S3 Bonus Series, Ep. 3 | The Other Chairs, Part 2: You Forwarded a Video
On November 30th, 2018, Brittany Wallace Shank said she was almost to her grandma’s. She never made it. She was 23. A mother of four. Sturgis, Michigan. For years, her case sat still. Then, in 2023, people started sitting down in the other chairs. A lot of you have asked what happened after we brought what we found to law enforcement. Here’s the answer: we gave them everything we saved. All of it. In Part 1, you heard what they did with it — Ashley’s interview, and the questions that never got asked. Part 2 is the rest of the chairs. The husband — Eric, across the table from Detective Auton, answering the questions this case has been circling since day one. The drug dealer — the man who says he met Brittany exactly once, and the message thread that says more than he does. The boyfriend. And the third man in the apartment. Plus a phone call I recorded in 2022, a year before detectives caught up — so you can hear one man’s story twice, a year apart, and decide for yourself what changed. You’ll hear Brittany’s own voice in this episode. You’ll hear the minute her day stops. And you’ll hear me say the thing that should make everyone in St. Joseph County uncomfortable: Eight polygraphs, by the county’s own count. Seven years. No one has ever been charged. Somebody forwarded a video. Somebody knows the rest. Play the tape. Read the paper. Compare. Listener discretion advised. This episode contains descriptions of a missing person case and recorded law-enforcement interviews. Part 1 — “The Other Chairs, Part 1: The Fake Cry” — is available now. Start there. — — — IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING If you were in Sturgis in November 2018 — if you knew this circle, or heard something that winter you’ve been carrying — the line is open. Reach the show: hideandseekpod@yahoo.com · (509) 866-6985 Prefer to go straight to law enforcement? St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department, Centreville, Michigan: (269) 467-9045. Non-emergency dispatch: (269) 467-4195. https://stjosephcountymi.gov/government/courts-law-enforcement/sheriff-s-department/ You don’t have to be certain. You don’t have to accuse anybody. You just have to remember. — — — CREDITS & ATTRIBUTION Crime Junkie. Portions of this episode quote, with attribution, from Crime Junkie: “MISSING: Brittany Wallace Shank” (audiochuck) — hosted by Ashley Flowers with Brit Prawat, original reporting by Madison Cavalchire, released June 22, 2026. Hear the full episode: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/missing-brittany-wallace-shank/ Records. Interview excerpts and documents referenced in this episode come from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office case file (CFS #18-053859), obtained by this show through records requests at our own expense. Interviews. The March 2022 phone interview with Justin Gayheart was recorded by this show as part of our original reporting on this case. Re-creations and recordings. Brittany’s written messages are read by a voice actor — her words, verbatim, not her voice. You will also hear Brittany’s actual voice once in this episode, from a recorded call. We will tell you which is which. Hide and Seek is written, reported, and hosted by James Baysinger. A Sasquatch Productions podcast.
