Kelly Gowe gets a voicemail from a federal agent: “I’m calling in regards to your mother, Laura Kowal, who may have been involved in a fraud scam.” She calls her mom. Laura answers. She is alive. But her voice doesn’t sound right. Scattered. Distant. Like she’s already inside something she doesn’t want to explain.

Then Laura disappears.

What started as online dating becomes something darker: a romance-scam persona, a fake “investment” opportunity, and a slow shift from affection… to instructions… to control. We follow the breadcrumbs—messages, accounts, and a widening trail of movement that takes investigators far from home—leaving Kelly with a timeline full of gaps and a conclusion that doesn’t feel like an answer.

The official conclusion raises new questions… and Kelly believes the truth is darker.

Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.

Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

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Follow LURKERS:

Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast

TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast

YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast

Website: www.thelurkerspodcast.com

She was 19. He was charming from a distance.

Ashley Wadsworth meets Jack Sepple online, and what starts as attention quickly becomes a relationship built on messages, calls, and promises that feel bigger when you’re young and hopeful. Before long, Ashley leaves Vernon, British Columbia, and moves to Chelmsford, England. Into his orbit, into his control.

But the real story isn’t just “a bad boyfriend.” It’s how fast isolation can happen when love is long-distance… and how quickly the warning signs escalate when the relationship becomes real life.

This episode follows the timeline as Ashley’s world narrows—friends growing worried, family kept at a distance, and the tension behind closed doors turning into something she can’t talk her way out of. And it ends with the moment everyone around her feared: when the person she trusted most became the danger.

Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.

Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

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Follow LURKERS:

Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast

TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast

YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast

The call comes out of nowhere.

Your teenage daughter is sobbing, gasping for air, and begging for you. It sounds surgically real. The same breaks in the voice. The same breath between words. The same panic.

And then a man gets on the line.

He says she’s been taken. He says you have minutes. He tells you not to hang up and tells you exactly where to go, what to do, and how fast to move. In the car, your GPS is already pointing toward a bank in your city.

But there’s one problem.

The voice sounds real. But the kidnapping isn’t.

In this episode, we reconstruct how an AI voice scam hijacks a parent’s nervous system, how the pressure is built, how the instructions are delivered, and how fear becomes a weapon. We break down the red flags, what investigators say to do in the first critical seconds, and the simple safeguards families can set before a call like this ever hits their phones.

Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.

Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

—

Follow LURKERS:

Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast

TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast

YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast

Website: www.thelurkerspodcast.com