MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
Sep 28, 2026 · 30 min · 9 segments
One night in March 1997, a man carried a muddy, black plastic case into a police station in the small town of Higginson, Arkansas. A local police officer had been murdered just three days ago, and the…
Danny reached over and turned the alarm off before it woke his wife Mary up, who was sleeping right next to him, and then as quietly as he could, he got out of bed and walked over to his closet and he got dressed in his uniform, which was a police uniform.
So Danny was one of just two full-time police officers in Higginson, which was tiny.
Danny really cared about his community and felt good about, you know, keeping people safe.
Now, there wasn't a lot of crime in Higginson, so his shifts were usually pretty slow, especially this early in the morning.
And then when anything did happen, it almost always was pretty minor and tended to involve the same few people every time.
And so after getting dressed, Danny left his room and he headed towards the kitchen, being careful to be quiet as he made his way through the house so he didn't wake up his three daughters.
Once he got there, he ate a quick breakfast, and then when the clock hit three twenty AM, he cleaned his dishes, grabbed his jacket, and he headed out the door to start the day.
A little over an hour later, around four thirty AM, Danny drove his patrol car down Highway 11, which was the main road that ran through town.
The only vaguely exciting thing was that one of the plates he checked wasn't actually registered to the car it was on.
But the car was gone by the time he had the information, so he'd just written down the plate number to look into it later.
Now, up ahead, he could see that some lights were on in this roadside cafe, and he knew it was his friend Hazel Riley, who always worked the morning shift at this cafe.
And so when Danny passed by, he slowed down and he flashed his lights as a greeting, and through the window, he could see Hazel look up and wave hello.
After that, Danny drove a few blocks further down the road and he stopped at the corner of Highway 11 and Baker Street.
There was a local school bus stop there, and lately there had been reports of people passing the bus illegally.
And so Danny pulled off the road and he parked in a vacant lot right by the intersection, and then he cut the engine.
And he was still sitting there almost an hour later when around five twenty AM, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something move outside the passenger window.
He turned and he saw a figure standing in the darkness right next to his car, and they suddenly raised a handgun.
Seconds later, that cafe worker, Hazel Riley, was startled by the sound of three loud popping noises coming from somewhere off in the distance.
Danny reached over and turned the alarm off before it woke his wife Mary up, who was sleeping right next to him, and then as quietly as he could, he got out of bed and walked over to his closet and he got dressed in his uniform, which was a police uniform.
So Danny was one of just two full-time police officers in Higginson, which was tiny.
Danny really cared about his community and felt good about, you know, keeping people safe.
Now, there wasn't a lot of crime in Higginson, so his shifts were usually pretty slow, especially this early in the morning.
And then when anything did happen, it almost always was pretty minor and tended to involve the same few people every time.
And so after getting dressed, Danny left his room and he headed towards the kitchen, being careful to be quiet as he made his way through the house so he didn't wake up his three daughters.
Once he got there, he ate a quick breakfast, and then when the clock hit three twenty AM, he cleaned his dishes, grabbed his jacket, and he headed out the door to start the day.
A little over an hour later, around four thirty AM, Danny drove his patrol car down Highway 11, which was the main road that ran through town.
The only vaguely exciting thing was that one of the plates he checked wasn't actually registered to the car it was on.
But the car was gone by the time he had the information, so he'd just written down the plate number to look into it later.
Now, up ahead, he could see that some lights were on in this roadside cafe, and he knew it was his friend Hazel Riley, who always worked the morning shift at this cafe.
And so when Danny passed by, he slowed down and he flashed his lights as a greeting, and through the window, he could see Hazel look up and wave hello.
After that, Danny drove a few blocks further down the road and he stopped at the corner of Highway 11 and Baker Street.
There was a local school bus stop there, and lately there had been reports of people passing the bus illegally.
And so Danny pulled off the road and he parked in a vacant lot right by the intersection, and then he cut the engine.
And he was still sitting there almost an hour later when around five twenty AM, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something move outside the passenger window.
He turned and he saw a figure standing in the darkness right next to his car, and they suddenly raised a handgun.
Seconds later, that cafe worker, Hazel Riley, was startled by the sound of three loud popping noises coming from somewhere off in the distance.
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