{"podcast":{"title":"Crooked Tree: A West Memphis 3 Podcast","slug":"crooked-tree-a-west-memphis-3-podcast-7844947","podcast_index_feed_id":7844947,"rss_url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting/IrKJTEIs.rss","website_url":"https://x.com/CrookedTreePod?s=20","image_url":"https://hosting-media.riverside.com/media/podcasts/36cd24e0-6713-4048-af5f-e27cdd9cc588/logos/34a09a4c-2739-4603-9cf5-336ff84d4f8d.jpeg","author":"Paul Day and Kristin Rich","episode_count":20,"summary":"Welcome to this long-form podcast series on one of the most controversial and heavily debated true crime cases in American history: the West Memphis Three. In this series, Paul Day — victim advocate, evidence researcher, and longtime friend of the Byers family — teams up with Kristin Rich, a criminologist and victim advocate who has immersed herself in the case for years. Together, they embark on an in-depth journey that tells the story from the victims’ perspective. Focusing on the three eight-year-old boys — Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch — whose lives were tragically cut short on May 5, 1993, in West Memphis, Arkansas, Paul and Kristin draw on their extensive research, personal connections to the families, and deep knowledge of the victims’ personalities, family dynamics, and the West Memphis community. This series delivers fresh perspectives, previously undiscussed details, and thoughtful analysis that challenges surface-level narratives. Expect detailed timelines, evidence discussions, family insights, and open conversation as the hosts carefully unpack what happened that spring afternoon in 1993 — and why things were not as they first appeared. Whether y…","last_synced_at":"2026-09-09T02:17:33.235330+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/crooked-tree-a-west-memphis-3-podcast-7844947"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 4: A Shoe in the Unnamed Creek","slug":"episode-4-a-shoe-in-the-unnamed-creek","published_at":"2026-05-26T22:05:39+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/crooked-tree-a-west-memphis-3-podcast-7844947/episode-4-a-shoe-in-the-unnamed-creek","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/crooked-tree-a-west-memphis-3-podcast-7844947","url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/2c4aeb38d1cfd3722811880d1ceed578c5fed5db6abfb7cd46014eef43001944/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJhMWQ5NmJhNy0xNTlmLTRkMjItYWRjYS01ZmFiZTg1YjNkZWQiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiIzNmNkMjRlMC02NzEzLTQwNDgtYWY1Zi1lMjdjZGQ5Y2M1ODgiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTJjZjcyNGNkZmZkMjBmNjI3OGUyYzQiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmExNjE5MzM1ZjE4NDBjZGMzODBmYzc2L3BhdWxzLXN0dWRpby1XcXFWcS1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTUtMjdfXzAtNS0zOS5tcDMifQ==.mp3","audio_url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/2c4aeb38d1cfd3722811880d1ceed578c5fed5db6abfb7cd46014eef43001944/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJhMWQ5NmJhNy0xNTlmLTRkMjItYWRjYS01ZmFiZTg1YjNkZWQiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiIzNmNkMjRlMC02NzEzLTQwNDgtYWY1Zi1lMjdjZGQ5Y2M1ODgiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTJjZjcyNGNkZmZkMjBmNjI3OGUyYzQiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmExNjE5MzM1ZjE4NDBjZGMzODBmYzc2L3BhdWxzLXN0dWRpby1XcXFWcS1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTUtMjdfXzAtNS0zOS5tcDMifQ==.mp3","summary":"On the morning of May 6, 1993, exhausted and terrified parents in West Memphis, Arkansas, resume their desperate search for three missing eight-year-old boys—Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch—who vanished the evening before. With no meaningful help from law enforcement overnight, the families, joined by friends and community members, scour the bayous, woods, and bridges near Robin Hood Hills by first light. As frustration mounts, Mark Byers pushes hard—alerting Search and Rescue, calling the media, and demanding action. Meanwhile, the West Memphis Police Department finally mobilizes, saturating Robin Hood Hills, the Blue Beacon woods, the 10-Mile Bayou, and surrounding areas. A helicopter thumps overhead, a search and rescue boat glides down the bayou, and volunteers on foot, bikes, and three-wheelers comb the terrain. Parents stand vigil at the pipe bridge, haunted by questions of how the boys could have crossed with their bikes—and whether the dark stains in the water are oil… or something far worse. Then, as the search stretches into the afternoon, juvenile officer Steve Jones makes a chilling discovery while walking a remote gully: a small white shoe floating in an unnamed creek. Nearby, more shoes and a Cub Scout cap drift in the murky water. What began as a frantic hunt for missing children takes a devastating turn. In this episode, we follow every tense step of that pivotal day—the community’s overwhelming response, the parents’ raw fear, and the moment that shifted the search from rescue to something much darker. The discovery in the creek changes everything.","meta_description":"On the morning of May 6, 1993, exhausted and terrified parents in West Memphis, Arkansas, resume their desperate search for three missing eight-year-old b…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1950,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/crooked-tree-a-west-memphis-3-podcast-7844947/episodes/episode-4-a-shoe-in-the-unnamed-creek/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/crooked-tree-a-west-memphis-3-podcast-7844947/episode-4-a-shoe-in-the-unnamed-creek.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}