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Episode: S22 E8: We Got Her!

Author: Broken Cycle Media | Wondery
Duration: 00:40:43

Episode Shownotes

*Content Warning: false reporting, sexual assault, rape, sex trafficking, fraud, suicidal ideation, scams, disability abuse, false reporting, harassment, financial abuse, suicidal ideation. Sources: MyCase Indiana: https://public.courts.in.gov/Elwood woman faces multiple felonies in connection with ongoing rental scheme, by Logan Gay, WTHR.com staff, WTHR News: https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/elwood-woman-arrested-for-ongoing-rental-scheme-megan-stoner-fishers-indiana/531-2d3b11fa-5c70-4f05-8ea4-0be0c37cf852 Fishers woman charged in rental fraud;

3 scammed in signing lease for same Home by: Izzy Karpinski, Fox59: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/fishers-woman-charged-in-rental-fraud-3-scammed-in-signing-lease-for-same-home/ Hamilton County Inmate Records - Stoner, Megan Elizabeth: https://secure2.hamiltoncounty.in.gov/inmates2/Jail/Inmate/Detail/-1282383 Protect the community from ongoing criminal activity by revoking the bond of Megan Stoner, Change.Org Petition: https://www.change.org/p/protect-the-community-from-ongoing-criminal-activity-by-revoking-the-bond-of-megan-stoner Justin Sexton on X: @JustinSextonIN https://x.com/JustinSextonIN Megan Stoner Chronicles, X @ChroniclesMegan: https://x.com/ChroniclesMegan Chloe Anagnos on X: @ChloeAnagnos https://x.com/ChloeAnagnos/status/1651260809362784261 Don't Waste This F*cking Podcast: The Story of Megan Stoner, by Amanda Peterson, Excelsior Studios: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-waste-this-f-cking-podcast-the-story-of-megan-stoner/id1757463535 Resources:Free + Confidential Resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources Theme Song & Artwork: Thank you to NeonHoney and GIBBANEZ for covering our theme song, Glad Rags’s original song U Think U this season. NeonHoney’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/neonhoneymusic/ NeonHoney’s Website: https://neonhoneymusic.comGibbanez IG: https://www.instagram.com/@gibbanezmusic/ Gibbanez Linktree: https://linktr.ee/gibbanezmusicGlad Rags: https://www.gladragsmusic.com/ The S22 cover art is by the Amazing Sara StewartFollow Something Was Wrong:Website: somethingwaswrong.com IG: instagram.com/somethingwaswrongpodcastTikTok: tiktok.com/@somethingwaswrongpodcast Follow Tiffany Reese:Website: tiffanyreese.me IG: instagram.com/lookieboo See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_03
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00:02:03 Speaker_03
This podcast is intended for mature audiences and discusses topics that may be upsetting. For a full content warning, sources, and resources, please visit the episode notes.

00:02:15 Speaker_03
Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of myself, Broken Cycle Media, or Wondery.

00:02:23 Speaker_03
The podcast and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal or medical advice. Megan Stoner's responses to these allegations are addressed within this season. I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is Something Was Wrong.

00:02:46 Speaker_15
I'll make you down.

00:03:28 Speaker_03
Last episode, we heard from Indianapolis community member Alyssa, who acted as a journalist wanting to buy Stoner's life rights in hopes of gaining her trust to ultimately get her arrested.

00:03:40 Speaker_03
On August 12th, 2023, Stoner agreed to meet fake journalist Alyssa and her fake sister Vero, who is actually the founder of the Megan Stoner Scam Awareness Facebook group.

00:03:51 Speaker_03
Vero called the cops while Alyssa kept Stoner busy, pretending to be waiting on Vero to bring her cash. The police arrived and the community members finally thought Stoner had been arrested on her pending warrant.

00:04:05 Speaker_03
But because at the time the warrant was a bench warrant and not an arrest warrant, and they were in a different county, the police let Megan Stoner go.

00:04:14 Speaker_03
Then, after Stoner failed to attend multiple court hearings the following week, an additional arrest warrant was issued. Stoner continued laying low, renting Airbnbs with what was assumed to be the money of her alleged scam victims.

00:04:29 Speaker_03
As their frustration and the fear of what Stoner could be capable of next continued to grow, and they continued to learn of more vulnerable populations being impacted by Stoner's alleged crimes and cons, members of the Facebook scam awareness group continued to brainstorm how they could find out where Stoner was hiding to have her arrested.

00:04:50 Speaker_03
After the fake journalist sting, Justin and Amanda, who knew Megan through the young Republican's political scene, who you heard from last episode, began devising a plan of their own to catch Stoner.

00:05:02 Speaker_03
Justin and Amanda believed that Stoner would do just about anything to receive her beloved yoni massages. As a reminder, a yoni massage is, by definition, an erotic or sensual massage that is a tantric practice.

00:05:16 Speaker_03
It aims to create an intimate connection with one's body. A yoni massage is primarily focused on massaging the clitoris, labia, g-spot, breasts, and anus, and many other erogenous zones.

00:05:29 Speaker_03
While there are many people who believe that yoni massages can have all sorts of health benefits, at the end of the day, there's no scientific research to support this.

00:05:38 Speaker_03
Also, from a legality standpoint, erotic massages given by another in exchange for money is illegal in every state but Nevada. Megan started posting about these yoni massages from a guy named Haribo, real name Harry Friedman. He lives in New Jersey.

00:05:54 Speaker_03
Later, it would be alleged by Megan herself that she had spent over $17,000 with Haribo for these yoni massages.

00:06:03 Speaker_03
I'm told that when Haribo started to learn more about the allegations against Megan online and was more focused on his upcoming wedding and honeymoon, Stoner started speaking to a new Yoni practitioner named Leo from California.

00:06:18 Speaker_03
Stoner connected with Leo because Haribo was out of town for his honeymoon the summer of 2023. According to Stoner, she never actually met up in person with Leo.

00:06:28 Speaker_03
Between Stoner's avid social media posts, spending allegedly thousands of dollars on her yoni massages, and seeking out multiple practitioners, it was clear to Amanda and Justin the lengths she was willing to go in order to receive these massages.

00:06:44 Speaker_03
So with Amanda's graphic design background and Justin's deep knowledge of all things Megan Stoner, they created a fake Yoni practice called True Renewal Bloomington and connected with Stoner on Instagram through its fake account.

00:06:58 Speaker_03
Stoner took the bait. She accepted and DM'd the account asking for an appointment. From that point on, Justin took care of messaging Stoner, pretending to be a Yoni practitioner named Xavier St. Clair. Here's Justin.

00:07:15 Speaker_02
Amanda made all the branding and stuff for the business, but she was like, you know, Megan, you've watched her closer than I have. You've talked to her a few times in person. You go ahead and you take the lead on messaging her.

00:07:30 Speaker_02
And so I messaged with her a few times and she was very instantly rude with me, like very demanding. She wanted us to message through a specific app. I think it was Telegram. We were chatting through Instagram DMs.

00:07:43 Speaker_02
She very quickly was like, I feel like my boundaries aren't being respected because I've asked you to move to this other platform, and you won't do it. My character is like, well, Megan, I'm not familiar with this app.

00:07:55 Speaker_02
Give me a couple days to feel comfortable with it, and then I would be happy to try to meet you where you're at. But she's very difficult to deal with in that professional setting.

00:08:05 Speaker_03
Here's Amanda, who you met last episode. She's a friend of Justin's who originally connected with Stoner through mutual friends online.

00:08:14 Speaker_09
Megan would have recognized Justin's voice. So our friend logged into the account and did a call with her for like 10 minutes.

00:08:22 Speaker_10
Hello?

00:08:24 Speaker_08
Hi.

00:08:24 Speaker_10
Hey, is this Megan?

00:08:26 Speaker_08
It is. Good to connect. Thank you.

00:08:28 Speaker_10
Hey, Megan, this is Xavier. I'm so glad that we get connected.

00:08:30 Speaker_08
Yeah. How has your night been? Pretty good. Thank you for making time.

00:08:36 Speaker_10
Oh, yeah, of course. Sorry. I probably only have maybe five to ten minutes. It's been exhausting with the research work this week, and I definitely need to go to bed sometime soon.

00:08:46 Speaker_10
But I wanted to make it a priority to connect with you and kind of just get to know you. So tell me more about yourself. And I know we've talked a little bit on Instagram. I would just like to know more about you.

00:08:56 Speaker_08
Yeah, so I live in Indy. And I have been with a couple of different practitioners that do this work. And unfortunately, as you know, no one here does it. And so I've had to deal with flying them in or flying out to them.

00:09:12 Speaker_08
And it's been really, I feel like that part has been really hard. And I don't know, it's hard. It's been really hard having an out-of-state coach. There's something about the connection of this work.

00:09:26 Speaker_08
And I don't know for you, but there definitely is a lot of power to the in-person work, you know?

00:09:34 Speaker_10
Yeah. You know, one thing that, you know, stuck out to me too is I'm, I'm, you know, more surprised that there's people in Indy that, you know, are looking for this work and are aware of it too.

00:09:42 Speaker_10
You know, most people that I'm familiar with are on the coast. There's not too many people kind of in the heartland that are interested in this.

00:09:48 Speaker_10
So I was glad that when you messaged me and figure out that there are people that are interested in this sacred space too.

00:09:55 Speaker_08
Yeah. Have you had a lot of people reach out?

00:09:57 Speaker_10
Not, not really. I mean, maybe, maybe two. And so I was really thankful to see that you reached out just to, you know, see if we could explore, you know, this together. And, you know, I was really just surprised it happened kind of so quick as well.

00:10:12 Speaker_10
You know, it's really exciting to be see somebody that cares about this, you know, as much as I am, you know, believes in the healing that can result from it too.

00:10:20 Speaker_08
Oh, without a doubt. I am definitely a big, big, big, big, big fan of this work, if you can't tell. First, when I first did it in February of this year, I thought it was a little, I was like, oh, this sounds a little woo-woo.

00:10:35 Speaker_08
Like, I don't think this is going to work. But you know what? I was open-minded. I tried it, and I was like, holy fuck. This stuff moves mountains quicker than anything I've ever done in my healing journey.

00:10:46 Speaker_08
My first relationship in this work, my first practitioner could not hold the complex trauma that I bring and so our work ended abruptly.

00:10:57 Speaker_08
We were in a three-month container and then it ended up we had continued on for about two or three more weeks and it ended up abruptly and it was just he couldn't hold me and that was fine and he was great at what he does but you know like you said this work can really take a toll on someone and I've been doing some coaching virtual work with

00:11:19 Speaker_10
someone now from LA and you know, he only takes on two to three clients at a time because This work can really take a toll on a practitioner So I'm glad you recognize that because you know some clients I think that that's a challenge that I've seen in just in this field and something that I've heard from other practitioners as well as about a fear that they have you know when working with new clients because it takes a you know while to build up the trust and report as well and

00:11:45 Speaker_08
Yeah. Um, and so I was really excited because like I said, there's something about the in-person aspect of this work and it's, it's really hard to coordinate when you're dealing with someone that's out of state that also has a schedule.

00:11:59 Speaker_08
It's just, it's really hard. And, um, I can't travel to the East coast. Um, we, we went out, uh, my significant other and I, my partner, we went out, um, over Memorial day weekends. Um, but it's also something we can do regularly.

00:12:14 Speaker_08
And so, and obviously we can't go to California regularly. Um, so it's just, it's really hard. Um, to not have that in person aspect of my work.

00:12:23 Speaker_10
I mean, that's such, you know, I think that's a systemic problem that we have is that, you know, people that need this care can't get it.

00:12:30 Speaker_10
It's a luxury for a lot of people when it needs to be, you know, basic need and be treated as like a lot of health care. And that's probably way forward looking in the future.

00:12:39 Speaker_10
But hopefully we can get to a point where people see it as needed health care, not kind of this

00:12:43 Speaker_10
you know, weird manifestation, because I think it is some of the most powerful work that I've seen, especially in the field of trauma, healing and, you know, sacred spaces.

00:12:56 Speaker_08
Oh, without a doubt. Yeah.

00:12:58 Speaker_10
So I'm getting close to probably when I need to get ready for bed tonight. But, you know, maybe we can continue this. I don't know if you'd be interested in meeting, you know, in, you know, Bloomington or I could come over to Indy.

00:13:12 Speaker_10
you know, whatever works best, but I think that may be the next step and we can connect in person if that's something that maybe interests you or you know, the phone call, let me know, but I think that might be the next step for us.

00:13:22 Speaker_08
Okay. All right. Let me know when you can come up to Indy and I will be glad to meet you.

00:13:26 Speaker_10
Okay. Fantastic. Wait, I really enjoy this Megan. And I know we'll probably talk on Instagram well before then.

00:13:31 Speaker_08
So, okay. All right. Thanks. Have a good night.

00:13:33 Speaker_10
Take care. Yeah. Bye bye.

00:13:35 Speaker_08
Thanks.

00:13:38 Speaker_02
Once we started messaging, it didn't take long for her to just start trauma dumping in a way that you would not believe.

00:13:46 Speaker_02
I'm talking 30 to 40 messages to every reply she would get, and the thing that stands out to me the most now is it was immediately back to the same lies she had told. She starts alluding to Brian Bosman. I don't think we got to her using that name, but

00:14:02 Speaker_02
The same story was starting to be told. She started telling me about how Haribo, her previous practitioner, had assaulted her. The same story that she had threatened to accuse him of. Again, she doesn't know she's talking to Justin here.

00:14:16 Speaker_02
I've already heard all these stories. Outwardly, she's presenting as though she's trying to turn her life around. But then to someone new she's latched onto on the internet, she went immediately back to all her old lives.

00:14:29 Speaker_02
We play along for about two weeks. This goes back and forth, messaging. It was really taking a toll on me to just sit and have conversations about sexual assaults that didn't happen all day.

00:14:42 Speaker_02
I sort of reached a point where I was like, listen, we either need to get her to agree to meet up somewhere and try this, or we need to punt the football and I can't talk to her for a few weeks. I can't do this.

00:14:55 Speaker_09
Then he reaches out on Telegram. At this point, we have not talked to her about her legal troubles. We've never mentioned that to her. She just starts bringing up and she's just like trauma dumping. She's like, so how will this work?

00:15:07 Speaker_09
And he's like, well, I send you a workbook and then you fill out the workbook. We can meet. We can get a hotel room. And she's like, well, I was raped and trafficked in a hotel, so I don't want to do it in a hotel. And he was like, OK.

00:15:20 Speaker_09
And then she's like, and don't you think it just feels like a one night stand? Like, what are you talking about? She was just bombarding him with text after text after text.

00:15:31 Speaker_09
She made up this weird thing with Haribo and his now wife being like, Haribo's wife tried to make me kill myself, the most bizarre thing. And like, what's so uncanny about it is Justin was texting her, but he was consulting me for a lot of it.

00:15:45 Speaker_09
The whole time, all of it that she's saying is lies. When she finally tells about the legal troubles, it's like, well, they say I left him homeless, but I don't really care. That's their problem. So flippant, no remorse.

00:15:58 Speaker_09
She got really close a couple times to being like, okay, I want to meet up. Actually, no, I don't want to meet up. And Justin finally was like, I've made it a priority that I must start taking clients by the fall equinox.

00:16:12 Speaker_09
If you don't want to do this, fine, but I'm only able to take on a few clients at a time. I'm going to take on some other clients if you won't get back to us." So we're messaging her on the Instagram.

00:16:22 Speaker_09
She's very enthusiastic to the point where I'm like, Justin, this weekend, she's going to want to meet up. We didn't know what a meetup would look like because Justin and I are not the most sex positive people in the world. We did no research.

00:16:35 Speaker_09
I think he had listened to the Haribo call and that's the only reason he knew how to talk to her in the in the way that one of these practitioners would talk. But she's so overeager just texting him non-stop on the Instagram.

00:16:48 Speaker_09
He had a dog show or something that weekend and I don't live in Indiana and we were thinking like they would have to meet up in person and so we'd have to have somebody who could be sitting in a coffee shop

00:16:59 Speaker_09
who could call the police when she got there. We're thinking she wants to do it now. So we were like, we need to loop someone in on this to get help. So we knew Alex would be more open to us telling her this. So we text Alex.

00:17:15 Speaker_09
We're like, we are very ashamed of something, but we have something to tell you. She was laughing. She's like, this is hilarious. She's an Oregon liberal. And she's like, okay, the two young conservatives have come up with this.

00:17:27 Speaker_09
She knew how like out of character it was for us. We knew that she was one of the admins, but we didn't know she was in this other group of people who were like trying to get Megan.

00:17:35 Speaker_09
We were telling her, like, what do you think we should do if Justin's out of town and Megan wants to meet up this weekend? And she's like, I can loop you in with some of these guys and we can figure it out.

00:17:44 Speaker_09
So she made a Facebook chat with Kyle, Mike, herself, me and Justin.

00:17:52 Speaker_04
I was at work and I get a text message from Justin and Amanda in a group chat.

00:17:57 Speaker_03
That's Alex, whom we heard from in episode three. She met Stoner in the Facebook group called the Spice Girls back in 2017. After learning of Stoner's crimes years later, Alex joined the Scam Awareness Facebook group.

00:18:10 Speaker_03
She later became an admin to the group and got more involved with the efforts to hold Stoner accountable. You'll hear Amanda, Justin and Alex mentioning Mike, Kyle, Chloe and Alyssa, some of whom you've already heard from this season.

00:18:24 Speaker_03
These local politicos and community members were involved in the efforts towards accountability as well.

00:18:29 Speaker_04
And they said, Alex, we have to tell you something, we've done something really bad. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, okay, there's a scale of bad for me. And there's a scale of bad for them. What version of I gonna get?

00:18:45 Speaker_04
I was like, okay, what's going on? And Amanda's texting me. She's like, I'm so embarrassed. I cannot believe I've done this. And I'm like, girl, it's okay. Tell me what's going on. I'm not a judgmental person. You know this.

00:18:58 Speaker_04
And they said we created a fake Yoni account. And Megan has messaged us. I needed to get up from my desk and go into a conference room to bust out laughing. I mean, that was the funniest, most out of left field thing I'd ever heard in my life.

00:19:15 Speaker_04
I know their hearts and I know their values. Amanda is not somebody who would like even talk about relationships or dating. Hearing the fact that she was involved in that is hilarious.

00:19:25 Speaker_04
And that Justin was driving that conversation was somehow even funnier. And they said, we just needed to tell somebody. And I was like, of course, if there's anything I can do to support you, I'm here.

00:19:36 Speaker_04
If we need to bring other people into the conversation, let's do it. I was given the green light to discuss with Kyle and Mike. They thought it was hilarious and they were like, okay, this is a great opportunity to get her.

00:19:48 Speaker_04
And then we all had a group chat together. We added Alyssa in as well because she had had that experience, that first attempt to try to get Megan. So she was able to share a lot more perspective of this is what worked and this is what didn't.

00:20:03 Speaker_03
Here's Alyssa, who posed as a journalist in the previous Sting operation that we heard from last episode. Alyssa was brought into the Yoni Sting as well to offer her perspective.

00:20:14 Speaker_07
Justin would send messages to the other people in the chat. We were like, oh my God, how do I respond to this? She was like, this is what I've had in the past. This is what I'm looking for. You offer this. How do you feel about situations like this?

00:20:26 Speaker_07
And she was like asking pretty deep questions. And they did such a wonderful job at responding. From my perspective, it was just a lot of back and forth, strange questions, strange answers.

00:20:37 Speaker_07
We're all really cringing at the conversation and where it went. There are times where conversations were uncomfortable, but he did such a good job of staying in character, dealing with these hard conversations.

00:20:50 Speaker_07
I'm not even sure that the other people in our specific group chat really knew what was going on, but I was told on the side about what was happening, and I was like, this is brilliant. I love this.

00:21:01 Speaker_07
I want to say it was maybe a week or two that this went on, and then she finally agreed, like, let's schedule our first appointment. And they're like, okay, great. Do you want to come to us? Do you want us to come to you?

00:21:12 Speaker_07
And she's like, well, you can come to me. And at the time she's like renting a room in a house that has multiple rooms being rented out in an Airbnb.

00:21:23 Speaker_02
Here's Justin. Our excuse was actually the Fall Equinox, because I was like, what's something that a Yoni would be into? So the Fall Equinox was coming up.

00:21:31 Speaker_02
And so I said, Megan, I have a long list of potential clients that are wanting to do consultations and sign the paperwork and move forward with the process. And I promised myself I would have this business up and going after the Fall Equinox.

00:21:44 Speaker_02
It's coming up. I kind of need a decision if you want to meet up for a consultation or not. And she immediately was like, OK, I'm ready, and just gives me an address.

00:21:54 Speaker_02
I was very skeptical that this was a real place that she was at or like, is this a setup? But I ran it online and I think it was like a red fin hosting of the house that the address was.

00:22:06 Speaker_02
And she had sent me a picture to the fake Yoni of her like having breakfast in the morning. And in the background, you can see the tiles of the bathroom. And when I found the red fin for the address, it was the same bathroom.

00:22:19 Speaker_02
So I knew this is the place she was hiding. This was late at night and we agreed to meet in the evening of the next day. You never know what Megan's planning or what she's plotting.

00:22:29 Speaker_02
She's probably listening to like a police scanner right now, like to see, does anything happen after I put this address out into the world? I haven't told anyone where I'm at. Here's Amanda.

00:22:40 Speaker_09
Justin and I were very, very clear about like, we will not accept any payment upfront because we didn't want her to go try and scam someone else. I think that that's where we could have gotten into legal trouble.

00:22:52 Speaker_09
If we had gotten payment, we were like, we will not discuss payment with you until we've met and we are a good connection, whatever. We didn't want to call 9-1-1 because we believed that Megan listened to the police scanner.

00:23:04 Speaker_09
So if we called 9-1-1 to report her, she would have known to run. So we sat on the address all night. The next morning, Justin's working. I think Kyle, Chloe and Mike were at a YR convention and Alex was at a convention in Oregon.

00:23:19 Speaker_09
So then they invited Alyssa to the group. And Alyssa is the one who ended up calling the non-emergency line. But she called me during it. It was like a three-way call, but they didn't know that I was on the call. Alyssa was so well prepared.

00:23:34 Speaker_09
I mean, she had everything down. She knew that it was an Airbnb, but there was a back entrance. So she's like, I think that she could get out of the back entrance. I'm worried that if you go knock on the door, she won't come.

00:23:44 Speaker_09
Before she hung up, she said, would it be OK if you called me back to tell me that you got her if you get her? They were like, yeah. It was like the longest half hour of my life.

00:23:55 Speaker_03
Here's Alyssa again.

00:23:57 Speaker_07
I was like, I'm going to go ahead and make the call. I wrote everything down. And what's really funny is that I'm looking at it right now. All the information I needed. I first looked up the owner of the Airbnb, found him, found his contact information.

00:24:12 Speaker_07
I let them know how long she had been there, what her name was, physical description, address of the Airbnb, owner of the Airbnb, the phone number I found for the owner, all of this. So I write it all down on a piece of paper.

00:24:24 Speaker_07
I'm like, all right, I'm going upstairs. Let's make this call. Amanda, do you want me to, like, three-way you in?" She's messaging me on the other side while I'm talking to them in case I forget something.

00:24:33 Speaker_07
I have that piece of paper at my work desk on my corkboard. I've saved it all this time because it was, like, such a fantastic moment for me.

00:24:42 Speaker_07
Because I had told her previously when I tried to get her arrested the first time, and she was like, oh, they let me go. And I'm like, I will do everything I can to, like, get your victims justice.

00:24:56 Speaker_03
This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. For some, wrapping up in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate or watching a movie with family is the best way to spend the month of December.

00:25:05 Speaker_03
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00:26:01 Speaker_16
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00:26:09 Speaker_16
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00:26:36 Speaker_07
So I make the call. I think they told me that they needed to speak to the sheriff's department about this regarding a warrant. Just a couple minutes later, or maybe they transferred the line, and I start speaking to someone at the sheriff's office.

00:26:48 Speaker_07
And I tell them what's going on. I give them the address, name, all the information that they need. And I'm shaking while I'm doing this, because I'm like, this might be the moment that this girl really gets some justice. This is it.

00:27:00 Speaker_07
So I talked to the guy and he's like, we're headed to the address provided. And I was like, sweet, can you call me afterwards? Is that okay? Is that like against protocol? He's like, no, I can give you a call when we're done. And I was like, cool.

00:27:11 Speaker_07
So I messaged both group chats and I'm like, all right, they're on their way. We'll see what happens. She doesn't have to answer the door. That's the whole thing. They can't kick the door down.

00:27:18 Speaker_07
They can't even gain access to the main house, let alone her bedroom that she's renting out if no one answers the door. It's like 40 minutes. I'm like, almost giving up hope. And I'm like, maybe she didn't answer the door.

00:27:31 Speaker_07
Like, it's just another lost cause. I keep looking at my phone and waiting and waiting and waiting. I was in the bathroom or something. And one of my daughters comes running in there with my phone. She's like, mommy, your phone's ringing.

00:27:41 Speaker_07
Your phone's ringing. And it's the sheriff. And so I take the call. And I'm like, hello. And he was like, hi, is this Alyssa? And I said, yes, it is. And he was like, well, I just wanted to let you know that we got her.

00:27:54 Speaker_07
I didn't mean to, but I screamed, fuck yes, so loud. I could hear him laughing in the background. And I'm like, thank you so much for letting me know. She scammed a lot of people. She's done a lot of people wrong.

00:28:07 Speaker_07
And this is going to make a lot of people happy to know that she's going to be finally brought to justice. And he was like, yeah, we talked to the Airbnb owner and he told us that he had already had some issues with her not wanting to pay.

00:28:17 Speaker_07
She'd only been there for a few nights. saying, you know, I can pay you in a couple hours. Can you give me a little bit longer? Can I stay a little bit longer? And he was like, No, you know, you got to pay me. And this has gone on for a couple days.

00:28:26 Speaker_07
So in true Megan fashion, she was already pissing off the Airbnb owner, which is why when the police showed up, the Airbnb owner answered the door and led them to Megan's door. And had he not done that, I don't know that they would have gotten in.

00:28:39 Speaker_07
But luckily, the owner was home at the time. So yeah, that's how all of that happened. That's how I was brought in on the situation because I wasn't directly involved with the Yoni page. But at the end, they were kind enough to let me make that call.

00:28:51 Speaker_07
After that, I was like, I told you. I told you the last time I talked to you on the phone, which was the night that the other cops had let her go, that I wasn't going to stop until she was behind bars. It finally happened.

00:29:03 Speaker_07
We had been trying for, like, four months to get this girl arrested. She's running from the law. She's staying in different Airbnbs every night, like, catch me if you can. And I messaged the group chat, and I'm like, she's in jail.

00:29:15 Speaker_07
And everyone, like, blew up and was like, this is it. This is truly the moment we have been waiting for. And I remember asking in the group chat, I was like, who's going to reach out to Tom and let him know? That was my first thought.

00:29:26 Speaker_07
He's always been in the forefront of my mind when it comes to all of this with Megan. And they were like, why don't you make the call? So I got to pick up my phone and call Tom. I'd never heard him hoop and holler so loud in his life.

00:29:37 Speaker_07
He was truly so excited to know that she was just in jail and not even for crimes that she had committed against him.

00:29:45 Speaker_03
Here's Tom.

00:29:47 Speaker_13
I still can't wrap my head around how Justin and Amanda were able to take her down with someone who didn't even exist. She was so wrapped up in her own way of thinking that she let her security barrier down. And it cost her. It cost her big time.

00:30:11 Speaker_13
I learned in college about how vigilantes were this disorganized, ragtag group of bounty hunters. But with modern technology today, and a few intelligent and hard-thinking individuals. Vigilante justice is a lot easier to come by.

00:30:34 Speaker_02
I was at work at the time and I do a job where I work with my hands. My hands were shaking for the next hour because I was like, this is it.

00:30:41 Speaker_02
If she told this person who she thinks is a healer, all of this stuff, and she finds out it was us trying to get her, she will not trust anyone ever again. It really did feel like a do or die.

00:30:54 Speaker_02
We're either going to get her now or she's never going to get caught. And then the officer called Alyssa back and he was like, yep, they found her. And she messaged me through the Telegram app and said, I believe you've turned me in.

00:31:07 Speaker_02
I've just been arrested. And that's one of the most exciting things that's ever happened to me. I mean, to realize we got her. This is the interesting thing. She could see my cell phone number on Telegram the whole time. And she never looked it up.

00:31:23 Speaker_02
She never ran the number. I didn't think she had my phone number because we had talked that one time over Zoom and all of my messages with her from the past had been on Twitter and Instagram. So I didn't think she had it.

00:31:35 Speaker_02
But if she had Googled it, I'd had that number for 10 years. Like she could have figured out who it was. She called the number from inside the jail and she said, are you even a real practitioner? And I said, no, Megan, this has all been fake.

00:31:48 Speaker_02
And she said, How were you able to fake it so well? The sound of defeat in her voice. And I said, it honestly beats the hell out of me. I don't know how I was able to do it. I've spent a lot of time in 12-step rooms and DBT therapy.

00:32:05 Speaker_02
I've done some work in those spaces. I guess I knew enough kind of yogi speak from some of the people I met through that. that I was able to get by.

00:32:14 Speaker_02
I'm not usually the kind of guy that would have ever done anything like that, but one of the most exciting things in my life.

00:32:22 Speaker_04
Here's Spice Girl Alex again. I had taken my mom to a Lego convention as a delayed Mother's Day present. It was the best day of my life. We went out to breakfast and we were at this Lego event and we were just living our best girly lives.

00:32:39 Speaker_04
The weather was phenomenal. And I found out she was arrested. My mom and I participated in a build your Lego race car and send it down this ramp drag strip. And I think if you won, you got like a sticker or something.

00:32:54 Speaker_04
And I was filming the race and my car was winning to note. So this is how glorious this moment was for me. My car wins and crosses the finish line. I was one sticker richer in my life.

00:33:09 Speaker_04
And right as it crossed the finish line, the notification pops up on the top bar of the screen saying, We got her and we got her officially this time.

00:33:20 Speaker_04
And it was the most incredible moment, second most incredible moment of my life besides marrying my husband. We got her for good this time. We were so relieved that she was in jail at that point.

00:33:34 Speaker_04
There were days where I couldn't fall asleep at night because I was like, she's hurting somebody right now. And I just know it. And there's nothing anybody can do about it.

00:33:41 Speaker_04
I felt very lost because there's a lot of big differences between how we do things in Oregon versus how they do things in Indiana. I'm learning with other people, you know, a whole different civil justice system and how things work there.

00:33:55 Speaker_04
And I felt a huge, huge sense of duty to do right. and to do something about this and also do it correctly.

00:34:05 Speaker_04
So knowing that the world and specifically that community in Indiana was just that much more safer was a huge, huge relief for not only myself, but for everybody else as well.

00:34:29 Speaker_05
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00:34:59 Speaker_11
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00:35:47 Speaker_03
The following is audio from a Twitter space live that Justin and Amanda hosted shortly after Stoner was arrested.

00:35:53 Speaker_02
Ladies and gentlemen, we got her.

00:35:58 Speaker_08
We got her.

00:35:59 Speaker_02
Thank you, everyone, who has been so kind in everything that they've said the last few days. People have said a lot of really nice things about the work that Amanda and I did, and it was not just us.

00:36:12 Speaker_02
We'll get to all that, but it's been very nice, all the nice messages you all have been sending.

00:36:20 Speaker_09
for everyone we've met throughout all of this. I feel like we've come together through kind of a traumatic situation, which is Megan Stoner, but I'm grateful that some good has come with the bad, you know?

00:36:33 Speaker_02
You know, I was talking to somebody last night and they said, like, do you feel like you were a part of a mob, like doing all of this? And I said, I mean, a little bit. Yeah, I do.

00:36:41 Speaker_02
But like, and this goes back to like, she had no one else to call but the fake Yanni guy coming to like meet her who she already probably knew was a fake at that point. That was the only person she had to call besides her mom.

00:36:55 Speaker_02
And I said, you know, like, she had no one, there's no one here tonight who wants to speak on her behalf. We've done four of these now. Nobody's come up and been like, she's a really great person.

00:37:05 Speaker_02
Like, I'd like to think if it was me, like, a couple of you guys would speak up on my behalf if there were this many people. No one is defending her. No one, there's 1,400 people in a Facebook group about her for a reason.

00:37:19 Speaker_02
And this has all been of her own making. So yeah, let's open it up. Who else wants to talk?

00:37:25 Speaker_12
Yeah. So I was just going to say, I mean, I've been part of the Megan Stoner saga since her behaviors really started in 2015, 2016. And, uh, You know, I think nobody that has been part of this has really been seeking attention, you know, right?

00:37:41 Speaker_12
Like we've all been involved in this because of the behaviors Megan exhibited. She brought this on herself.

00:37:49 Speaker_12
And I have a tremendous amount of respect for Justin, Amanda, Alyssa, Alex, everyone that has put so much time and effort into taking her off the streets, because literally every day it was a new scam.

00:38:02 Speaker_12
a new person that was being scammed out of money or scammed out of their house or something else. And so I just want to, again, echo the saying that you guys deserve a medal. And thank you all for your hard work and look forward to the trials.

00:38:19 Speaker_18
Hi, everyone. I hope that was some of the earlier operations. I'm so glad you guys caught her. Thank God. But I wanted to say that for anyone who isn't familiar with this, or is just jumping on the bus now, that this group had 1400 people in it.

00:38:33 Speaker_18
And I've met amazing people in it. And Megan Stoner could have had 1400 friends if she had been anyone but herself. And that's really all on her. This wasn't a hate mob. This wasn't something

00:38:48 Speaker_18
that was anything but people who could have been really good supporters of her and actually really on Team Meg. And just to thank you to all the friends I've made along the way. Totally, totally.

00:39:00 Speaker_09
Thank you to everyone who helped a little bit a ton like, and I just my biggest thing is I'm thankful that that's now we can all get our lives back and this is all over. And we don't have to worry about other victims.

00:39:14 Speaker_14
We finally did it y'all. Oh my God, sorry. Well, it's a very good feeling to be out here. I was the anonymous person who came forward before the last Twitter space.

00:39:34 Speaker_14
I will be very brief in my remarks this evening because this was a team effort, but I again cannot thank all of the people here, Kyle, Mike, Justin, Alyssa, Alex, all of you guys for getting here because Megan and I go back a ways.

00:39:58 Speaker_14
Jesus, she really gaslit me. It was shocking. I mean, I never thought I'd be manipulated to this extent, the way that she did with me. It was manipulative. It was aggressive. You know, my job became collateral because of it as well.

00:40:16 Speaker_14
I mean, I, you know, mentally I was gone and it killed me. Needless to say, she milked me for quite a bit of cash. And, you know, obviously it is really good to know, though, that she cannot do this to anybody anymore. Forget me.

00:40:33 Speaker_14
I mean, there are over 280 some odd people here.

00:40:37 Speaker_14
who have been brought together by her so I mean obviously the rabbit hole goes deep so I don't want to put my case over anybody's but it just um somebody who struggles with disability that's uh you know it was a low blow for her to do and um I guess before I get off the line here I just have one thing uh to leave you all with um for all you uh White Sox fans you know what I mean

00:41:19 Speaker_14
That's what Megan gets. Na, na, na, na. Hey, hey, hey, Stone Soup. So yeah, a big thank you to the entire Megan Stoner Chronicles team for what you guys have done for me and everybody else. We couldn't have recovered without you.

00:41:34 Speaker_14
So just thanks for letting me share my story, whatnot. More details will become available. Netflix, give us a call. But thank you all so much just for everything you guys have done. That's all I got to say.

00:41:51 Speaker_17
on behalf of a lot of us, I want to say to Justin and Amanda, thank you so much for orchestrating this operation. It was clever. Y'all deserve a medal.

00:42:04 Speaker_17
But to paraphrase that old Frank Sinatra victory song, when every time the Yankees play, start spreading the news, we've won today.

00:42:15 Speaker_14
We're leaving today.

00:42:19 Speaker_17
You're going back to Hamco Jail, oh yeah. Jail, sweet jail.

00:42:35 Speaker_09
There's too many people to thank by name, but thank you, thank you, thank you everyone who's been following along, who's been helping with this. I'm just so glad she can't scam anyone anymore.

00:42:43 Speaker_02
Yes, or emotionally drain anyone anymore, which is arguably just as bad. My hope is that I never have to do another one of these again, but it's Megan and we'll see. So thank you everyone. It's been a pleasure, but that's all.

00:43:04 Speaker_09
Have a good one. Bye, everyone.

00:43:09 Speaker_03
Next time on Something Was Wrong.

00:43:11 Speaker_02
I mean, did your daughter actually die?

00:43:17 Speaker_06
Yes. It's a long story, and it has to do with a private adoption.

00:43:22 Speaker_02
A private adoption?

00:43:24 Speaker_06
I don't care that no one... Yeah, my kid was adopted out. Why is everyone saying that your child died? Because I have a child that died. You have a child, Megan? Yes, I did. You gave birth to a child? I did, yes. That's normally how they come about.

00:43:45 Speaker_06
I think you are absolutely delusional at this point. This is the best thing I've heard yet. Do you have any pictures of your baby bump? I don't know. Did I have a wart out of Anderson? Did you have a child out of your vagina?

00:43:57 Speaker_06
Can you have a conversation with me?

00:44:01 Speaker_02
Will I have a conversation with you? No. I've had enough conversations with you. I've had enough conversations where you make up bullshit about having dead kids that don't exist. So, no. I think we're done with that.

00:44:16 Speaker_03
Thank you so much for listening. Something Was Wrong is a Broken Cycle Media production, created and produced by me, Tiffany Reese. Thank you so much to our associate producers, Amy B. Chesler and Lily Rowe.

00:44:29 Speaker_03
Thank you to our audio engineer, Becca High, and our social media marketing manager, Lauren Barkman of Luxury Media. Additional thanks to our partners, Grant at Wondery, Marissa, Travis, and our team at WME,

00:44:43 Speaker_03
Jason and Jennifer at KSCO, our cybersecurity team, Darkbox Security, and my lawyer, Alan. And to all of you who make our show possible with your support and listenership.

00:44:55 Speaker_03
Special shout out to Neon Honey and Gabanes for covering our theme song, Gladrag's original song, You Think You, this season. For more music from them, check out the episode notes or your favorite streaming app.

00:45:09 Speaker_03
In the episode notes, you'll always find content warnings, sources, and resources, with links to our websites and social media as well. Thank you so much to every survivor and ally who has trusted us to help share their stories.

00:45:23 Speaker_03
We are forever grateful. Until next time, stay safe, friends. If you like Something Was Wrong, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.

00:45:49 Speaker_03
Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.

00:45:56 Speaker_01
Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, there are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history.

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Each week, on Redacted, Declassified Mysteries, we pull back the curtain on these hidden histories, 100% true and verifiable stories that expose the shadowy underbelly of power.

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Follow redacted, declassified mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna, on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen ad-free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.