She Woke Up to a Breeze... Then Saw the Hole #truecrimestories #crimejunkies #podcast | Forensic Files

When she opens her eyes, it is pitch black. So, she starts to like feel around and her hand actually touches
grass. And when her eyes finally adjust to the darkness, she notices that there is this gaping hole sliced [music]
through the back of her tent and her little sister Susie, who had been sleeping right next to her, is gone.
[music] Now, Heidi doesn't hesitate. She runs to wake up her parents in their nearby
camper. Bill and Marietta Yaeger hurry out with flashlights hoping to see 7-year-old
Susie wandering their campsite somewhere, maybe using the restroom. But what they find causes even more panic.
Susie's stuffed animals that she'd been sleeping with are in the grass outside the back of the tent near where the hole
was. Now, they figure she couldn't have been gone long. It's just after 5:00 a.m. now and Heidi tells them that she
last laid eyes on her sister at 1:30 a.m. They'd both like woken up, chatted for a little bit before then falling
back asleep. >> wake them? >> Not that she remembers, but it's something that I've wondered about
because their parents had put them to bed earlier before going to their camper to sleep. So, I know that they were
asleep earlier. But it seems unlikely because it wasn't just Susie and Heidi in the tent. Two of their brothers were
actually in there, too. You see, the Yaeger family had an order about their campsite. So, for this month-long
excursion that they were on from their home in Michigan to Montana, the four youngest kids slept in the tent. Their
oldest son, Dan, had a sleeping set up in the family van. Parents, Bill and Marietta, have their own camper. And
even the grandparents who were on this trip, they also have their own sleeping quarters. And no one else reported
hearing anything strange in the night. They all stayed asleep until the family started waking them up one by one to
help search for Susie. In the book, The Lost Child, which was written by Susie's mom, Marietta, she
describes the moment that she saw Susie's stuffed animals on the ground >> [music]
>> and the hole in the tent. And Brett, I'm actually just going to have you read
from this sentence so people can hear directly from her. >> As I stumbled around the campground
searching, I was gripped by a terrible sense of separation, panic, and hopelessness in my inability to see.
I remember looking up at the black night sky and begging God to send the sun. The
darkness was unbearably frustrating. >> And in that moment, like desperate [music] for a logical explanation,
Marietta and Bill are asking Heidi if there was anything inside of the tent that Susie could have used to cut the
hole herself, but of course there wasn't. And right away, Marietta knows in her heart of hearts that someone has
her daughter.

In the early morning hours of June 25, 1973, 12-year-old Heidi Jaeger woke up to something strange: a breeze inside her family's tent.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she discovered a large hole sliced through the back of the tent. Her 7-year-old sister, Susie Jaeger, who had been sleeping beside her, was gone.

Outside, Susie's stuffed animals lay in the grass near the opening. As the family searched the campground, it quickly became clear that this was not a child who had wandered away.

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Brief Summary

The episode recounts the disappearance of 7-year-old Susie Yaeger during a family camping trip, highlighting the family's frantic search and emotional turmoil.

Key points

The Disappearance of Susie. Heidi wakes to find her sister Susie missing from their tent, sparking panic.
A Mother's Despair. Marietta reflects on the moment she discovers Susie's stuffed animals outside the tent.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was gripped by a terrible sense of separation, panic, and hopelessness.

Marietta's emotional turmoil as she searches for her daughter.

2:04WatchJun 9, 2026

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