Family Finds Buried Secret: The Ralph Stroud Case

Family Finds Buried Secret: The Ralph Stroud Case A sealed waterproof sleeve zip-tied inside a farmhouse ladder held a photograph, a folded Indiana birth certificate, and three pages of handwritten text-left there to last and never retrieved. What began as routine estate work uncovered a name no one in the family had heard for decades: James-so who was he, and why had Ralph Stroud buried that chapter? In this episode, we follow how a septic contractor's caution, a nephew's estate visit, and a genealogy firm's fast work connected a photograph dated March 1971 to a living man named James Robert Mosher, raising questions about family silence, lost records, and a letter that stops mid-sentence: who was James and where had he been for nearly fifty years? Person: Ralph Stroud Date: March 11, 2019 Location: Crestview Junction, Indiana Person: William Cook Case: James Robert Mosher - A septic contractor, Darlene Fleming, found the waterproof sleeve zip-tied to the third rung of a concrete ladder on March 11, 2019. - Inside the sleeve was a gallon zip-lock bag containing a color photograph, three pages of handwritten text on yellow legal paper, and a folded Indiana birth certificate. - The photograph’s back read in cursive: "Beverly with the baby. March 1971." - The handwritten letter, in Ralph's hand and dated by an examiner to the late 1990s or early 2000s, ends mid-sentence with "…and I want James to know that his grandmother Meredith held him for-" - A genealogy firm identified James as James Robert Mosher, age 67 and a retired high school shop teacher in Elkhart, Indiana, within eleven days of receiving William Cook’s request. 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].