The Two Sneakers in the Drain: What Patton Mills Hid for 16 Days

The Two Sneakers in the Drain: What Patton Mills Hid for 16 Days A quiet town watched a familiar routine break: two white New Balance sneakers, size seven, placed heel to toe and dry inside a storm drain while the surrounding sidewalk was soaked from last night’s rain-clearly set there before the storm ended. Who planned this careful placement, and what did it mean for the woman who vanished on her usual eleven-block walk? In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Christine Jones leaving the Sunrise Grille at 8:51 AM on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, to the discovery that made investigators realize her disappearance had been planned. What the shoes, the camera footage, and the small-town patterns reveal about those missing eleven blocks is the question that drives the episode. Person: Christine Jones Date: May 3, 2011 Location: Celler Avenue and Marsh, Patton Mills Detective: Ralph Vogel Finder: Gloria Allen - Christine left the Sunrise Grille at 8:51 AM after an eleven-year Tuesday routine of the same table and same order. - She lived nineteen years in Patton Mills and was 54 years old at the time of disappearance. - Two days passed before her daughter Renee formally reported her missing. - Two white New Balance sneakers, size seven, worn on the outside of the right heel, were found heel to toe in a storm drain on Celler Avenue. - The shoes were dry while the entire block was wet, indicating they were placed in the drain before the rain stopped. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].