THE LAWRENCE BADER MYSTERY: His Family Found Him Alive 8 Years Later - He Had No Idea Who They Were
Weird Darkness: Stories of the Paranormal, True Crime, Legends, Lore, Mysterious, Macabre, Unsolved
Darren Marlar
4.6 • 4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 July 2025
⏱️ 63 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When a missing man presumed drowned is found living 700 miles away with a new family, new career, and new identity, he shocks everyone by insisting he has no memory of his previous life — and psychiatric experts believe him.
Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE:Â https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate
IN THIS EPISODE: A bizarre masked figure interrupted two television broadcasts in 1987, creating one of broadcasting’s most disturbing unsolved mysteries. Who was behind the Max Headroom TV-signal hack? (The Max Headroom Hijacking) *** In the 1990s, residents of England's Wirral Peninsula witnessed enormous metallic discs up to half a mile wide hovering over their villages in broad daylight, including one craft that seemed to emit cries for help from within. (The Heswall Mothership) *** Across America, people with no history of mental illness are spiraling into severe psychosis after conversations with ChatGPT, convinced they've broken the laws of physics or become prophets destined to save the world. (When AI Triggers Psychosis) *** When a missing man presumed drowned is found living 700 miles away with a new family, new career, and new identity, he shocks everyone by insisting he has no memory of his previous life — and psychiatric experts believe him. It’s the strange true story of Lawrence Bader… or is he Fritz Johnson? (The Lawrence Bader Mystery)
ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Lead-In
00:02:22.760 = Show Open
00:04:24.851 = The Lawrence Bader Mystery
00:19:27.968 = The Max Headroom Hijacking
00:34:31.697 = The Heswall Mothership
00:47:22.930 = When AI Triggers Psychosis
01:00:35.626 = Show Close
SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
“The Lawrence Bader Mystery”: https://weirddarkness.com/lawrence-bader-mystery/
“The Max Headroom Hijacking”: https://weirddarkness.com/max-headroom-tv-hijack-chicago/
“The Heswall Mothership”: https://weirddarkness.com/heswall-mothership-ufo-sighting/
“When AI Triggers Psychosis”: https://weirddarkness.com/ai-psychosis/Â
=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: July 16, 2025
NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.
EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/LawrenceBader
#LawrenceBader #FritzJohnson #TrueCrime #UnsolvedMystery #MissingPerson #AmnesiaCase #DissociativeFugue #LakeErieDisappearance #AkronOhio #OmahaNebraska #IdentityMystery #MemoryLoss #StrangeDisappearances #BizarreTrueStory #UnexplainedMystery #DualIdentity #PsychiatricMystery #FingerprintEvidence #PresumedDead #FoundAlive #FakeDeathTheory #TraumaticAmnesia #ColdCase #HistoricalMystery #1957Disappearance #KETV #ForgottenIdentity #FalseMemories #TwoLivesOnePerson #MysteriousDoubleLife #InsuranceFraud #BigamyCase #RealLifeMystery #StrangeButTrue #AmericanMysteries #UnsolvedCases #TrueCrimeStory #MysteryPodcast #UnexplainedPhenomena #MentalHealthMystery #1960sTrueCrime #BizarreCases #ForgottenPast #MemoryMystery #IdentityCrisis #PsychologicalThriller #MysteriousDisappearances #TrueStory #ColdCaseMystery #UnsolvedCase
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As a member of this weirdo family, I value your input, and while I try to keep up with |
| 0:04.6 | the emails, online messages, and comments I receive, one thing I've not really done is ask |
| 0:10.6 | your opinions about certain things I offer in the podcast. |
| 0:13.9 | Do you like the Murder Noir episodes? |
| 0:16.2 | What about the old-time radio stuff? |
| 0:18.0 | Does the more comedic Mind of Marler uploads even belong in the podcast? |
| 0:22.5 | If you could change one thing about Weird Darkness, what would it be? Take the survey at |
| 0:26.7 | weirddarkness.com slash survey and let me know what you think about what I do and how I do it. |
| 0:32.6 | It'll only take about two minutes, but it'll be invaluable to me as a creator to find out |
| 0:37.3 | what you like and |
| 0:38.1 | don't like, what you'd like to see more of, or less of. Visit weirddarkness.com slash |
| 0:43.5 | survey. That's weirddarkness.com slash survey. If you've ever wanted to learn more about |
| 0:49.1 | stories I share in the podcast, you'll want to sign up for the free Weird Darkness newsletter. |
| 0:54.9 | Several times per week, you'll get an email that not only includes the audio player with a recent episode, but a deep |
| 0:59.7 | dive article of that same subject, going more in depth than what you heard in the podcast. I also |
| 1:05.2 | post numerous articles that never make it into the podcast, and I share those in the newsletter, too. |
| 1:10.1 | Along with transcripts of my hororable humor podcast, Mind I share those in the newsletter, too. Along with transcripts |
| 1:11.2 | of my horrible humor podcast, Mind of Marler, you'll get videos of murder noir as I post them, |
| 1:17.2 | the most popular video of the week from my YouTube channel. Plus, I include bonus audio in the |
| 1:22.1 | newsletter every week that I don't post to the podcast, and if I still have room at the bottom, |
| 1:27.2 | I'll stick a funny |
| 1:28.1 | meme in there for you. Sign up for the free Weird Darkness newsletter at Weird Darkness.com |
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