Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers, and I'm Britt. And many of you probably

know that May is mental health month here in the US and in many other countries. And if

you have been around Britt and I long enough, you'll know how important this issue is to

both of us.

Oh, totally. I mean, I know I've talked before about my own personal experience with mental

illness and as you've been really open to about how you take care of your mental health

like with counseling and a lot of other like, yeah, I am a huge fan of therapy. Now we've

been telling you guys true crime stories on this show for over three years now. And during

that time, we have seen time and time again, how mental health can so often be a contributing

factor in the stories that we tell.

And often, I mean, it's hard not to wonder if a victim were diagnosed sooner if they had

access to the right resources. Could any of the cases we discuss have been prevented?

And a lot of people don't like talking about mental illness. But to me, it's hard to

imagine not talking about it when it impacts so many people. According to mental health

America, nearly one in five American adults will have a diagnosable mental health condition

in any given year. And I say in any given year, because if you actually look at a bigger

chunk of time, those numbers are even higher. Almost half of us, 46 percent will meet the

criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition at some point in our lives.

Wow.

If you haven't had this experience personally, you almost certainly know someone else

who has someone like the person I want to talk to you about today. This is one of

the most baffling missing person cases I have ever come across. This is a story of a woman

...