13. Kacie Woody: The Origin of Grooming
Dial-up. A family computer. A stranger who wouldn’t let go
It’s late 2002. Dial-up internet. A shared family computer in the living room. And a 13-year-old girl in rural Arkansas who just wants more people to talk to after school.
Kacie Woody meets “Scott” and “Dave” online, two names that feel harmless at first. The messages turn constant. The attention turns intimate. And slowly, the boundary between “friend” and “stranger” disappears… without anyone noticing in time.
When Kacie vanishes from her home on a cold, rainy night, investigators seize the computer and follow the trail where it leads: chat logs, usernames, travel records, motel stays, a rented vehicle... then a storage unit in Conway.
This episode reconstructs the timeline step by step, and shows why Kacie’s case became one of the early warnings of a word we all know now… grooming.
Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.
Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.
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