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Speaker 1: Enjoy your exploration. Hey, welcome back to the conversation. Let's
Speaker 1: do some pod crashing. Episode number four seventy three is
Speaker 1: with Clayton Eckard and Stephanie Young from the podcast Love Trapped.
Speaker 1: Good morning you too, Little Troublemakers.
Speaker 2: How are you hold on? Now? Hold on? There's only
Speaker 2: one of us here that's in trouble Baker.
Speaker 1: That's oh my god. You are creating conversation out here,
Speaker 1: which is what I love about what it is that
Speaker 1: you've done with your podcast, because this is what it's
Speaker 1: all about. This shows the intimacy of what a podcast
Speaker 1: is all about. And it also shows that hey, look
Speaker 1: what you think. You know, you don't, but sit down
Speaker 1: and have the podcast in your life, you will.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, Stephanie has done such an incredible job.
Speaker 3: I think there couldn't be a better storyteller. That's that's
Speaker 3: put this all together. I mean, how do you put
Speaker 3: something like this that's been dragging on for just three
Speaker 3: years in my own life? But then you have previous
Speaker 3: victims ranging back as far as ten So Stephanie will
Speaker 3: tell you she has thirty hours of recorded audio of
Speaker 3: me just alone.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Wow, I've listened to Clayton talk a lot.
Speaker 1: So that's your way. That's your way of pretty much. Dan,
Speaker 1: you could probably impersonat.
Speaker 4: Him, you know.
Speaker 5: I feel like at this point he could probably just
Speaker 5: get off the call and I can answer for him.
Speaker 2: That's very true.
Speaker 1: Well, Stephanie, what really drew you to this? Because we
Speaker 1: all like drama, and we see so much of it
Speaker 1: when it comes to reality TV, but when it becomes
Speaker 1: a part of our reality, I mean, you're really showing
Speaker 1: us something here that says, hey, awareness is keen. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, just understand why Stephanie would take
Speaker 1: a chance like this.
Speaker 4: Listen.
Speaker 5: I have always loved true crime and I've always loved
Speaker 5: pop culture, so this was kind of the intersection of
Speaker 5: both things. And when you actually dive into this specific story,
Speaker 5: the twist and turns are so crazy that it's like,
Speaker 5: how could I have not taken this role to do
Speaker 5: this podcast and share Clayton side of the story. And
Speaker 5: you know, like I mentioned, I have talked to him
Speaker 5: for so many hours and hearing all the intricacies and
Speaker 5: all the things that he went through has really been
Speaker 5: eye opening. And it's not just been him like this.
Speaker 5: I want to be clear that the story, there's not
Speaker 5: just one victim. There's a lot of victims, and there's
Speaker 5: people that have also dealt with this this person who
Speaker 5: has somehow affected their lives in a different way.
Speaker 4: And by the by the end of the podcast, I.
Speaker 5: Think you're going to see how many people she's actually affected.
Speaker 1: Well, Clayton, is it one of those situations where it's
Speaker 1: like inside your heart, you knew what it was when
Speaker 1: you picked it up, but you still picked it up.
Speaker 3: You know, it's I honestly feel this is the way
Speaker 3: that I live, that everything happens for a reason and
Speaker 3: what's meant for me is is meant for me to experience,
Speaker 3: and you know, when.
Speaker 2: This first occurred, you know, I didn't understand why I
Speaker 2: was going through it.
Speaker 3: You know, I felt that I was unfairly targeted, and
Speaker 3: that still may be true. I don't really think anybody
Speaker 3: should be targeted in this manner, But nonetheless, over time,
Speaker 3: I've realized that it has become bigger than me. You know,
Speaker 3: this wasn't an isolated incident. This was something where again
Speaker 3: she's a perpetrator that has done this to multiple individuals
Speaker 3: and they had never had seen justice be served. They honestly,
Speaker 3: she had a stronghold on them and was you know,
Speaker 3: manipulating them and was not leaving their lives. I mean,
Speaker 3: she was just you can havoc over all these years.
Speaker 3: And so now we're at a point where it looks
Speaker 3: like she may not be able to do that anymore. So, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, again, at first, I wasn't really certain an
Speaker 3: understanding of why I was going through it, but I
Speaker 3: clearly see why I have to now.
Speaker 1: Now we keep saying the word she. We're talking about
Speaker 1: Susie Evans. Are we correct here?
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no.
Speaker 1: I know The reason why I said that was because, Okay,
Speaker 1: because the listeners are gonna be going she she she,
Speaker 1: she she, and they're gonna they're gonna go to somebody
Speaker 1: and go, Okay, they must be talking about this. So
Speaker 1: let's let's let's identify who she is.
Speaker 2: Yes, she is Laura Owens.
Speaker 3: No, no affiliation with the with the reality TV shows.
Speaker 5: I was just going to say that the biggest question
Speaker 5: I get when I do this podcast is was Laura
Speaker 5: a contestant on Clayton's season of the Bachelor?
Speaker 4: And the answer is no, she was not.
Speaker 1: Mmm, So then then don't you just sit back and
Speaker 1: go what the hell happened here? I mean, it's it's
Speaker 1: like it's like didn't play out right there in front
Speaker 1: of our eyes, and we just we just kept, you know,
Speaker 1: just moving on because I mean, I know what goes
Speaker 1: on behind the scenes, we just don't talk about it
Speaker 1: that much until now.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, again, I would say, there's really no way
Speaker 3: to know that someone is going to do something, has
Speaker 3: the capacity to do this. I mean, I've been around
Speaker 3: bad people, but I've never been around evil to the
Speaker 3: degree that what Laura Owens us.
Speaker 1: Is, how did you deal with this, Stephanie? Because I
Speaker 1: know that as a journalist. It's got to move through
Speaker 1: your fingertips, but it has to move through your heart first.
Speaker 1: How did you repair that in order to be strong
Speaker 1: enough to to basically even be sitting here today sharing
Speaker 1: this conversation because you had to go through the same
Speaker 1: emotions that Clayton did.
Speaker 5: Oh, I definitely didn't go through the same emotions Clayton did.
Speaker 5: He had it, He had it much worse than I did. However,
Speaker 5: retelling the story, I can I can certainly tell you
Speaker 5: that there are a lot of sensitive topics that are
Speaker 5: discussed in this in this podcast, and a lot of
Speaker 5: them are directly related to women. So that is certainly
Speaker 5: been a hard a hard thing to do navigating this podcast.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I would say that the emotional toll this
Speaker 5: story takes is I've seen a lot of people cry.
Speaker 5: I've cried with a lot of people, and I think
Speaker 5: you're going to hear that in the podcast.
Speaker 1: And to have that key or that needle in the haystack,
Speaker 1: I mean, Clayton, that's one of those things where I mean,
Speaker 1: do you think it's going to change how viewers watch
Speaker 1: shows like this? Or basically I think they're going to
Speaker 1: embrace you more. I mean I just think that they're
Speaker 1: going to love you more, they're going to follow you more,
Speaker 1: and I just feel something here that is a connection.
Speaker 1: Because in reality, doesn't it happen to all of us
Speaker 1: in one way or another.
Speaker 2: Yes, you know it can.
Speaker 3: And that's where again, these other victims were not from
Speaker 3: reality television. These are people that you know, have lived
Speaker 3: a more quote unquote normal life or maybe a watch
Speaker 3: life out of the spotlight. And so it can happen
Speaker 3: to anybody that has happened to these individuals, and so
Speaker 3: I just happened to be the one that had been
Speaker 3: on reality television. It was a little bit more known.
Speaker 3: And so you know, again here we are today and
Speaker 3: and you know, hopefully we have a trial upcoming with
Speaker 3: this individual. She's you know, she's facing fourteen felony charges.
Speaker 3: And again, this podcast is really going to take you
Speaker 3: right up until that point. Wow, it'll it'll pull you
Speaker 3: up to date with everything that's going on. And then
Speaker 3: you know, late July we have this trial and so
Speaker 3: the outcome is still up in the air. You know,
Speaker 3: we only can hope that accountability will be had, but
Speaker 3: that's of course out of our hands now and is
Speaker 3: in the you know, County Attorney's.
Speaker 1: Hands now now, Stephanie, I'm glad that Clayton brought that up,
Speaker 1: because in my heart, I truly said, this is not
Speaker 1: going to end. It's not going to end this at
Speaker 1: this season. There's going to be several to follow because
Speaker 1: this is a continuation type story and it's going to
Speaker 1: affect other people, and I just I just can't imagine
Speaker 1: what it's going to be like inside your imagination and
Speaker 1: drive to continue sharing what is going on.
Speaker 5: I certainly hope that we have the opportunity to continue
Speaker 5: what's going on. Clayton mentioned that the criminal trial is
Speaker 5: happening in July, and my hope is that we will
Speaker 5: get to cover that trial. But I do also know
Speaker 5: that a plea deal was offered over the past week
Speaker 5: or so, so if the plea deal is accepted, obviously
Speaker 5: there won't be a trial. So we're kind of in
Speaker 5: a wait and see mode as to what's actually going
Speaker 5: to be happening with the criminal trial.
Speaker 1: But Clayton, you already know what lawyers can be like
Speaker 1: when it comes to that courtroom, and it's one of
Speaker 1: those where they could sit there and say, yeah, you
Speaker 1: can have anybody in here with this Stephanie, girl, she
Speaker 1: can't come in and because I mean, cause they're going
Speaker 1: to try to stall the story somehow, some way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course they are. And they've done that all
Speaker 2: along the way, you know.
Speaker 3: So it's one of those things where again you just
Speaker 3: have to believe that, like, hey, the people that are
Speaker 3: going to be in the room are the right people
Speaker 3: in the room at the right time. We have, you know,
Speaker 3: made great headway as far as like getting this person
Speaker 3: to be placed in a position where she now will
Speaker 3: face accountability I mean until proven. Otherwise she's in the
Speaker 3: hot seat and she is she is being charged or
Speaker 3: or has these charges over her head. So you know,
Speaker 3: at this point we're just waiting on time to play out.
Speaker 3: But I would say, yeah, I mean, of course they've
Speaker 3: definitely tried to get people to be removed from the
Speaker 3: courtroom that anybody that might be able to corroborate our
Speaker 3: story and provide additional evidence to put lock for a way.
Speaker 2: Of course they're doing you know, her lawyers are.
Speaker 3: Doing anything in their capability to give her the best
Speaker 3: chance at getting off.
Speaker 1: Slap on them, Stephanie. That that was led me right
Speaker 1: into my the question that I was feeling in my
Speaker 1: soul because I mean he said hot seat, and I'm
Speaker 1: going to oh, this hot seat could cool very quickly,
Speaker 1: and all it takes is one sentence or one word,
Speaker 1: and those lawyers are going to jump on it, and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, people can say what happened, what
Speaker 1: happened here?
Speaker 2: It was?
Speaker 1: It was it was a sheer case here that we
Speaker 1: that we had, we had done, and then when it
Speaker 1: cooled off, it's like, what happened?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, hopefully that doesn't happen in this upcoming trial.
Speaker 5: But I think one of the things with this case
Speaker 5: that has been so interesting to me is that there's
Speaker 5: so many eyes on it. There are so many we
Speaker 5: call internet detectives that have been following along and picking
Speaker 5: apart every single detail on Reddit, on YouTube, on every
Speaker 5: different social media platform. So when something happens with this case,
Speaker 5: there are a lot of eyes on it and people
Speaker 5: have the information pretty quickly, so we are keeping up
Speaker 5: to date with it as best we can.
Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Clayton and Stephanie
Speaker 1: coming up next. The name of the podcast Love Trapped
Speaker 1: with Clayton Eckert and Stephanie Young. Clayton, we live in
Speaker 1: an age where and first of all, I want you
Speaker 1: to know that, in my heart, Stephanie is not an
Speaker 1: armchair quarterback salut on this. She is an actual, honest
Speaker 1: to god journalist in this process of building the story.
Speaker 1: But I mean, how many of these armchair quarterback people
Speaker 1: came up to you and said, there's a story here, Clayton,
Speaker 1: but we need to share my way and not necessarily
Speaker 1: your way.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, I was approached before Stephanie and her team
Speaker 3: came to me. I was approached multiple times, and you know,
Speaker 3: there were a few times that I was like, no,
Speaker 3: absolutely not, and there were other times where I said, yeah, sure,
Speaker 3: I think you guys can share my story. And at
Speaker 3: the end of the day, none of them manifested for
Speaker 3: one reason or another. And so again I just felt
Speaker 3: that what was meant to be was going to occur.
Speaker 3: And so when I met Stephanie and her team, it
Speaker 3: just it just felt natural.
Speaker 2: It felt right.
Speaker 3: You know, they had the credibility they've they've they've they
Speaker 3: have high level productions. So for me, it was about, hey,
Speaker 3: let's get visibility on this because I want to go
Speaker 3: back to a point that was just made prior. There
Speaker 3: have been points in this last three years where this
Speaker 3: case has cooled off. And you know, right, what's so
Speaker 3: great about this podcast is it's going to basically build
Speaker 3: up right until the trial, so there is no chance
Speaker 3: for it to cool off.
Speaker 2: So as long as people follow.
Speaker 3: Along at this point, we are bringing a new audience
Speaker 3: with this podcast. And that's what I'm grateful for. Is, Look,
Speaker 3: I don't need anything massive to come from this other
Speaker 3: than I just don't want there to be a cooling
Speaker 3: off in the final hour because that's obviously the worst
Speaker 3: time for things, you know, for traction to be lost.
Speaker 2: And so you know, if we just.
Speaker 3: Get more visibility on this and there's the more eyes
Speaker 3: there are, the more likely that this individual is going
Speaker 3: to face the you know, the harshest extent.
Speaker 2: Of the law.
Speaker 1: When you say words like eyes right away, I am
Speaker 1: taken into a situation where it's it's like, I wish
Speaker 1: I could have been a fly on the wall to
Speaker 1: watch the eyes of you, Stephanie and your team when
Speaker 1: another victim comes into the storyline, because in that moment,
Speaker 1: you had to make a choice, and you had to
Speaker 1: make that right choice in order to keep this story
Speaker 1: growing forward.
Speaker 5: Yeah, of course, I mean I think one of the
Speaker 5: biggest things for me and this is that it wasn't
Speaker 5: just Clayton. And when we find out about this story,
Speaker 5: when the story goes public, it's because Clayton was a
Speaker 5: public figure. And I think that was probably the biggest
Speaker 5: turning point in this entire story, because if Clayton wouldn't
Speaker 5: have gone public, then we wouldn't have found out about
Speaker 5: the other victims. And because because Laura did go public
Speaker 5: with this story and put Clayton out there saying that
Speaker 5: she was pregnant with his twins, we wouldn't have found
Speaker 5: out about the other victims.
Speaker 4: And since we did find out about them.
Speaker 5: We're able to share their stories as well to create
Speaker 5: more awareness.
Speaker 1: Clayton, you're in the middle of all this. I mean
Speaker 1: it's like, are you writing? Are you doing something so
Speaker 1: that your heart can stay strong and your soul can
Speaker 1: keep moving forward and growing forward, Because I mean it's like,
Speaker 1: there's got to be a side of you that says, God,
Speaker 1: just drop it, just drop it so I can get
Speaker 1: on with my life.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I actually extended an offer multiple times to her to
Speaker 3: drop things before she made it public. The second that
Speaker 3: she went public and tried to publicly to fame me
Speaker 3: and look like, my image is a large part of
Speaker 3: what I do. You know, every line of work that
Speaker 3: I work in deals with relationships. I'm in sales, and
Speaker 3: so the public perception of me is everything. And so
Speaker 3: the second that she went after my public image was
Speaker 3: the second that I said, Okay, no more, you know,
Speaker 3: mister nice guy, no more, you know, trying to extend
Speaker 3: the olive branch, like I will fight fire with fire
Speaker 3: in order to you know, get you to understand that
Speaker 3: you you mess with the wrong person, that you shouldn't
Speaker 3: have done this to me.
Speaker 2: Again, I didn't want her to go public, but.
Speaker 3: When she did and then we found out very quickly
Speaker 3: about the other victims, that's when it hit me that
Speaker 3: it had to go public all along, because they were
Speaker 3: victims that you know, we're waiting or hoping and we're
Speaker 3: desperate for justice. And you know, with me getting pulled
Speaker 3: into the mix, yes, I have a bit of a
Speaker 3: following people that watched the show and are rallying behind me.
Speaker 3: And that's what it's all about. This support system that
Speaker 3: I've had along the way.
Speaker 2: It's the only.
Speaker 3: Reason why they are the main driver as to why
Speaker 3: we have a podcast now. Why things have pushed as
Speaker 3: far as to happen. I mean, we had hundreds of
Speaker 3: letters being written to the county attorney to get to
Speaker 3: pick this case up. And I know that that was
Speaker 3: a massive driving force towards her taking it up because
Speaker 3: she's getting hundreds of messages. She had to address it
Speaker 3: in a hearing one day. She said, Hey, guys, I'm
Speaker 3: getting your messages. You know, we're on top of this.
Speaker 2: And so it's it's the internet, sleuth, it's the audience.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: That's what's going and that's why accountability is right.
Speaker 2: In front of us.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Stephanie, I just can't imagine what you're
Speaker 1: doing with the average everyday person, because in reality, each
Speaker 1: of us we see ourselves in this story. It may
Speaker 1: not be Clayton's exact story, but something has happened in
Speaker 1: our own, on our own path that says, oh my god,
Speaker 1: if I would have done this, if I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: done this. Now everybody knows something that really I thought
Speaker 1: I was going to keep as a secret.
Speaker 5: And I think that that's why this story really resonates
Speaker 5: with a lot of people, because there are so many
Speaker 5: sensitive topics in it, and there's a lot of topics
Speaker 5: in this podcast that a lot of people have dealt
Speaker 5: with on a personal level and can relate to those things.
Speaker 5: And then having to see someone go through this at
Speaker 5: the level that they have gone through this in this
Speaker 5: podcast really kind of takes you back to those moments
Speaker 5: in your own life.
Speaker 1: I got to ask you a question, Clayton. With Stephanie
Speaker 1: knowing so much of this story, do you put her
Speaker 1: up on the stand this coming July? I mean, because
Speaker 1: she knows the freaking story here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, that's that's not my decision to make.
Speaker 3: But I would say that if the you know, lawyers
Speaker 3: felt that she, you know, could be a very great help, which,
Speaker 3: of course, yes, she knows more than most people. I mean,
Speaker 3: she knows inside the mind of me as well, and
Speaker 3: so uh yeah, she would absolutely be an integral part
Speaker 3: of you know, her testimony could be could be massive.
Speaker 2: I also just don't make those rules.
Speaker 3: And so if my lawyers feel that, you know, she
Speaker 3: she's she's going to be a great help, then of
Speaker 3: course I know that we would love to have her
Speaker 3: help out. She's already helped out greatly just by running
Speaker 3: this podcast.
Speaker 1: Your process. Stephanie amazes me because you. You really do
Speaker 1: come across as somebody who you land the information, But
Speaker 1: there's a side of your personality that still says I
Speaker 1: need to do a dummy check. I got to go
Speaker 1: back in and look one more time.
Speaker 4: Is that you?
Speaker 1: Because that's what I feel, that's who you are. You
Speaker 1: nailed it.
Speaker 5: There's like I said, there's so many people that follow
Speaker 5: along with this case and know every single fact. So
Speaker 5: for me, when I put this podcast out, one of
Speaker 5: the things that I was really stuck on was that
Speaker 5: I have to double and triple fact check everything because
Speaker 5: these people know the story in and out and if
Speaker 5: I get it wrong, they are going to let me know.
Speaker 5: So the fact checking process has been one of the
Speaker 5: most cumbersome parts of this story.
Speaker 1: Wow, where can people go to find out more about you, Clayton,
Speaker 1: to give you some love, to find out all sides
Speaker 1: of this story and so they can grow with you.
Speaker 1: And the same is true about you, Steph. So I
Speaker 1: would love to find out how both of how people
Speaker 1: can find out about both of you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll jump on here first.
Speaker 3: Look, the easiest way is I streamline everything through Instagram.
Speaker 3: It's my handle is my first and last name. Clayton
Speaker 3: acker last name Echard.
Speaker 2: You go on there.
Speaker 3: I have a website that's where I put everything. So
Speaker 3: anything that I'm doing in my life is going to
Speaker 3: be found through my Instagram, So I keep it simple
Speaker 3: with me.
Speaker 4: Find simple.
Speaker 5: My Instagram is I'm Stephanie Young. Stephanie has no e
Speaker 5: on the end of it, which is a strange spelling,
Speaker 5: but it ends with an eye. So I'm Stephanie Young
Speaker 5: on instag And if you want to follow along for
Speaker 5: podcast updates, obviously follow like subscribe on any of your
Speaker 5: podcast platforms, including the iHeartRadio app, and also follow at
Speaker 5: Glass Podcasts for Instagram updates on the podcast as well.
Speaker 1: For the two of you, we know what the story is,
Speaker 1: we know what the SoundBite you've got. I'm currently working
Speaker 1: on a series where it's like, I know the ending.
Speaker 1: I want to get to the ending as quickly as possible,
Speaker 1: but you can't. You've got to have that timing down.
Speaker 1: How are you guys dealing with that? You know what's
Speaker 1: going to be in this podcast? We listeners. We haven't
Speaker 1: gotten it yet.
Speaker 3: Yes, definitely, I mean I can jump in a little
Speaker 3: bit there and all that Stuffanie take the lead on
Speaker 3: this one, you know, Yeah, while we know what's all
Speaker 3: in here, it's more about, Yeah, the audience thinking they
Speaker 3: have all they know a lot of them, but they
Speaker 3: don't realize all the emails. There have been so many
Speaker 3: unreleased emails that we dive into. There's there's so many,
Speaker 3: so much psychology behind it as far as the victims,
Speaker 3: how they felt, and that has not been released yet
Speaker 3: to the public. So there's there's still there's a ton
Speaker 3: that goes into this. Again, I think what people know
Speaker 3: has just scratched the surface, and Stephanie obviously takes everybody
Speaker 3: deeper down below to see what else lies below the water.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and there's also certainly interviews with people that haven't
Speaker 5: really spoken publicly about this before, So I think you're
Speaker 5: going to hear a different perspective from some of the
Speaker 5: interviews as well.
Speaker 1: I took that as I'm going to see you on
Speaker 1: season two. That's exactly what I just felt in that moment.
Speaker 4: I hope, so, I sure hope.
Speaker 1: So Well, please come back to this show anytime in
Speaker 1: the future. The door is always going to be open
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 4: Well, thank you so much, Thank you so much. It
Speaker 4: was great to be here.
Speaker 1: Will you guys be brilliant today, Okay you as well.
Speaker 4: Thank you