The Lady Bird Lake Mystery

Terror Bites: Bite Sized True Crime

Audio Cowboy

Unsolved Mysteries, Criminal Cases, Chilling Crime Stories, History, Society & Culture, Suspense, Mystery Podcast, Spooky Stories, Serial Killers, True Crime Podcast, Cold Cases, Bite-sized Crime, Horror Podcast, Kidnappings, Short True Crime Stories, Murders, Documentary, True Crime, Disappearances

5 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this gripping episode of Terror Bites, we delve into the unsettling series of deaths that occurred between 2022 and 2023 in Austin’s Lady Bird Lake. Twelve men, predominantly with darker features and last seen near the bustling Rainey Street, were found dead in the lake, sparking widespread speculation about a possible serial killer dubbed “The Rainey Street Ripper.” Despite official conclusions attributing most cases to accidental drownings or medical issues, public skepticism grew, fueled by past police controversies and a growing distrust in law enforcement. Social media platforms and online forums buzzed with amateur sleuths and content creators dissecting the pattern of deaths, while crime experts and former APD personnel weighed in on the anomalies. Though the frequency of such cases has since declined, and the fervor in online communities has waned, the mystery lingers, highlighting the influence of digital crime communities and the public’s quest for truth in the face of institutional narratives.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Terrorbytes, the True Crime Podcast, where the stories are dark, the laughs are twisted, and the terror, well, it's real.
0:18.6	I'm your host, and this where we dive into the most bizarre, chilling and downright weird
0:24.3	true crime stories you've never heard.
0:27.1	Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss a single second of the madness.
0:35.4	Lady Bird Lake, Austin's Glittering Jam, a place where people jog, paddleboard, walk their dogs, and apparently vanish.
0:47.0	It started quietly.
0:50.0	A man found floating in the water.
0:53.8	Drunk, they said.
0:56.0	Just a tragic accident after a night out.
1:00.0	But then it happened again, and again, and again.
1:07.0	By the time the 12th body washed up, people stopped calling it coincidence.
1:13.6	They started using another word, killer.
1:17.7	They say all legends start with a whisper.
1:22.0	In Austin, it was a rumor that grew teeth.
1:27.4	The rainy street ripper, they called him. It was a rumor that grew teeth.
1:28.0	The rainy street ripper, they called him.
1:32.8	A phantom who hunted the drunk, the vulnerable, the careless souls, who wandered off from
1:40.0	the bars, down to the water's edge, never to be seen alive again.
1:46.0	The victims, almost all young men, similar builds, dark hair, attractive.
1:55.0	Most were last seen on rainy street, a buzzing strip of bars and music that spills good vibes and
2:03.3	bad decisions. The kind of place where no one notices when someone stumbles off alone. The
2:11.6	bodies told a different story, pulled from the lake days later, bloated, bruised, sometimes stripped of their phones and wallets.
	...

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