WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.899 It's the kind of story that grabs you because 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:05.160 it could happen anywhere. A young man with dreams 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.699 bigger than his small town life, a loyal dog 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:11.980 always at his side, and a future he was carefully 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:15.839 building brick by brick. Then one day, without 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:17.920 warning, it's like he stepped out of the room 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:21.320 and never came back. No goodbye, no explanation, 00:00:21.739 --> 00:00:27.620 just silence. Welcome back to Beyond the Silence. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:32.100 Whispers across America. I'm Sammy, your host, 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:35.200 driven to shine light on the dark corners of 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:39.380 forgotten cases, demand justice, and keep alive 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:43.079 the voices the world has tried to silence. Today, 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:46.920 we're heading to Fitchburg, Wisconsin, a place 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.240 most people would describe as quiet, peaceful, 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:54.759 maybe even ordinary. But on November 8, 2004, 00:00:55.549 --> 00:00:58.350 this quiet little town became the backdrop for 00:00:58.350 --> 00:01:02.289 one of Wisconsin's most enduring mysteries, the 00:01:02.289 --> 00:01:05.709 disappearance of 27 -year -old Amos Mortier. 00:01:07.670 --> 00:01:10.250 Amos was a student at Madison Area Technical 00:01:10.250 --> 00:01:13.950 College studying botany and ecology. He wanted 00:01:13.950 --> 00:01:16.390 to live off the land, to become what his friends 00:01:16.390 --> 00:01:19.750 called a back -to -the -land guy. He loved the 00:01:19.750 --> 00:01:23.189 outdoors, thrived in it. And wherever Amos went, 00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:26.549 you'd usually find his husky mix, Gnosis, right 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:29.989 there beside him. Their bond wasn't casual. Friends 00:01:29.989 --> 00:01:32.569 said you simply never saw Amos without his dog. 00:01:33.010 --> 00:01:36.390 Local shops even let Gnosis come inside, because 00:01:36.390 --> 00:01:40.310 the two were practically inseparable. So when 00:01:40.310 --> 00:01:43.469 both Amos and Gnosis suddenly vanished, people 00:01:43.469 --> 00:01:47.310 knew immediately something was wrong. Ask yourself 00:01:47.310 --> 00:01:50.189 this, if someone you love is never apart from 00:01:50.189 --> 00:01:53.159 their pet, Would you ever believe they just up 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:57.500 and left voluntarily? Days ticked by with no 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:02.280 word, no calls, no sign of Amos or Gnosis. Friends 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.840 grew frantic. After a few days, some of them 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:07.519 broke into his place off Lacey Road, hoping for 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:10.900 answers. What they found instead was a home frozen 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:15.879 in time. A record still spinning on the turntable. 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:19.340 Gnosis's food bowl full. a half -rolled joint 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:22.539 sitting beside DJ equipment, a tuition check 00:02:22.539 --> 00:02:25.159 from his grandmother resting on the desk, uncashed, 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:29.400 tools laid out in the hallway mid -project, as 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:32.840 if Amos had just stepped away for a second. Everything 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:36.379 suggested he planned on coming back, but he didn't. 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:41.139 In that detail, the untouched dog food hit everyone 00:02:41.139 --> 00:02:44.960 hard. If you've ever loved a dog, you know, you 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.860 don't just leave them behind. Amos would never 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:51.360 have left Gnosis. That fact alone told his family 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:55.599 this wasn't voluntary. If anyone understood that 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:59.639 instinct, it was Amos' mom, Margie. From the 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:01.639 moment she filed the missing persons report, 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:04.280 Margie pushed back against what she felt was 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.599 a sloppy investigation. She said people walked 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:09.960 through her son's home without care, tracking 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.680 mud, touching items, even using the bathroom. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.759 Evidence could have been lost right there. And 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:19.280 when police discovered Amos' ties to marijuana, 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:22.539 Margie felt the case was pushed to the back burner. 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:25.699 Her son's disappearance seemed overshadowed by 00:03:25.699 --> 00:03:29.819 his reputation. And that reputation turned out 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:33.360 to be more than just a passing detail. Amos wasn't 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:36.259 dabbling in small -time sales. He was tied to 00:03:36.259 --> 00:03:38.379 a large -scale marijuana distribution network 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:41.439 that stretched across states and even into Canada. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.020 Investigators linked him to an $80 ,000 debt. 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:47.840 one that may have played a role in his disappearance. 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.800 The feds got involved because of the scale of 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:55.800 it all. Names started surfacing, most notably 00:03:55.800 --> 00:03:58.879 Reed Regala, a supplier who eventually went to 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:03.060 federal prison, and Jacob Stadfeld, who investigators 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:06.879 quietly referred to as a prime suspect. Stadfeld 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:10.960 owed Amos money. His story about where he was 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.240 when Amos disappeared kept changing. His family's 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.259 property was searched. Nothing was found. But 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:20.620 suspicion lingered. When someone owes a debt 00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:23.439 that large, and the person they owe disappears, 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:26.959 how far do you think investigators should chase 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:31.899 that lead? Five days after Amos vanished, Gnosis 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:35.439 turned up at a neighbor's house. No collar, but 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:38.579 healthy. Someone had clearly been feeding him. 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:42.779 That detail lit up the community. If Amos wasn't 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:46.120 the one caring for his dog, who was? And why 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:50.839 return the dog, but not Amos? For a brief moment, 00:04:51.019 --> 00:04:54.500 Gnosis's return gave people hope. Maybe Amos 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:57.480 would be found alive, too. But just as quickly, 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.379 reality set in. Everyone who knew him agreed. 00:05:01.060 --> 00:05:04.240 Amos would never abandon Gnosis. His return was 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:06.339 less a sign of hope and more a grim reminder 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:10.990 that something terrible had happened. In 2006, 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:14.529 a new twist shook the case. A man came forward 00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:16.930 telling investigators that someone he called 00:05:16.930 --> 00:05:20.850 Brad Green had confessed to killing Amos. The 00:05:20.850 --> 00:05:23.910 story was graphic. Green allegedly owed Amos 00:05:23.910 --> 00:05:27.230 a large sum, lured him out, stabbed him, and 00:05:27.230 --> 00:05:30.529 disposed of his body at a hog farm. If true, 00:05:30.709 --> 00:05:33.550 it's as dark as it gets. Imagine hearing that 00:05:33.550 --> 00:05:36.589 about your child, your friend. The witness said 00:05:36.589 --> 00:05:40.009 Green then emptied Amos' safe, took valuables, 00:05:40.009 --> 00:05:44.589 and released Gnosis. The story lined up with 00:05:44.589 --> 00:05:48.050 certain known facts. The missing safe, the wandering 00:05:48.050 --> 00:05:51.550 dog. But the witness wasn't reliable. He had 00:05:51.550 --> 00:05:54.490 a criminal record, credibility issues, and law 00:05:54.490 --> 00:05:56.550 enforcement wasn't sure how much to believe. 00:05:56.930 --> 00:05:59.730 But when parts of a story match reality, can 00:05:59.730 --> 00:06:04.240 you ever fully dismiss it? Meanwhile, thousands 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:07.439 of pages of police documents and interviews began 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.540 leaking out, suggesting key leads might have 00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:13.819 been overlooked early on. Investigators seemed 00:06:13.819 --> 00:06:17.519 to fixate on Amos' role in the drug trade. And 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.800 with that tunnel vision, other clues may have 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:24.360 been ignored. How many cases stall because the 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:27.939 first 48 hours are mishandled or too narrowly 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:32.550 focused? When official channels falter, families 00:06:32.550 --> 00:06:36.290 often pick up the slack. Margie became Amos' 00:06:36.449 --> 00:06:39.629 tireless advocate, joining support groups, working 00:06:39.629 --> 00:06:42.870 with organizations like Project Cold Case, and 00:06:42.870 --> 00:06:45.029 speaking at events to keep her son's name alive. 00:06:45.350 --> 00:06:49.230 She refused to let him fade from memory, and 00:06:49.230 --> 00:06:53.370 media began to play its role too. Filmmakers 00:06:53.370 --> 00:06:56.459 Christina Matuani and Nathan J. Komp launched 00:06:56.459 --> 00:06:59.519 a documentary project about Emos, revisiting 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:02.079 evidence and re -examining details that had slipped 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:04.680 through the cracks. That kind of renewed attention 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:08.079 matters. In case after case, we've seen how a 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.860 single news story, a viral post, even a podcast 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:16.019 episode can generate new tips. The internet doesn't 00:07:16.019 --> 00:07:18.879 forget. And for families of the missing, that's 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:23.009 sometimes their greatest hope. Now, two decades 00:07:23.009 --> 00:07:27.250 later, Amos' case remains unsolved. Suspects 00:07:27.250 --> 00:07:29.790 were named, but never charged. Leads were chased, 00:07:29.949 --> 00:07:32.930 but never confirmed. Rumors circulate from Tennessee 00:07:32.930 --> 00:07:36.170 music festivals to whispered confessions, but 00:07:36.170 --> 00:07:40.610 no solid answers. There's still a $25 ,000 reward 00:07:40.610 --> 00:07:43.730 for information. Still his name etched in a missing 00:07:43.730 --> 00:07:48.629 person databases. Still a family waiting. Through 00:07:48.629 --> 00:07:52.230 it all, Margie holds on. She won't stop searching, 00:07:52.470 --> 00:07:55.569 won't stop asking, won't stop fighting for her 00:07:55.569 --> 00:07:58.470 son. And maybe that's the real heartbeat of this 00:07:58.470 --> 00:08:01.610 case, not just the tragedy of a life cut short, 00:08:01.769 --> 00:08:04.589 but the relentless love of a mother who refuses 00:08:04.589 --> 00:08:10.209 to accept silence. So ask yourself, in a story 00:08:10.209 --> 00:08:12.589 like this, where so many people know pieces of 00:08:12.589 --> 00:08:15.110 the puzzle, what will it take for someone to 00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:18.589 finally step forward? Could it be you who holds 00:08:18.589 --> 00:08:22.069 the missing piece? That's where we'll leave it 00:08:22.069 --> 00:08:25.529 for now. No neat answers, only the questions 00:08:25.529 --> 00:08:29.290 that refuse to stay quiet. I'm Sammy, and I'll 00:08:29.290 --> 00:08:31.350 keep telling these stories because someone out 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:34.370 there knows something. And for people like Amos, 00:08:34.570 --> 00:08:38.210 silence should never be the end. If a detail 00:08:38.210 --> 00:08:40.669 stood out to you, don't let it go. Share it. 00:08:40.830 --> 00:08:44.909 Question it. Talk about it. Stay with us. This 00:08:44.909 --> 00:08:47.690 story isn't over, and neither is our search. 00:08:48.250 --> 00:08:50.730 For more chilling mysteries and untold stories, 00:08:50.870 --> 00:08:54.429 follow and listen to Beyond the Silence. Whispers 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:57.690 across America on all major podcast platforms.