Do you think we can do it?
I’m counting on it.
Get out your snacks and pull out a notepad so I can give you all of the details.
So let’s start with what we know.
This is the case of Allison Finch, and it will be one ofthose cases that will tickle your brain. I’ve got to say it is already scratching at mine.
Allison was a twenty-seven-year-old woman from the small town of King Creek, Oregon. She liked lemon pie, and she tipped the waitress at the diner in dollar bills folded in half.
But let’s get more specific:
Allison Finch lived in a white house on Marlin Street with her husband, Trent Finch. They married young. Very young. Some people in town called it romantic. Some wondered why she stopped going out with friends after the wedding. But that’s hindsight talking — the kind that conveniently arrives after a tragedy and says, “Oh, yes, of course there were signs.”
Listeners, we’ve heard all this before. But before we get ahead of ourselves?—
Let me take you to the day everything changed for Allison Finch.
It was April third. The temperature had just risen into early-spring territory. You know the kind I’m talking about, where spring starts showing up, and the bees are flitting around. Yeah, I said flitting. Get over it. Sue me. Not really. Everything was gorgeous, like those paintings where it’s all green and full of flowers. Close your eyes and picture it.
On a day just like that, Allison was seen for the last time in the town of Briar Falls, where her husband works, making two stops: one at the hardware store and then again for gas, driving her silver Honda Accord.
BRIAR FALLS POLICE OFFICER: [recorded earlier]
We found her car at the vista point just outside of Briar Falls. It’s way out there in the middle of bum fuck nowhere, and we got some tip called in. She probably just took off. That’s what we all think.
HATTIE HARPER:
Now, usually, I don’t talk about myself on this podcast. You listen to hear about the cases, not for my life story, and honestly, I like it that way. Some of you might know what I’m going to say already, but new listeners might not …
The reason I even have this podcast is because of the disappearance of my twin sister, and while I know that every case is different, this one has some similarities that I couldn’t ignore.
When I first read about Allison’s story, I couldn’t skip this case. National outlets haven’t even picked it up. She’s just gone. And damn if that doesn’t piss me off.
There are threads and gaps that the police in Briar Falls seem not to have followed up on, but we won’t let those gaps go unfilled, will we? You heard that officer say she ran off? I’m not satisfied with that. We aren’tgoing to forget about Allison Finch and let her case go quietly.
I spent today following up on the earliest leads — the human ones. The ones that always matter more than the cell data, timestamps, or search grids.
Her best friend in high school said that Allison grew more distant after the wedding, but “maybe marriage just changes people.” When I asked what she meant, she looked away and said she didn’t want to “start trouble.”
Allison’s own husband left me a message that wasn’t very nice. Do you want to hear it?
TRENT FINCH: [recorded earlier]
Listen here. Stop calling me about my wife. I don’t care where the bitch went. She probably took off to God knows where, and good riddance.
And then there was Trent Finch’s coworker, who posted on a chat board saying that, “She probably ran off. Some women do that.”
I gotta tell you. That pissed me off. I’m sure you feel the same way.
Let’s discuss the vista area where they found her car. It’s very remote, and by that I mean there’s nowhere logical to go if you’re a young woman just ‘running off’ on foot. I’ve already posted aerial pictures of the vista area, and you can see for yourself that it isn’t near anything that makes sense for catching other transportation. Thetheory that they are pushing doesn’t make any sense. It was raining that day, and there would be signs that she left on foot or via another vehicle. Tracking her would be simple.
The search operation? Well, it was minimal at best. Three days and only local volunteers. The chief of police didn’t even call for trained search-and-rescue personnel to come to the scene. I know how we all feel about that. It doesn’t seem long enough. Still, no signs of a struggle or footprints were found. There weren’t even any signs that she dropped anything.
Here’s another item of interest. There is something that looks like blood on the seat of her car that wasn’t logged in the police report. You can clearly see it in the pictures, and it isn’t a small amount, but there isn’t any indication that her car was processed properly for evidence of a homicide. Why not?
Systems fail. But that is a little too convenient, even for the most seasoned detective. No way can that be accepted.
