Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Cult Leader Early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.

You're listening to a morbid network podcast.

Welcome back to Cult Leader. I'm your Cult Leader, Spencer Henry. If you are new here, Cult Leader is a podcast about stuff that makes you feel concerned.

It's only been a week. That's how long it always is, but I miss you Cult Daves. I feel like I haven't recorded in a while. I don't know when I recorded the last episode, but anyways, here we are.

You guys know I posted merch. It will be back up soon, and it will be available internationally. I know so many of you have asked.

I'll post on Instagram, both at Cult Leader Podcast and at Spencer Henry once it is up and available for purchase.

Let's see. So I'm working on something. I can't quite announce it yet, but it's going to be really exciting. You guys are going to love it.

I also have some guest lined up for future episodes, and that's all I'll say on that for now.

One last thing before we get started, please, please, please, if you haven't already leave a five star review on iTunes, if you feel so inclined.

But it helps push Cult Leader at the top, gets more listeners, helps me with advertising, which helps me pay to get cooler designs for merch, and all the other good stuff I'm planning.

So that's that. Let's go. Today's story be prepared is going to have you screaming at least four times.

It is September of 1978, where in Northern California, I believe around Berkeley area, and 15 year old Mary Vincent has run away from her family's home in Nevada.

Now the first time I heard about this case was actually on an episode of I survived. And if you have never watched I survived, you need to generally like the breakdowns of the episode is like one will be a natural disaster.

One will be like a murder or attempted murder case, and then another one will just be something else like either one or the other, but it's such a good show.

Like I swear to God I'm addicted you guys will love it, but that's what I first heard about this case. Let's get to it September in 1978 outside of Berkeley in Northern California.

Mary has run away from her parents house in Nevada, and it wasn't the first time she'd run away. She'd run away before mostly due to her parents relationship.

They got in a lot of fights. They'd gotten to a fight this time about getting a divorce, and that's what prompted Mary to run away this time.

Mary overall pretty good kid. She'd experienced some success as a dancer, and she decided she was going to head to Los Angeles where her grandfather lived.

She had a sign that said headed south, and there was a bunch of people hitchhiking throughout the area. I mean it was the late 70s. I feel like that's how everyone got everywhere.

Also I'm trying to think like in that day wasn't like news circulating like don't get a hitchhiker's car because I feel like that was like the heyday for a lot of people going missing during hitchhiking, but you know they did what they did.

It was the 70s and I want to give a fuck. And eventually a man pulls up in a blue van. So there's two people behind Mary and they're like hey you know I don't think you should get in there because basically what had happened was the guy who had pulled up was like hey get in, but I can only take you.

And he was claiming that he only had room for one person, but there was like clearly a whole empty van. And all she was thinking about and all that was running through her head was she was like I want to go home and I want to be with you know family.

...