A Heavy Weight

What Happened to Joseph Smedley? Episode One: Blood Moon

On the tenth anniversary of Joseph Smedley’s disappearance, we return to Bloomington, Indiana, to re-examine the night it all began. Under the eerie glow of a rare Blood Moon, Joseph left his off-campus house and vanished. Five days later, his body was discovered in Griffy Lake, weighed down by rocks.In this first episode, we hear a never-before-released 911 call, revisit Joseph’s last known hours, and introduce the questions that have haunted his family for a decade: Did Joseph walk to Griffy Lake that night? Could he have carried the weight that pulled him under? And if not — then who brought him there?With new evidence and reflections ten years later, this series asks not just what happened to Joseph, but what it means when stories like his are left unsolved.

Who Killed Delmar Wilson?

On June 12, 1994, twenty-year-old Delmar Wilson was found shot in his car on Radcliff Road in Washington County, Indiana. The engine was still running. The headlights still on. His foot still pressed on the brake.Police believe Delmar knew his killer. But in the three decades since, the case has passed from detective to detective, with no arrests and no answers.

What Happened to Michelle Asher?

On December 27, 2004, 37-year-old Michelle Asher was last seen walking along Route 33 out of Russellville, Illinois, heading toward Vincennes, Indiana. Two weeks passed before she was reported missing. By then, police and volunteers searched the countryside, but no clues turned up.Five months later, fishermen on the Wabash River made a discovery: Michelle’s body tangled along the riverbank.The official story said no foul play was found. But Michelle’s sister never believed it.

Truck Stops and Cold Cases

July 2007. A Nashville truck stop. Police approach a mustard-yellow cab and arrest a long-haul trucker suspected in murders across multiple states.But this isn’t a story about him. It’s about the women.We investigate the unsolved 1997 murder of Andrea Michelle Hendrix-Steinert in Gibson County, Indiana, and ask: when predators use the highway, who is left behind?

The Ditch on Country Road 350: The Murder of Andrea Hendrix-Steinertt

On a cold morning in October 1997, the body of 28-year-old Andrea Michelle Hendrix-Steinert was found in a ditch along County Road 350 in Gibson County, Indiana.Andrea was a mother, a daughter, and a pharmacy clerk who was just turning her life around. Years later, a prison inmate confessed to her killing, but no charges were ever filed.This episode of A Heavy Weight tells Andrea’s story in full: her life, her death, and the silence that followed. We confront the systemic bias that leaves women like Andrea overlooked, forgotten, and buried twice.Because every victim deserves justice. And every life deserves to be remembered.