6:37 a.m., I'm in my hotel room,
and I'm recording this in case something happens.
There's a man, 40s, Caucasian.
He's banging his head on my door.
Lia!
What do you want from me?
This is your warning!
My warning?
You can't scare me.
You can't scare me!
My name is Lia Haddock.
My name is Lia Haddock,
and you're listening to American Public Radio.
In 2003, the world's top neuroscientists
and their families gathered at a research facility
in Tennessee known as Limetown.
Their mission is still unknown.
The first time most people heard about Limetown
was on the night of Feber-ruary...
The first time most people heard
about Limetown was on the night of February 8, 2004.
A distress call went out from inside the town.
- 911. - Hello?
Hello, can you hear me?
We need emergency services at Limetown,
ambulances, firemen, police, damn it, just send all... Darby,
shut it off. Shut it off!
Shut it off. Shut it off!
17 minutes later,
first responders arrived at the gates
only to be denied entrance by a private security force.
We are here at Limetown.
A three-day standoff ensued
with loved ones desperate
and unable to make contact with their families inside.
And then something unexpected happened.
The security force stood down.
Let's go. Head out!
Roger that.
Bravo team, go!
Go, go!
Clear!
Clear.
- Bravo two, we're clear. - Clear.
- All clear. - Clear.
- Clear, clear. - Clear. We're clear.
Clear!
They found that every man, woman, and child, 326 people,
had vanished without a trace.
My uncle was one of the people living there.
I thought back to when I was five,
the last time I saw him.
Much better.
How was he one of the missing?
Can someone disappear when they're already gone?
For weeks Limetown was the biggest story in the world,
and then just as suddenly as the story of Limetown landed,
it evaporated back into the 24-hour news cycle,
overtaken by the first legal same-sex marriage
in the United States, the war in Afghanistan,
the war in Iraq, marriages, scandals, weather, drugs.
The story of Limetown fell through the cracks
of the constantly-changing world.
In the 15 years since,
no explanations have been uncovered
or given with any credibility.
And no citizens of Limetown have ever been found.
For most Limetown is a tragedy
among countless other tragedies,
but for many like myself it raises a question.
Without knowing what our loved ones
had sacrificed of themselves,
how much are we willing to sacrifice for the truth?
You are a month over deadline on a story
we agreed would take four months to complete.
Can you understand how this might make me feel?
I think it would really help
if you built this through your personal story.
I'm not seeing this in your edits.
What is this story if it's not personal?
This is an acknowledgement that this happened,
that these people and their families are not forgotten
and that after 15 years of silence,
there will be an ending to this story.
A 15-year-old event with nothing new to say,
which is what I told you when you first pitched it.
If this is not your personal journey,
then it is purely an historical document.
- Are you kidding me? - You have a week.
And you're going to be working with someone
to make sure that we meet this goal.
- No. - His name is Mark Green.
He is a hire from Chicago who I think can help.
- I don't need a babysitter. - Lia.
Hi, I'm... I'm Mark.
...you, Mark.
Um, nice to meet you.
Hey, listen, I know that you don't wanna work with me,
but honestly, I think...
What do you know about Limetown?
Well, I don't... I don't think they're all dead.
Actually, I prefer that TV movie,
"Signals" ' theory about Dr. Finlayson
contacting alien life forms and...
Okay, stop.
Know more than me by tomorrow.
Understood.
You... Oh, okay. Bye.
You want me to help with it?
- If you don't mind. - ...spaceship.
No, no.
No, no, you can look right through, look...
- Hey, Benji. - Hey. Back for more, are you?
- Yes, sir. Lia? - Terry Hilkins?
Oh, oh, you're early.
I've been waiting for this for a long time.
- Well, shall we? Come on. - Thank you.
What was it like being the only journalist
at the opening ceremony?
Well, it felt like immersive theater,
like everyone there was an actor playing a trick on me.
He's so fun.
Ladies and gentlemen,
help me give a warm welcome to Dr. Oskar Totem.
Dreams...
dreams speak to us.
Sometimes a dream can speak to a common people,
unifying them in a common cause.
We can't explain it to those who don't hear it.
We just feel it.
This...
this is a dream!
And in my dream, I have heard the future!
I always thought he sounded
more like a preacher than a scientist.
Yeah, he was a preacher, I guess,
just of who knows what?
You ever just think about Oskar and what his dream was?
Oh, only every day, yeah.
I want to see the execution site.
They found Dr. Totem right here.
You think he was a good man?
I don't know,
but no man deserves that, if that's what you're asking.
You know, I read that the Roman justice system
had all kinds of tools at its disposal, you know?
You could stone somebody to death
or throw them off a cliff, but crucifixion, I mean,
something like this was only used to send a message.
Awful, awful way to die.
Mm. It was supposed to be.
Well...
as soon as this facility
could be chained up and locked away, it was.
What do you think they were doing in here?
I have no idea. No one does, but you know that.
The only reason it wasn't torn down
was to give the illusion of hope.
Are you scared of Limetown?
Hm?
Well, yeah. Yeah, of course.
It's... it's like a graveyard with no bodies.
So we are looking at some scratches on the floor.
A commission report said
some people blockaded their doors.
Why do you think they would do that?
I don't know.
Oh, you probably shouldn't touch anything.
It's just crazy how normal this looks.
These were just people, you know?
It was just a place.
They were just people?
So you don't believe that they're alive anymore?
I... I don't. I...
Can we see the caves?
No, the caves are off-limits.
I won't tell if you won't.
Um, I... I really don't want to get into that.
They had to seal them off a few years back,
and they're... they're very, um, strict about that, so.
Do you think it was the caves?
I don't know.
Oh, come on, Terry. You were the only journalist
allowed in there on opening day.
I mean, you are literally the closest thing
that the world has to an eyewitness.
What happened?
There's only one thing that I am confident in.
What is that?
Closure is a process.
And for those who lost someone here,
that process never began, and it likely never will.
You of all people should know that.
This is Lia Haddock with Haddock News,
here with my uncle, Emile Haddock.
Uncle Emile, why do you call me Apple?
- Oh, I... I don't know. - Yes, you do.
I do? No, I don't. I don't know.
I don't... I don't remember.
- Hey. - Hey.
How was your trip?
Uh, medium green tea, please.
Sweetened?
Lia?
- Terry Hilkins? - Oh, oh, you're early.
- Hey. - Hey.
How was your trip?
Mm. Mm.
Wait. Do you want a drink or something?
Stop talking. Stop talking.
Stop trying to hide your birthmark.
You know I love it.
Stop trying to hide your birthmark.
You know I love it.
Stop trying to hide your birthmark.
You know I love...
your birthmark.
You know I love it.
Lia, it's 10:00 at night.
This is the fifth time this week.
If this is about Limetown...
Ron, I... I want to talk about something else, I promise,
and it's... honestly,
it's not really something that I like to discuss.
What?
Okay, so about five years ago,
before I left for APR,
I was working at "The Kansas City Star,"
and I was covering this Jane Doe death scene.
And her fingers had been sanded down to the bone.
On her legs and torso, these random slabs of skin
had been removed, probably to, you know,
hide any identifying birthmarks or tattoos.
Her teeth had been ripped out.
Those were never found, but you never would have known it
because a 12-gauge shotgun had removed the front of her head.
I guess the part that I just could never wrap my head around
was that this was... this was a suicide.
I mean, she... she did this to herself,
and I don't know why, I know it's not rational...
but I just always thought that this was connected to Limetown.
After all this time, I... now,
now I feel like I... I understand her.
Like, I understand the impulse, you know?
You just wanna...
just erase yourself.
Lia.
Before ever... anyone ever even understands why.
When do you want to meet?
Okay.
How did it feel when you realized
that everyone from Limetown had disappeared?
Sir, we have something.
Jesus.
It's Totem.
Those are from scoliosis surgery.
Oskar Totem had it when he was a teenager.
This entire complex is now a crime scene.
Sadia, work the stake with forensics.
Put mass fatality on standby.
Dyer, prints and shoe molds of everyone who's walked in
and out of those gates. Sterling.
Yes, sir?
Sterling, there are 326 people here.
Find them.
We dusted for prints, combed over surfaces for hairs.
We know there was a large population there
on February 8th,
and on February 11th it was like nobody ever was.
So every home, every facility, every business
has a direct connection to this cave system,
part of some geothermal initiative
they were taking advantage of for a tax break.
The problem is that this system
connects to one of the largest cave networks in the country,
80 miles in all directions.
Now, obviously we're not through it all yet,
but there are no local disturbances.
What does that mean?
It means that that's not where anyone went,
but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't keep looking
- for whatever it is we're... - Sir?
- We need you. - Well, can it wait?
What am... what am I looking at?
We were waiting on the mass fatality squad
to move forward...
found a fresh plot of topsoil.
Shit.
Open it up.
They're pigs, sir.
Do you think that that was some kind of animal sacrifice
or some kind of experiment?
Add it to the long list of things I can't explain.
The investigation went on for almost 200 days.
We issued 6,000 grand jury subpoenas.
There 13 congressional hearings all before
the official commission.
I retired not long after that.
How do you move 326 people without anyone noticing?
I don't know.
It had to be the caves, right?
Lia, have you ever heard of "The Library of Babel?"
- No. - "The Library of Babel"
is this old book about this universal library,
every book and every answer ever sought by the species.
The only problem is, all the good stuff
is drowned out by shelves and shelves of nonsense.
You understand?
In other words, the answers might be there,
but that doesn't mean you won't go crazy looking for them.
Of course I feel insane.
We know something happened there,
but there's not a damn thing we can do to prove it,
so we just have to be insane and keep acting like we're not,
and that's that.
Hey, Gina.
Uh, yeah, I just got the interview,
and, um, I uploaded it.
- Was he helpful? - Yes,
he was... he was very good.
But he didn't give you what you needed?
Yeah, this is the last thing.
We'll just, you know, do what we can with what we have.
You can't think of this as a failure.
No one else could have done what you did.
Okay, thanks. See you tomorrow.
This is Lia Haddock with Haddock News,
here with my uncle, Emile Haddock.
Uncle Emile, why do you call me Apple?
- Oh, I... I don't know. - Yes, you do.
I do?
No, I don't... I don't know. I don't...
No, you know. You just said.
- I did? - Yes.
What did I say?
You said it was because I was the apple of your eye.
Oh, you're right. That is why I call you Apple.
That's right, sorry.
Okay, sign off.
Oh, yeah.
This has been Lia Haddock
with Haddock News.
How does it matter? How does it connect?
What is the bigger theme?
Continuing... work.
What makes the Limetown tragedy unique,
what makes it worth discussion ...worth a continuing discussion
in spite of...
complete lack of context.
What makes the Limetown tragedy unique,
what makes it worth a continuing discussion
in spite of the collective moving on
is the complete lack of context.
Lia, I... I didn't mean to...
I said hi. You didn't hear me.
What... what are you doing here so early?
I... have you been here all night?
You did a good job putting the family section together.
It's a little over the top for me,
but, you know, people like that.
I'm glad you like it.
I said other people like it.
I think you need to get out of the way of your own tape.
Uh-huh.
Uh...
It's Terry Hilkins.
Should we record it?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
Hello?
Lia... oh, Christ.
Sorry. My heart's racing.
Okay, okay, Terry. Slow down. What's going on?
Lia, it's a survivor, and she wants to speak with you.
She's... she's verified. I... I saw her in Limetown.
I... I know it's her.
Merge the calls.
Merge the calls then.
Gina, you gotta get in here.
Okay.
Hello?
Is this Lia Haddock?
Yes.
How soon can we meet?
Um, who... who am I speaking with?
How soon can we meet?
Uh, whenever you want to.
I will only talk to you.
That's the only way this will work.
Okay.
Uh, how can I get in touch with you?
You'll hear from me.
Historical document, my ass.
This is the first account of Limetown
from someone who actually lived there.
- Hello? - I can only speak
within a very specific set of parameters.
It's about who she is, what she did, where she's been.
And to give you the information
I can give and no more.
Her story is Limetown's story.
If you follow these instructions,
I will direct you to the next survivor.
- There are more survivors? - Of course.