Murder in the Heartland (Unabridged‪)‬

On December 16th, 2004, a Nodaway County, Missouri, 911 operator received a frantic call from the mother of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an eight-months-pregnant mother-to-be found bleeding and barely breathing on her family room floor, her unborn baby gone.

More than 150 miles away, in Melvern, Kansas, Lisa Montgomery proudly showed off "her" new baby at church and a local diner, duping many while arousing the suspicions of others. Across the nation, televisions broadcast the first Amber Alert for an unborn child...

Here is the true story of a baby born under shocking conditions, of the lucky break that led to the alleged killer, of a tortured history of sexual abuse and "moral insanity," and the pain that lingers in two American towns that will never be the same again. With the exclusive cooperation of key witnesses and participants, investigative journalist and acclaimed author M. William Phelps reveals what really happened that fateful December day.

Like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, Murder in the Heartland takes an unflinching look at an American tragedy, exploring its terrible trajectory with courage, insight, and compassion.