This episode picks up from our last one, episode 88, cold case.

So, if you haven't heard that one yet, you should probably go back and listen to them in order.

This episode contains descriptions of violence and may not be suitable for everyone.

If you're in it for revenge, I'm not your person.

If you're in it to stir up something because it's the ex-wife, not your person.

And I usually can tell who the right people are.

There's a sound when I talk to them at first, and I know that sound. I've had that sound. I know the desperation.

After Sheila was socky, became a private investigator to help solve the murder of her college roommate, Anju Samota.

She wasn't planning to take on any more cases. She'd done what she'd hoped to do.

But she was inundated with requests from other people who'd lost loved ones.

The first letter was from a mother who didn't believe that her teenage son died by suicide.

So, I'm reading this letter in a course I'm a cryer. And it just upset me so much.

And she wrote her name and number at the bottom and I called her.

Sheila looked into the case and found evidence that there were too many bullets for suicide to make sense.

Sheila says her investigation compelled the district attorney to reopen the case. And from there, she just kept going.

What percentage of breakdown who's contacting you? Is it parents? Is it husbands or wives? Family members? Who's contacting you?

I would say mainly it's parents, even parents of older like an adult.

So if they're missing or they suspect foul play, a lot of times the moms, I used to say only the moms,

but recently I probably had three dads call me, which is unusual.

She's selective about what cases she takes. She wants to make sure that her clients understand they may not like what she finds out.

And she often stipulates that they enter into grief counseling during the investigation.

The worst part, she says, is telling people no.

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