Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey park enthusiasts, the sunny seasons are officially here, and that means Park Predators is right around the corner. There are so many beautiful places that we're going to head to this summer, but before Park Predators episodes are back, I want to take you to the beautiful place I call home, North Carolina. Because in my newest season of CounterClock, I uncovered some dark secrets about where I'm from, secrets that have been hiding for nearly three decades.
This season, I rewind the clock to an early July morning in 1991, just outside of the small town of Williamston, North Carolina. There, a train struck something lying across some tracks, but that something actually turned out to be a someone, whose name was Douglas Wag Jr. I initially started my investigation focused on discovering exactly how Doug died and how he ended up on a stretch of tracks so far from where he lived.
But even though my investigation began with me probing into his suspicious death, the body count continued to climb with every corner I turned. And the web of secrets is so tangled that it's made me rethink everything I thought I knew about where I'm from. This season of CounterClock is the most intense investigation yet. And just like me, you won't see the twist coming.
Listen to this trailer for CounterClock Season 6 and then join the Crime Junkie fan club to binge all episodes now or listen to new episodes of CounterClock weekly, wherever you're listening. Busy track. Still is. And they were on a pretty tight schedule. I mean, you could pretty well set your clock by them.
In the early morning hours of July 8th, 1991, something was on the railroad tracks just outside the town of Williamston, North Carolina. Everything goes through your head. This was not supposed to be there. That something turned out to be a someone. There was no movement at all.
He said, "Your son Doug is dead." There's really no way to word it how you feel when you lose somebody you're thinking you're going to spend the rest of your life with. For more than three decades, questions about what happened to 27-year-old Douglas Wag Jr. have gone unanswered. Why was he down here? What was going on with Dougie? Where was he? I don't know any more now than I did 32 years ago.
Doug's family never got a straight answer from police about what led up to his demise. And that's because law enforcement chose not to seek answers. They said, I don't know what you think you're doing in my county working my crime scene, but this was an accident. For them not to have followed through with what they were required to do, to me is negligence.
The longer I've studied Doug's case, the more I've realized the investigator's decision three decades ago doesn't make any sense because the circumstances of Doug's death don't make any sense. It's almost like somebody's trying to throw you off track from what might have really happened. It's not the train that killed him. He was killed somewhere else and he was put on those tracks.
Over the last year, I've uncovered a web of small town secrets that many people have worked very hard to keep silent. The foul is confidential. Don't go asking questions. Do not go looking for answers. If y'all want answers, it's why. And why will get you in trouble more than once. The good old boy syndrome back then was running wild.
I never expected that probing into one man's death would reveal a string of crimes. Missing people.
They went missing for inapparent reasons, and the truck went missing at the same time. He came to me in a dream. He said, Mom, I will kill them. Don't let them get away with this. And at least nine deaths. When he shot, we heard this. All of it has made me rethink everything I thought I knew about where I'm from. On the highway, you'd see a sign, Welcome to Johnston County, KKK country.
So buckle up. This season is the most intense investigation yet. When you have one big thing, it makes you question everything. And just like me, you won't see the twists coming. All I could think about was this baby. He was a living testimony and they needed him gone. Has anyone other than me contacted you about this in the last 30 plus years? No.
At some point in time, somebody was going to come asking questions. Somebody was going to want to know what happened to their loved one because somebody was getting away with murder. Episodes of Counter Clock Season 6 begin releasing this May. Be sure to follow the show wherever you listen to podcasts.