The Abandoned Car

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for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com/bridge of lies. In the middle of a cold December night by the Jersey Shore, a driver spot something that gives some a strange feeling. In the middle of the bridge, there's a car that's abandoned.

So what kind of car is it? Kind of like an old beat-up light canseller like to dance.

The caller thinks it looks like a car someone in their 70s or 80s would drive. And was there anybody inside the vehicle? I looked now. Okay, let's do it sleeping. I couldn't see them by their head being up. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Power. Okay.

“Police head to the bridge and find a silver 1994 old-smobile 88. It's rusting and some of the paint is”

flaking off. Inside the leather seats are wrinkled and worn with big gashes that reveal yellow stuffing. But the strange thing is, it doesn't seem like the car broke down or got in an accident. It's unlocked. Keyes are in the center console and the caller was right. Nobody is inside. There's also no ID, no money and no clothing. The trunk has some Disney memorabilia and artwork in it. But otherwise, it's just an empty old car left on a bridge in the middle of the night.

The bridge runs between Neptune City and Belmarch across the shark river, which flows out to the Atlantic Ocean. On this cold December 9th, the river has a strong current. Some of the officers walk down to the Belmarch Marina to see if there are any clues by the water, but it's so dark they can hardly see anything. As the waters of the shark river rush into the ocean, the officers begin an investigation that will rock the sleepy shore town.

An investigation that will make people question who they can really trust and what those closest to them are capable of. From ABC Audio and 2020, I'm JJ Chang. And this is Bridge of Lies. Episode 1 The Abandoned Car Police run the plates and figure out that the abandoned old's mobile is registered to a woman in her 90s. Her name, Lillian Stern. She lives about 10 minutes away from the bridge in Neptune City.

Officers head to Lillian's house, but they're actually looking for her granddaughter, Sarah Stern, who they've learned by now typically drives the old's mobile and lives with her father and her grandmother. Police shine their flashlights as they check the perimeter of the Stern's house, and then they prepare to enter. From Bonnie camera footage, we can see it's very dark outside. There are just a few glimmers of distant light coming from porches throughout the neighborhood.

The streets quiet and residential. If it sidewalks and modest homes with short driveways and fenced in yards, the Stern's house is white with black window shutters. Sarah and her father both grew up in this house, where police are now knocking. But no one answers. We're getting no answer with the house. I might go inside and make sure everything's kosher here. I don't want to

for why the car might have been left on the bridge in the middle of the night. Maybe the driver

“parked and climbed over the edge. Before walking into the house, officers worry someone might be home.”

I'm pretty sure we're going to run into Mike in there. Mike, Michael Stern, that's Sarah's dad. Be prepared for if if Mike is home, for him to be pissed. He may be out of state. But who knows? The front door is unlocked and they head inside. We're going to make ourselves very well known by yelling and screaming. The bang on walls. The home is mostly dark, but there's a small lamp and overhead light on in the living room. Hello. It's a police department,

a big dog is locked in a crate. It's buddy. Sarah's 10-year-old Foxhound. He's brown and white

with floppy ears and big brown eyes. The officers shine their flashlights into every corner of the house, putting a quick spotlight on family photos, Christmas decorations and point setups,

“and even more Disney memorabilia, including goofy and Mickey figurines. They check the living room,”

the bathroom, and a few rooms that look like they're being used for storage, full of tubs and boxes. Wow, this house is jammed packed. Look at our fire hazard. Then, they make their way to Sarah's room. She's recently graduated from high school, but it still looks and feels like a childhood bedroom. Her door is covered with mini-licensed plates that say Sarah, a sign that says Sarah Street, and a sticker that reads caution. Sarah's room.

There are lots of momentos on the walls and a Canadian flag hanging from the ceiling. But the two officers are struck by what they don't find anywhere in the house. Clues to Sarah's wearabouts. On their way out, the officers go through the kitchen. There's a clock on the wall, and boxes of crackers stacked up on the fridge. An officer opens up a cookie jar to get a dog treat for buddy. The side's buddy, the house is empty.

We went through the entire house, backyard, everything. There's absolutely nobody home.

“They leave with the same question they started with. Where is Sarah's turn?”

Well, I guess Neptune's going to have to figure out what their mindset of this kid is. Neptune's going to have to figure out what the mindset of this kid is. So while these officers were going through the Stern's house, other investigators were tracking down Sarah's dad, Michael. Turns out he wasn't home because he was on vacation in Orlando, Florida, with his girlfriend. And following her angle around three o'clock in the morning.

Mom with County Sheriff's Department, do you know anything about a car? You know, great olds will be all, and I say, yeah, my daughter drives that car. Then they hung up. Michael called back, but got an answering machine. He wanted to know what was going on. Why were police asking about Sarah's car in the middle of the night? So he reached out to his nephew,

who was a first responder in Neptune. And I asked him, I said, "Find out if anything's going on

at the car, whether it was an accident, didn't know. Maybe the car is stuck on place or park someplace where it shouldn't be. No parking zone or, you know, a total of a way zone. I didn't know." And he called back a few minutes later and said, "Yeah, they found the car up on the bridge in Belmont." Naturally, Sarah's dad started calling and texting her, but she didn't respond. I hadn't heard from her. I mean, her text messages on the iPhones are coming back green.

So, no answer on her phone. The police pinged Sarah's phone to try and locate it, but nothing came back. All they could see is that earlier in the night, her phone was in Neptune's city and another town nearby. The last time Michael's stern says he spoke to his daughter, just a day earlier, she'd seemed completely normal. He says he told her about his trip to Disney World, which they both loved. "Send our couple pictures of the castle and lit up for Christmas

at Cinderella's Castle. And it just happened to be that afternoon there was a rainbow

Michael wasn't sure what to think or how afraid to be, until the police called him back

“after their search of the house. "Not in the house. So, now we're kind of wondering what's going on.”

Yeah, I was thinking something happened. So, a million things go through your mind."

He quickly packed up his things and began the long drive from Florida back to his new Jersey home. At 3.34 o'clock in the morning, there's no traffic, so you can drive pretty quick, but talking constantly to the police, they would call, I would call them and they'd call us from a family and we're still looking for Sarah." As he drove down the empty highway in the dark, his mind was racing. "What could have happened to his only child? Where could she be?"

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Population, less than 5,000. Neptune City is a short drive from legendary Jersey Shore landmarks, like Belmars E Street, which for Springsteen's E Street band is named after. And Asbury Park,

where the bosses career first took off, with hits like "Blinded by the Light."

A lot of people associate the Jersey Shore with the big parties in the drama in the MTV Reality Show, Jersey Shore. But the area also has quiet, wealthy neighborhoods, with mansions on the water. And then there are the laid-back working-class towns of mostly year-round residents, like Neptune City. In town there are a few bars and coffee shops, a handful of

Neptune City, New Jersey, is as small town USA as it gets. It's a small, tight-knit community

“of people whose families have lived there for generations. Jessica Eastope, covered Sarah's”

disappearance for Files 1 News, a local news channel at the time. It's a middle and working-class community. It's not the fancy Jersey Shore that you're going to get in Spring Lake. It's more run of a mill, sleepy town. But on December 3rd, 2016, it was not a run of the mill, sleepy town. As police worked through the night, word was spreading that a car had been abandoned on a bridge and its 19-year-old driver was nowhere to be found. Often when things like this happen,

this young woman becomes everyone's daughter. She was missing, nobody knew where she was. It was a 19-year-old girl who would have normally been attached to her phone and she was off the grid. Sarah and her family were well-known in Neptune City. For decades, her parents had a bookstore in town

“called Books Unlimited, and for a time her mom Carla was president of the Parent Teacher Organization.”

Sarah spent her whole life in the same neighborhood, the same house. Without any siblings, she really grew up with the kids who lived around her. Her neighbor, Carly Draper, said the two

were raised like sisters. They always dropped by each other's houses and played together all the time.

My parents had bought a little outward table and umbrella that were for kids and two little lawn chairs and we would sit out there all the time in the summer when we were little and just have little pizza rolls and ice tea and my parents got flamingo sprinklers from Costco whenever their arms would go. The water would shoot out and we just play back there all day long, sitting on the chairs and playing the sprinklers. As Sarah got older, she built a community online too. Like so many

teenagers in the 2010s, she expressed herself through her Tumblr account. She shared art, comics,

and posts about how great dogs are. She posted about funny, quirky TV shows, like Broad City,

and Bob's Burgers. She shared memes of the comedian Kate McKennan and things like, "As a 19-year-old, I oddly love Target as if I were a suburban mom of four." She was also really into YouTube channels and personalities, just as the platform was starting to take off for content creators. Sarah became friends with other superfans around the world and they recorded their Google Hangouts for a YouTube channel called Sprinkled Nonsense. They weren't

really talking to an audience. They were just chatting with each other and putting it out there. "When did you hear?" "How did he?" "What did you eat?" "Oh Jesus, I had pork chops." "Uh." "And yogurt." "I can hear more." "What?" "Not together as the dessert." Sarah was known for her quirky sense of humor in a high school yearbook photo. She made a mustache out of her long, straight, dark brown hair and a few girls next to her joined in. Sarah has brown eyes and when she smiles, she has big dimples. Belinda Susa, Sarah's friend and softball team

made, said she had a gift for making people laugh. "Sometimes, like when you're with her, you just forget about everything around you and it's just its you and her and whatever funny crazy story she's telling and you're just joking." Sarah was also known throughout Neptune City for her artwork. In high school, she got really into drawing portraits and doing illustrations. She joined her high school's art club and won the most artistic superlative

her senior year. She even painted an illustration on the windows of a local restaurant. "She did a nice snowman holding an ice cream gum." Her dad said making art might have been a way to cope with grief. Sarah's mom passed away from cancer when Sarah was a sophomore. Her family and friend said she went through ups and downs. And struggled emotionally. But Michael said one of her favorite sayings during high school

was reckless optimist. She tried to put that on her cap when during the graduation ceremony.

“And one of the teachers or advisors seen is you have to take that stuff off.”

Well, she peeled a couple letters off and put them back on when she was waiting to go get her diploma.

Bradley Beach, a classic job for a jersey short teenager. She took some classes at a community

“college, worked odd jobs, and was figuring out what to do next. She ultimately wanted to pursue a”

career in art. When Sarah's car was found on the bridge, she was at the very beginning of her adult life. She was seeking her place in the world eager to explore, travel, and pursue her passions. Standing outside Sarah's house in the pitch dark, police know Michael Stern is on his way back from Florida. And they've learned that Lillian Stern, Sarah's 96-year-old grandma, is staying at a neighbor's house, recovering from a medical procedure. But they are no closer to finding Sarah.

Until they get some new information. Sarah spent the afternoon with a friend. So officers leave the Stern's house to knock on another door in the middle of the night, hoping for some clues about where Sarah could be. But what I wanted to do was not to get the most of my students. And the master by tag-leaptor Bücher soft-behind the internet, as soon as I saw her.

I said, you can say, "You can't go back to school."

"Yeah, do you have a job?" But you didn't do that.

"Again, it's just a challenge for you." "You just do what you want." "And if you do what you want, you can do what you want." "You can do what you want." "You can do what you want."

"And if you do what you want, you can do what you want."

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In Neptune City. Just a few blocks from Sarah's house. They knock on the door and dogs start barking. The officers wait a couple of minutes and then see someone coming down the stairs. As the door creaks open, they cut right to the chase.

Liam McAtazney is the friend officers are looking for. His mom Megan is at the door. She's in pajamas and a robe. And she's groggy from being woken up in the middle of the night. She tells officers that Liam doesn't live in her house anymore.

He's a block away. In a small, two-bedroom house, the McAtazney's also own. Now we're looking for a friend of his that's possibly a missing person and she's supposed to be hangs out with him. Do you see Sarah Stern to see hang out with her?

Yes, Sarah is a very confused person. Can you call Liam? If you don't mind. While police wait for Liam's mom to call him, another woman walks up to them in the dark.

Robin Draper lives across the street from Sarah. Her daughter Carly is one of Sarah's close friends, the one who was like a sister to Sarah growing up. Robin has talked to Sarah's dad, Michael, and managed to track down police in the middle of the night to share some information.

She says the last time she interacted with Sarah, the day she went missing, Sarah dropped off a bin of her mother's things at Robin's house.

“If you're over today, I've been, can I bring my mother's stuff to your house?”

So she brought a bin of stuff from her mother's to your house? Taked over and it's in my kitchen. I was out, I said yes, I'll put it in the cubby. This seems to catch the officer's attention. Robin says it's a big bin, taped shut,

and she doesn't know exactly what's in it. And um, I try a tech center and let them. The two are close. Robin says Sarah wouldn't leave without telling her.

and since her mother passed away, Robin says she's taken Sarah to doctor's appointments, the dentist, the gynecologist, even the ER when it seemed like she had appendicitis. As officers speak with Robin, Liam's mom Megan comes out of the house and says Liam must be sleeping.

He's not answering her phone calls. We're going to go not see if we can wake them up over there. The officer turns back to Robin Draper and asks if she told Michael Stern about the bins Sarah brought over. She says no. While they speak with Robin, officers are still considering the possibility that

Sarah jumped off the bridge. They're trying to understand her mindset.

“She depressed that she, you, I think she's,”

is she, you know, not suicidal anywhere do you think? I don't know. All right, we're going to continue the search of them. Liam's on the other block. We're going to go over there now. The officers get in the car and move on to their next stop.

Liam McAtezny's house. I've got 11 Holly. It's related to this call. Around 4 a.m. police knock on Liam's door.

Liam, you're Liam. You have a second. Can I come in and talk to you real quick?

Yeah, no problem. Is Sarah here by chance? No. The officer step into the house. It's dark inside. There are no lights on. When was the last time he talked to her? There's what they're today. What time? I've been following to work.

So was earlier today? Yeah. The officer turns on a light and he can see Liam more clearly. He's wearing a great t-shirt and shorts. He's tall. Six foot two with blue eyes and wavy blonde hair that's messy. On police body camera footage, it seems like he's just walking up.

“Who's the last time he had any kind of contact at all over there?”

We wanted to get food today. Liam and Sarah have known each other since the first grade. They grew up with a tight circle of friends. In middle school, their group even had a name, the squad. As they got older and graduated from high school,

Liam and Sarah still hung out pretty regularly. And you went to work over town for a 30? Because you haven't talked to a sense for a 30? You have a cell phone. You can reach out to it two or three times. Actually, he hadn't been able to find the cell phone.

Liam says he's been looking for his phone, but can't find it. People looking for your cell phone, man, because we're trying to find Sarah. What was her mindset last time he talked to her? I just know she's been trying to get away. She can tell me she's going to Canada.

This is the first time officers are hearing that Sarah may have run away.

Trying to get away, okay, Canada, she's been little depressed lately. Her dad is crazy. It's also the first time they're hearing that Sarah may have had a strained relationship with her dad. The officers only talk to Liam for a few minutes.

He says he doesn't know where she is. He says he hasn't heard from her. There's not much more to talk about. As the officers head out, they try to press upon him just how serious this all is. We've reached out to some friends.

They've hit our message out to me. I definitely want to reach out to somebody.

“If anybody's talked to her or when they talked to her, what her mindset wasn't all that right?”

Planning on getting a phone. And, you hear anything called the Neptune city or Neptune town. Thank you. When the officers get back in the car, one of them sums up everything they've learned during their middle of the night search for Sarah.

It's a muddled picture of Sarah's life and mental state shaped by their interviews with Robin Draper and Liam McItanzney. She's back in a lot of father. So, kinds of emotional issues with her. We got depression, we got all kinds of stuff dealing with here, and uh,

we got a car on top of a bridge. Officers don't know what to make of the case. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point nobody knows.

By daybreak, the search for Sarah will accelerate with divers and rescue boats on the frigid shark river. And, I remember walking into my rain boots and it was low tide and I was like in the

muck and thinking to myself like we're never going to find anything because she's in Canada.

And police will look more closely at Sarah's inner circle, examining friendships, lies, and perhaps even betrayal. You're young. I want to make sure you get how important this is. This young girl is off the grid all the sudden.

How did Sarah simply vanish into the night? If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, substance use, or any other mental

You'll reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can also go to 988lifeline.org.

“Bridge of Lies is a production of ABC audio and 2020, hosted by me, Juju Chen.”

Produced by Camille Peterson and Sabrina Fag.

Fact checking and production help from Audrey Mastek and Annalisa Linder. Tracy Samuelson is our story editor.

“Our supervise producer is Sasha Aslinium, music and mixing by Evan Viola.”

Special thanks to Katie Dendons, Janice Johnston, Joseph Diaz, and Michelle Marulous.

Josh Cohen is our director of podcast programming. Amen McNiff is our executive producer.

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