Caller · moment 12 of 21
Caller's Story: Waking Up on the Dam
from The Smiley Face Killers · #132
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
8 minCaller
The anonymous Wisconsin caller describes a night out where he was ditched by a girl, blacked out after only a few beers, and woke up disoriented on a dangerous dam, having to cross barbed wire and thin ice to escape.
- 29:58Tim connects extreme Wisconsin cold to serial killer prevalence in the region.
- 30:59Caller identifies himself as a survivor of what he believes was a Smiley Face Killer incident.
- 32:11At a bar downtown, the caller's acquaintance ditches him after meeting five other guys.
- 33:07Caller's last clear memory: the girl goes back into the bar and never returns.
- 33:46Despite only three beers and regular drinking, caller experiences complete blackout and sporadic memory gaps.
- 34:06Caller remembers only bright fluorescent lights and humming during the lost time, like a truck stop bathroom.
- 34:33Caller wakes up freezing on a dam next to the Wisconsin River with no idea how he got there.
- 35:21The dam is narrow—sidewalk width, 50 to 100 yards long, with 15-foot drop to rocks on left and rushing water on right.
- 36:34Caller discovers both ends of the dam are fenced and chained shut, forcing him to traverse thin ice and barbed wire.
- 36:58Ice breaks while caller holds barbed wire; his legs submerge in water but he clings to the wire and pulls himself out.