Near Misses: The Ones Who Walked Away | True Crime Sleep Stories
In this True Crime Sleep Stories episode, hear five quiet near-miss stories of ordinary people who came close to dangerous men, including Rodney Alcala, Ted Bundy, and Israel Keyes... and went home safe. None of them knew the full picture at the time. Most only learned years later. These gentle true crime accounts focus on the moments when something felt off and the people who trusted that feeling.
There's a canceled date after The Dating Game, a Tinder match that shifted, a fireplace that filled with smoke, a couple parked at an Anchorage overlook, and a red truck on a dark highway. These stories touch on real cases, but we stay with the people who walked away and keep the details soft and low-stakes, perfect for falling asleep.
The stories:
The Dating Game, September 1978: Cheryl Bradshaw picked Bachelor Number One on the popular TV show. After meeting him, she called the casting director and canceled the date because something felt wrong. She was right. The man was Rodney Alcala, a serial killer already responsible for multiple murders.
Salt Lake City, April 2019: Missy Lewis matched with a charming man on Tinder. When he pushed to meet in a parking lot and his tone changed, she unmatched him. Less than two months later his face was on the news.
Seattle, early 1970s: Elizabeth Kloepfer (also known as Elizabeth Kendall) fell asleep in front of the fireplace with her longtime boyfriend Ted Bundy. She woke up to a room full of smoke after he closed the damper and blocked the door. Years later he told her what he had done.
Point Woronzof, Anchorage, spring 2011: A young couple sat in their car at the overlook. Serial killer Israel Keyes was watching from the trees with a silenced rifle, ready to shoot. Two officers doing a routine closing-time check changed the night, and their fate. The couple's names are still unknown.
A lonely highway, ~2000: A woman in the Army was driving from Colorado to Arizona when a red truck flashed its lights and honked. She started to pull over, then changed her mind halfway to the back of her car. She later saw a similar story on a crime show.
They all noticed something felt off and acted on it.
I believe we're given intuition for a reason. Animals trust it without argument. We often talk ourselves out of it. This episode is a calm reminder to listen the first time your gut tells you something isn't right, especially in true crime near-miss situations like these.
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