Mayhem in the Morgue | Foraging Misadventures
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.2 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Listen to Mayhem in the Morgue on all podcast platforms: https://link.podtrac.com/MayhemMorgue
Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of death of individuals. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you.
The line between curiosity and catastrophe is thinner than most people expect. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns uses a series of foraging mistakes to show how curiosity, mixed with a hint of bravado, can turn lethal when people rely on folklore, hearsay, or incomplete information. From toxin- secreting toads and misidentified “magic mushrooms” to a drowning case complicated by zebra mussels and cyanotoxins, each case tracks the same pattern: confidence first, consequences later.
Highlights
• (0:00) Welcome to Mayhem in the Morgue with Dr. Kendall Crowns
• (0:30) A radio story from Arizona: people reportedly licking toads to get high
• (1:00) A high school “toad hunt” in Kansas goes sideways with the wrong species and 24 hours of vomiting
• (2:30) Colorado River toad, 5-MeO-DMT, and why "toad licking" is dangerously misunderstood
• (5:45) Case one: a 20-year-old “confirms” magic mushrooms with library photos and dries a batch for tea
• (7:30) Psychedelic tea results in vomiting and GI complications, followed by multiorgan failure and death
• (12:45) Case two: a drowning case is complicated by foreign shells in the airway and stomach
• (15:15) Zebra mussels and cyanotoxins enter the investigation
• (22:00) Closing warning: all mushrooms are edible, some only once
About the Host: Dr. Kendall Crowns
Dr. Crowns is the Chief Medical Examiner for Travis County, Texas, and a nationally recognized forensic pathologist. He las led death investigations in Travis County, Fort Worth, Chicago, and Kansas. Over his career, he has performed thousands of autopsies and testified in court hundreds of times as an expert witness. A frequent contributor to Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Dr. Crowns brings unparalleled insight into the strange, grisly, and sometimes absurd realities of forensic pathology.
About the Show
Mayhem in the Morgue takes listeners inside the bloody, bizarre, and often unbelievable world of forensic pathology. Hosted by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns, each episode delivers real-life cases from the morgue, the crime scene, and the courtroom. Expect gallows humor, hard truths, and unforgettable investigations.
Connect and Learn More
Have a question for Dr. Crowns? Submit them to mayheminthemorgue@gmail.com
Learn more about Dr. Kendall Crowns on Linkedin. Catch him regularly on Crime Stories with Nancy Grace and follow Mayhem in the Morgue where you get your podcasts.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.6 | Today's episode once again discusses the deaths of individuals. |
| 0:09.2 | If this sort of thing upsets you, may it suggest you read a book, maybe something like Canary Row. |
| 0:16.6 | Welcome to Mayhem in the Morning with your host, Dr. Kendall Crowns. |
| 0:28.2 | Today's episode, Forging Misadventures. |
| 0:32.0 | When I was driving to work the other day, I heard a story on the radio. |
| 0:36.1 | It was about individuals in Arizona that were |
| 0:38.7 | reportedly licking toads. Evidently, recent unseasonal monsonal rains in Arizona had caused an |
| 0:45.8 | increase in the appearance of this particular toad. The toads had come out of their ground habitats |
| 0:51.0 | to breed in the puddling water. People believed that if they catch these toads and licked |
| 0:57.2 | them, they would get high. When I heard this, it reminded me of a couple of my high school friends |
| 1:02.9 | from years ago. They were really into drugs, and they were really into hallucinogenic drugs, |
| 1:08.0 | and often talked about finding new ones. And somehow they had heard a story |
| 1:12.5 | about toads that if you licked them, you could have a crazy hallucinogenic experience. Where they found |
| 1:19.7 | this information out about these magical toads, I still don't know to this day, but I know they |
| 1:25.1 | went on a hunt to find one of them in the wilds of Kansas, |
| 1:28.8 | and they were definitely armed with bad information because they caught a couple of the toads |
| 1:33.3 | and attempted to lick them and ended up throwing up for about 24 hours. They showed my other |
| 1:39.4 | friends and I the toads that they had caught. They were large, light yellow toads with dark green spots |
| 1:46.7 | that were outlined by a lighter color, and they had a large lump between their eyes and numerous warts |
| 1:53.5 | on their body. Comparing them to pictures in a book, it appears they had caught a great plains toad, |
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