and having them come out here and finding nothing. And so Ada decided she would call her boyfriend. And so she called her boyfriend. And as the phone is ringing, she's listening intently for any other footsteps outside, but she can't hear anything. And then her boyfriend, you know, he didn't pick up. It's also like 2.30 in the morning at this point, but her boyfriend doesn't answer. And so after that, she tries calling one of her friends and her friend does pick up. And right away, Ada just began telling this friend about all the things that had happened that night.

10:18you know, from going out and seeing the mountain lion and then coming back in, hearing the sound and now hearing the footsteps on the front porch. And, you know, she was worried that maybe she was just making it all up, but she was still really scared. And even though Ada was trying to be composed as she was telling her friend, her voice began to crack and she began to cry because she really was scared. And the friend just said, look, I'm going to call the police on your behalf. You know, it seems like it's worth having them come out just to make sure you're really okay. Give me the address and I'll tell them where to go.

10:45And so Ada would give her friend the address, but she told the friend, you know, thank you, but do not call right now. Just please stay on the phone for a minute and let me just do a quick investigation. Let me look out the windows, you know, and just really make sure that this is nothing before you call the police. And so the friend said, you know, okay, you know, look around, but then I'm calling the police. And so with her phone and her gun in hand, Ada very carefully crept out from behind the couch, keeping a low profile, you know, staying below the sight line of all the windows. And she crept from the living room into the kitchen towards the front of the house, and she walked over to the sink, and she very slowly raised her head until she could just barely peek through the window right above the sink that overlooked the front porch.

11:25Because remember, that was the last place she had heard sounds, from the front porch. And so she very carefully peeks and looks out the window, and there's nothing there. Nobody's on the porch. It's just empty, dark forest. She's safe.

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15:52Because there, in that same window she had heard those sounds coming from in the living room, was now the silhouettes of two men, clear as day, just looking in the window right at Ada. And so acting purely on instinct, Ada just raised her gun and aimed it at these two men. And to her horror, the two men also raised guns and aimed them right back at Ada. And so Ada just started firing her gun at the window, and these men began shooting back at her. and right before Ada leapt to the ground, she was pretty sure she hit one of the men in the head with one of her rounds. And so she lands on the ground.

16:24It's absolute pandemonium at this point. Then her friend who's still on the phone is screaming like what's going on, what's going on? And all Ada could think to do was yell out, there's two men, they're shooting at me. I think I shot one of them. And the friend is screaming, I'm gonna call the police. And then the line goes dead. And Ada who's crouched down behind the kitchen island at this point, she realizes all the shooting has stopped. It's now dead silent in the cabin. And so for a second, Ada was thinking to herself, maybe I managed to shoot both of them, and that's why it's quiet right now.

16:52But then another thought began to enter her head that maybe she had only shot one of them, and the other survivor was moving into position to maybe ambush her. And so as she's running through what she's going to do, she hears this horrible, loud thumping sound right above her in the second floor of the cabin. Now, Ada knew at this moment she should just get her dog and run. Because if this second shooter has survived and has now come into her cabin and is upstairs, that means the forest is now clear and she can make a run for it. But as she sat there by the island, still clutching her gun, you know, in this beloved family cabin of hers, she began thinking about the fact that ever since that attack in Detroit over the summer, you know, that had totally wrecked her life and made her scared of everything.

17:34And so as she heard the sound of whoever this was marching around in her second floor, she made a decision. She was going to stand her ground and fight. And so she took a deep breath she stood up, and with gun in hand, she made her way to the stairs and began to go up.

17:53The police arrived at the cabin about 30 minutes later, because Ada's friend did call the police, and she warned them that as far as she knew, there could be at least two gunmen there, and maybe Ada had shot one of them, she wasn't sure. And so when the police arrived, they showed up, you know, guns drawn, and they walked up to the cabin, and they searched the outside, but there was nobody out there, it was silent. And then when they made entry into the cabin, They saw clearly there had been a shootout. I mean, there were bullet holes all over the place, broken windows. But after searching the cabin top to bottom, they didn't find anybody.

18:23No Ada, no shooters. However, they did find Ada's terrified dog inside of the cabin, and the dog would be just fine. Now, once the cabin was secured of any threats, the police would do another comprehensive search looking for any evidence that would kind of tell them, you know, where Ada or these shooters had gone. and during this secondary search, they would find Ada's shoes and her cell phone on the roof of the cabin and they would also find her gun on the ground not far from the roof, suggesting maybe she had fallen off the roof or jumped from the roof, but they were kind of located roughly in the same area.

18:54And during this secondary search, they wouldn't find Ada or the gunman, but they would find Ada's cell phone and her shoes on the roof of the cabin and they would also find Ada's gun on the ground not far from where her shoes and cell phone had been found. But that was it.

19:12Police immediately launched a massive search in the forest surrounding the cabin, but despite looking all over the place, they could not find any signs of Ada or her attackers. Police checked local hospitals to see if maybe the man that Ada had shot had shown up seeking medical attention, but as far as they could tell, he hadn't. And so pretty quickly, the police theorized that maybe there were no gunmen. You know, maybe what really happened here is Ada's boyfriend attacked her, and he was responsible for whatever happened to her. But when police checked on Ada's boyfriend, it would turn out he had a rock-solid alibi.

19:47He had been with Ada's adult son at the time Ada had gone missing, and Ada's own son said, yes, for sure, he was with me. He did not do this. But after that, the police thought, okay, well, maybe if Ada's boyfriend didn't do this, maybe he hired other people to hurt Ada. But there was no evidence of any strange financial transactions, and as far as they could tell when they did some digging, there was no strife in Ada and her boyfriend's relationship, so there was no clear reason why he would want to hurt her. And so that lead also kind of fell flat. Police would confirm that Ada was attacked that previous summer by this random guy in Detroit, and so for a little while they speculated that, you know, maybe this guy, this attacker, who had never been caught, had maybe tracked Ada down to finish off the job, but that seemed so far-fetched and just unlikely that that basically was shut down as well.

20:37And as the days passed, the evidence that was coming in only made the case more confusing. For example, there were all these bullets fired during this big shootout in the cabin, and when they examined the actual bullets they extracted from the walls and the floor and ceiling, they were all from Ada's gun. However, outside and inside the cabin, they found all these different shell casings, suggesting that those bullets had been fired from different weapons, i.e. maybe the attacker's weapons. And so as the weeks passed by, and Ada and her attackers were not found, people began to speculate that maybe this was all an elaborate setup by Ada just so she could disappear.

21:15Or other people thought maybe she was abducted by aliens. I mean, there were lots of theories surrounding this, but basically nobody knew what happened. And then pretty soon, the case just went completely cold. That is until December 21st, 2019, so about two months after Ada's disappearance. And on that day, Ada's family decided to drain a pond that was near that cabin in the woods. At this point, the family was so desperate for closure that they were prepared to do just about anything to find Ada and to figure out what happened to her. And so even though this pond had previously been searched by the police, they drained this pond, and sure enough, they find Ada.

21:52She was deceased, and her body was found about 300 yards away from the cabin, and she was covered in only about a foot of water. Now, initially, the speculation was, well, here you go, you know, she must have been chased out of her cabin by these attackers, and she was shot and killed, and this is where she fell. But after a quick examination of her body, it was clear she had no bullet wounds on her anywhere. In fact, she didn't even have any bruises on her or any major scrapes or cuts or anything, so it didn't even seem like she had been in any sort of physical struggle at all before she died.

22:23In fact, unless she had drowned, it really just seemed totally unclear how she had died. It was not until the medical examiner did Ada's autopsy that all this baffling evidence began to make sense.