Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 346.
On a cold winter night in 1999, a man drove down a dark street towards his house in a small Iowa town. Suddenly, he saw something glowing in his headlights, and he slammed on the brakes. He got out of his car. And there, in the lights, he saw a dog standing all by herself. And she was making this soft squeaking sound like she was scared. The man slowly approached, talking to the dog as he walked. He knew everyone who lived in his neighborhood, and he’d never seen this dog before. He knelt down and kept trying to calm the dog. She didn’t look hurt and she didn’t have any tags. Slowly, the man coaxed her to follow him into his house. And over the next few weeks, he would try to locate her owner. But the man had no idea that this dog hadn’t just wandered off… and that she was the key police desperately needed to solve a gruesome murder.
