Hi, it's James. As the days grow shorter and the nights turn colder, it's the perfect time to cozy up with some true crime done differently.

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Spotlight. My name is James Walner.

Okay. I wonder which half of your brain takes over when you're in flight mode, when you're trying to get out. Not out of a bad relationship, not out of a bad job, but when you're

escaping, when you need to move right now.

For example, if you're escaping from a state psychiatric hospital in Jamestown, North Dakota, in the year 1980.

And just how do you escape?

Do you break out at night, or do you walk out in broad daylight?

Act like you belong there, like you own the place, just waltz down a corridor of linoleum

towards the main entrance and then out into the crisp prairie air?

No. entrance and then out into the crisp prairie air? And once you're out, do you turn left or right?

Maybe flee westward towards Bismarck and the big skies of Montana beyond, or to the east

maybe towards Fargo and Minnesota. Or heck, why not north to Canada? And no matter which direction

you choose, where in the end does your life take you? In today's episode, I won't be able to resolve all of those unknowns,

but in this particular case from back in 1980,

I do have an answer to the following question.

As you disappear from Jamestown,

how long do you have until you end up killing someone?

Welcome back to the show, guys.

We are once again between seasons, and as usual,

I'll be releasing some single episode stories like this one while I work on the next season of Dakota Spotlight.

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