Hey, I'm Steph, and this is not today.

Hello and welcome. Before we jump into the story this week, I wanted to remind you that bonus episode number 43 came out last week, which was the story of Melissa and Alyssa Oxley.

On February 21st, 2008, Melissa Oxley frantically called 911 after finding the dead body of her husband Ben

lying next to her in bed. Ben had been shot in the head with a shotgun and killed in his sleep,

so Melissa hid with her six-year-old stepdaughter Alyssa as they waited for authorities. After police

arrived, they searched for an intruder but found nothing, and all evidence seemed to be pointing to Melissa as her husband's murderer.

However, six-year-old Alyssa always knew her stepmother was innocent, and what she saw that night would change the course of the investigation.

Their story is unbelievable, so if you're interested in hearing that, you can find it at patreon.com slash not today podcast.

We release one new full-length bonus episode every month that our patrons get to vote on,

and there are 42 other bonus episodes out now as well, and it's only $5 a month,

so really it's a steal if you ask me.

But today, we'll be talking about Samantha Stites.

Her story is probably one of the most, if not the most, terrifying stalker story I've ever come

across. I found this story very recently from a Hulu documentary called stalking Samantha,

and I had to talk about it because this story is unreal. She was stocked for over a decade,

for starters, but what she went through is like something out of a horror movie. Like truly,

her stalker was inspired by Joe Goldberg from the TV show You, but also she is such

an incredible strong woman who overcame so much and wants to share her

story to help others, which I think is amazing. So let's just jump in because we have a lot to talk

about. The story does contain discussion about sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

Samantha Stites grew up in Elk Rapids, Michigan. She grew up with not a lot of money. Her father left when she was five, and her mother was a server and a bartender. And Sam figured out pretty early on that if she wanted to do something, she was going to need to do it on her own. She's been strong from day one. But that being said, it still seemed like she had a great

childhood. She loved where she grew up. I mean, Northern Michigan is gorgeous, and she had great

...