The Darkest Web: 2. Man with the amazing memory

World of Secrets

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.7 • 765 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

US Special Agents Greg and Pete are desperate. Somewhere in America a twelve year old girl, who they have called Lucy, is being sexually abused. Her abuser has been sharing images of his abuse for six years on the dark web. They have to find her - and save her.

They were convinced that Facebook would be able to help them using its facial recognition technology, but the tech giant is unable to help. So they go back to the start , examining every single thing they can see in the room she is being abused in: the sofa, the bed and then finally they wonder what they might discover if they look at the room itself, specifically the exposed brick wall. Is there any way someone could identify these bricks? And could that person help them to find Lucy?

Season 11 of World of Secrets, The Darkest Web, is a BBC Eye investigation for the BBC World Service.

This podcast includes some upsetting scenes, discussions of child sexual abuse, and there’s some strong language.

For further information on the issues raised in the programme, contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support go to bbc.co.uk/actionline

Reporter and Presenter: Sam Piranty Writer and Producer: Annabel Deas Script advice: Matt Willis Sound design: Neil Churchill Composer: Rob Lewis Executive Producer: Rebecca Henschke Commissioning Senior Producer: Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Jon Manel

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts.
0:05.6	Oh, hello. You have chosen a BBC podcast, but before you listen to it, we thought you might like our podcast too.
0:12.1	You might. You might. It is called Sightraught with me, Nick Grimshaw.
0:15.2	And me, Annie Mack. And we talk about the week in music.
0:18.2	All the news, all the cultural happenings in the UK and beyond.
0:22.2	And great guests. And it's on BBC Sounds. Yes, where you can also enjoy lots of
0:27.1	playlists, music mixes and live radio. Everything from my six music breakfast show to Radio
0:33.2	3 Unwind. But obviously start with our our podcast sidetrack. Obviously. Obviously.
0:40.1	So if you like music, listen on BBC Sounds.
0:45.5	Episodes of World of Secrets are released weekly, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:50.9	But if you can't wait, you can listen to the latest episode now, a week early.
0:53.3	First on BBC Sounds.
1:03.2	Hi, it's Sam. Just a warning before we start, this episode contains references to child sexual abuse and some strong language.
1:16.6	Every stop that we could to try to figure out how do we find the normal people that are seeing this little girl every day. You'd see things, right? Like you've been looking at hundreds of images, at hundreds of things that could be clues.
1:23.6	So your eyes naturally drawn towards any item in a room that might help you.
1:29.2	Like, oh, you know what?
1:30.2	We never looked at that.
1:31.5	Or you hear you on vacation or wherever you might be.
1:34.9	And you look at a wall and you go, oh shit, the texture on that wall is very similar to this.
1:40.3	From the moment they wake up, US Homeland Security Special agents, Greg Squire, and Pete Manning, are focused.
1:47.7	So you don't separate from it. You can't. You won't allow yourself to, and you have that feeling of responsibility.
1:56.6	And yeah, of course, you look at your own kid and you go, this is the life we're protecting.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.