BARBERTON, Ohio — For the thousands of listeners, they're the voices behind Ohio Mysteries podcast.
It's a podcast unearthing stories across the state. From cold case murders and disappearances to buried treasures and the paranormal, award-winning journalist Paula Schleis and co-host Stephen Yoder are exploring the unexplained.
- Revisits mysterious cases with the hope that detectives and families can close the books on them
- Prompted a new reward in a 1979 unsolved murder in Akron
- More than a hundred episodes have already been released
"I never thought it would be this big. We have a lot of fans and we couldn't do this without them," said Yoder.
From inside a home in Barberton, the two hosts have already released more than a hundred episodes. The latest dives into the unsolved murder of Peggy Andrews, a 19-year-old Columbus Business School student shot three times in the face nearly 60 years ago.
"Peggy is somewhat of a poster child for cold cases at the Columbus Police Department. She got within feet of getting through her door to her home when somebody showed up and nabbed her, assaulted and killed her," said Schleis.
The podcast started in 2018 and continues to rise in popularity. It even prompted a new reward in the unsolved murders of 19-year-old Ricky Beard and 17-year-old Mary Leonard —teen sweethearts from Akron, who went missing in 1979.
"The private detective on that case back in the 70s, he came forward and offered a new reward for information. Without our stories and without us revisiting that, it wouldn't have, I think, occurred to him to do that," said Schleis.
Yoder and Schleis say while these cases provide an entertainment value, there's a family behind every story they tell.
"To actually meet people who are affected by it, blew me away, you know, you feel their pain, you feel their hope, and that was something new for me. After all those years and it still hurts them," said Yoder.
And the hope is that by retelling their stories, it will spark new interest and give officials a chance to solve these mysteries.
"That's the holy grail, the holy grail is that just by having the story out there and not letting it be forgotten. When you can do something that makes a difference, it takes that to a whole new level and if there's any chance we can do something to make a difference in one of these cases, it would make all of the time we spend on it worthwhile," said Schleis.
The Ohio Mysteries Podcast releases new episodes every Sunday and Wednesday. There's also a chance for listeners to join the podcast as an armchair detective.