Truth in the Shadow is a true crime podcast hosted by Peggy Simmons and Tracey Izatt.
Truth in the Shadow started in early 2019 with a lone podcaster, Peggy, as a way to give back to the family of Ruben David Felix, a toddler who had gone missing from Shoshone ID.
Shortly after launching the podcast, Peggy began focusing on the Lindsey Baum case. A native Washintonian, from a town much the same size as McCleary, Peggy felt a real connection to the case. The podcast really stirred things up. People sent tips, questions, and their own stories of trauma. Then came a message from some of the advocates for Lindsey’s case: telling Peggy she’d gotten facts wrong.
Peggy met up with Lindsey’s mother Melissa in McCleary. After speaking to Melissa, and being given a guided tour of McCleary, Peggy realized she needed follow up, and to dive deeper on this case. Peggy felt she was finally making headway into the case, when she discovered that a person of interest (PIO) had befriended her daughter. And he knew her daughter’s connection to the podcast.
Things were just too close to home for Peggy’s safety, and she stopped working on the case.
In February 2021, Truth in the Shadow was sitting defunct, when Tracey Izatt, a True Crime documentarian newly transplanted in Tacoma, found out the Lindsey Baum case. Tracey felt the case was solvable, and, with Melissa Baum’s blessing, she began working on a documentary. Red Marble Media in New York, quickly snapped the project up to pitch.
It didn’t take long for Tracey to discover that she was retracing steps podcaster Peggy had already taken. When Tracey reached out to Peggy to discuss collaborating, Peggy was initially suspicious, but seeing Tracey’s IMBD was legit, agreed to speak with her, lending any info she had available.
Tracey suggested it was time to get the podcast back up and rolling. As time went on, it was clear that with all the information they had amassed, putting it all together would make sense. They created a plan for the documentary and the podcast to work together. The podcast re-launched on September 30, 2021.
When these producers aren’t researching and recording their podcast or working on the documentary for Lindsey Baum, you can imagine them running long distances, hiking and shooting firearms.