A warning to listeners. This episode contains explicit language.

I'm Amy Britton and this is Canary, an investigative podcast from the Washington Post.

Chapter 7. I'll find my joy.

In the summer of 1976, a 16-year-old girl from Alabama set out on a family vacation.

She and her family packed up the car in Birmingham and they traveled more than six hours,

all the way to a remote part of southwest Virginia until they made it to a small town called Marion.

Then they drove through wooded hills up a winding rough road to reach a countryside estate.

They gathered there with close friends. During the day is they swam in a local lake.

And at night, they all sat around together, just telling stories and reminiscing.

But what happened on that property one night would have rippling effects that no one could have known at the time.

The road to Marion altered the course of Carol Griffin's life.

And now, it was time to go back.

There's part of me that just once as I was just see what happens, I don't know why I'm so compelled to go back to this space.

But on the way over here we talked about it and it was like, that's why we're coming to this space.

And we were listening to do you know Lucinda Williams?

She is this cool ass woman from Louisiana.

I guess she's from Louisiana, but she is like a wild singer.

And she sings this song.

This song is called Joy.

It's actually about going back to Slide-L, a city in Louisiana.

She says,

Go to Slide-L, but we were like, I want to go to Marion and look for my joy.

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