Hello, John Doe

How was Franklin Floyd able to evade justice and hide from authorities for so long? In this second bonus episode, we spoke with Mark Yancey who prosecuted Floyd for the kidnapping charge that finally put him behind bars. Yancey also explained how Floyd ended up on death row in the Florida for murder and he remembered the day investigators gathered at Suzie's grave site to right a wrong.  

Only finding out as an adult that you were adopted can throw you into a tailspin, forcing you to reconsider long-held truths. In this bonus episode, we hear from Dr. Amanda Baden, an expert on the experiences of late discovery adoptees. Research has shown the later an adoptee finds out, the more distress they have, and even finding out at 4 or 5 is considered “late.” Dr. Baden discussed why some adoptive parents choose to delay telling their kids and shared some of the long-term ramifications these revelations can have on an adult's life.

In our first bonus episode, we try to make sense of an unimaginable loss. In early January 2024, our “Hello, John Doe” host Todd Matthews died, suddenly. This episode memorializes Todd, a pioneer and an original. We couldn’t let him go to the other side of the veil without a proper goodbye. And Kate Mishkin, our producer talks to Steve Patterson one last time to discuss the impact Todd had on his life.

In our season finale, Steve’s sisters roadtrip to his hometown to see him. Their stay in Cherryville and a surprise guest ends up unraveling the goodwill between Steve’s new relatives and his longstanding ones. Todd grapples with his involvement with the family and realizes that decades of John Doe cases haven't necessarily equipped him to handle the living.

A lot of relatives on Sandi’s side came out of the woodwork after Steve found his biological mother. Some of his long-lost relatives on his maternal side he let in, some he kept at arm’s length. In this episode, Todd goes to a family get-together to spend time with Steve’s half-siblings and learn what they make of finding him after all these years. After some disappointing news, Todd doubles down on fulfilling his promise to help Steve figure out who his father is.