Episode 409: Paula & Brandon Wade

The First Degree

Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek

News, Society & Culture, True Crime

4.5 • 10.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In October 2002, a 25-year-old mother is preparing to leave Valdosta, Georgia, with her 3-year-old son and move back home to be closer to family. She has accepted a new job, packed up her apartment, and is just days away from starting a new chapter. But before the move can happen, both mother and son vanish without a trace. As loved ones search for answers, they are met with more questions than explanations. Over the years, witnesses come forward, leads emerge, and theories circulate, but the truth about what happened remains unknown. In episode 409, Jac and Alexis examine the disappearances of Paula Wade and Brandon Wade, the investigation that followed, and the family’s decades-long fight to bring them home. 🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon: patreon.com/thefirstdegree 📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree 🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee 👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree 📓 Substack: http://thefirstdegree.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:22.0	Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you.
0:24.5	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:30.7	The first degree.
0:32.8	First degree.
0:33.6	First degree.
0:34.4	First degree.
0:35.3	First degree.
0:36.3	First degree.
0:37.4	The first degree. You see it on the news. You see it on the paper. First degree. The first degree.
0:38.3	You see it on the news.
0:39.3	You hit on the paper.
0:41.3	You see it on Facebook.
0:43.3	These things are supposed to happen in movies, not in real life. They just kept saying, oh, she probably just needed some time away. She'll be back.
0:56.0	It didn't matter that we were telling them. It didn't matter that it was the workplace employees,
1:01.4	her coworkers, her supervisor that called and said, this is not normal. This is not normal behavior
1:08.7	for her. Very uncharacteristic.
1:12.6	Why would you not listen to someone that knows them inside and out and backwards?
1:20.2	Why would you not listen to that?
	...

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