Hey guys, it's Pablo. We are still in 2021. It is Thursday, December 30th, and we're here continuing our week of best ofs, our favorite episodes from this calendar year. And today's was originally recorded in October. And it is a wild ride. If you like mysteries, if you like coming of age stories, I think you love this one.

Hope you enjoy.

Ryan Hocketsmith, where does this story begin?

It begins in Michigan with a man named David Olson.

He had a off day this summer, and so he thought, you know, I've been meaned to

yank out these back steps of mine that are crumbling and falling apart. So I'll do it on my off day.

He works as a machinist, so he's a pretty handy guy, Went and bought a sledgehammer and one July morning, he just went out back, started the process of demolishing the steps himself.

There's like three steps coming off the side of the back of his house.

I would say that the size of the entire area is like if you took

an old phone booth and tipped it over on its side, it's not huge, but it was a full day's work.

But before he even started swinging the sledgehammer, though, it was crumbling enough that

he thought, well, I'll just start yanking some of this off with my hands. And he yanked the

first cement block off the side.

And the first thing that surprised him was that it wasn't dirt behind the cement block.

It was sand.

So sand comes pouring out.

And as the sand pours past him, he kind of peeks underneath the steps and he could not believe

what he saw.

There were three bowling balls staring at him, half covered in the sand.

And he took a step back and was just like, whoa, wait a second.

No way.

What happens then? Well, he just goes back to work and he just keeps digging and digging and

...