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Wondery's shocking true crime podcast,

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Over My Dead Body, is back for its fourth

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season, Gone Hunting, with a twisted

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story about a relationship built on a dark

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secret and what happens when that secret

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begins to destroy everything. It

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was Mike Williams' sixth wedding anniversary

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when he set off on a hunting trip into the gator-infested

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swamps of North Florida. He figured he'd

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be back in time to take his wife Denise out to

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celebrate, but he never came back. His

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friends and loved ones feared he met his fate

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through bad luck and a group of hungry alligators,

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leaving his wife Denise and their young daughter

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behind. Except, that's not what

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happened at all, and only one person,

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his mother, wanted to keep the case

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alive. She knew the real answer to Mike's

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disappearance had to be much closer to home.

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After 17 years, a kidnapping,

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a betrayal, and finally the discovery

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of her son's body, she would be

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right. I'm about to play a clip from Over

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My Dead Body, Gone Hunting. Enjoy

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Over My Dead Body on the Wondery app

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or wherever you get your podcasts.

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You can binge all episodes of

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Over My Dead Body right now, ad-free

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on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus

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in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts

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today.

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It was a freezing December morning

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in North Florida. It was

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a bleak duck hunting season, but no

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one was hunting that day on the west

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corner of Lake Seminole. The

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mist that shrouded the normally serene

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shoreline was lifting as a

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crowd of game wardens, sheriff's deputies,

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and locals gathered near a boat ramp. A

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sense of urgency hung heavy

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in the air. More boats were showing up.

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More officers were showing up. Scott

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Dungy stood at the lake's edge

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looking out into the murky waters. Then

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he spotted a helicopter

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clear the tree line. So

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it landed 100 yards away from where everybody

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was gathered on the side of the lake. The rotor

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blades slowed to a standstill. The

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door swung open and a man in a green

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flight suit stepped out. The pilot came

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over and introduced himself. I just

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told the pilot, I'm going in the helicopter with

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you.

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Scott wasn't a policeman or an

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emergency worker. He was out there

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looking for his friend. Mike

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hadn't come home yet from duck hunt. It

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had been over 24 hours since anyone

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had heard from Mike. Something was definitely

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wrong. And in these freezing

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temperatures, Scott knew they had to

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act fast. I was kind

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of excited that we're in the helicopter,

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we're going to find them and everything's

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going to be fine. I'm going to be the one

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to find my buddy. I'm going to

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be a hero. The

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chopper lifted up into the pale blue

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sky and Lake Seminole stretched

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out below. Search boats

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zigzagged between patches of thick weeds

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covering the surface. Scott

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had spent his life in North Florida swamps

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just like this, hunting ducks

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and pulling fish out of the water. But

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this corner of the lake was

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different. It was an old flooded

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pecan orchard that was probably 600 yards

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long and maybe 200 yards wide.

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Stumps of sunken trees rose up from the

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water like tombstones. And

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just as many trees that were standing

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above the water, there was just that

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many stumps underneath the water, hundreds

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of tree stumps that you can't see from the boat.

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And they were slowing down the search.

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We had people falling out of the boats just

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because they'd hit a stomp and you didn't know it was there. And

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that gave Scott a hunch about what had happened to his

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friend Mike. I said, okay, if he's

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gone out and he fell overboard,

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you know, the water's super

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cold now, the weather's cold. It didn't

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look good.

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Walking

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out over the lake, Scott spotted

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an island. It was nothing more

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than a patch of mud covered in gray, dead

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grass. Maybe that's where Mike

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was.

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was. You know, hopefully

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he got his waders off and he was able to swim

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to the other side and maybe had a concussion

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and was knocked out somewhere on their island.

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Scott told the pilot to hover above it.

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It was overgrown so it was hard to see. Couldn't

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see much. Then Scott spotted

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something. Not far from the

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island there was something moving just

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beneath the

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surface of the water. The water

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was very clear because it was in the winter so

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you'd see the full body. A dark

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shadow. And there were six

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or eight of them, you know, just swimming

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all around the boats. Eight,

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ten, twelve foot alligators. The people

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in the boat had no idea that there was a gator even remotely

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close to them.

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That's when he realized. I

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thought okay if he did fall

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out somewhere. Time was running out. We

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got to get him before the alligators get him. As

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the helicopter turned back, Scott

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looked at the dark waters below him. He

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knew it was going to take more than a helicopter

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ride to find his buddy.

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But what Scott

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didn't know as the chopper landed

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that freezing floor today, there

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were other unseen forces at hand.

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Other figures in the shadows lurking close

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by who did know where Mike

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was.

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And

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they were more vicious than any

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alligator.

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You can binge all episodes of Over

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My Dead Body, Gone Hunting Early,

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and add free on Wondery Plus. Get

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started with your free trial at Wondery.com

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slash

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plus.