ExCLUEsive: Athena Strand’s Story Still Haunts Us: Our Most Honest Discussion Yet

Athena Strand’s murder forces us to confront a terrifying truth: danger can come disguised as routine. In this ExCLUEsive conversation, we unpack our emotional response to the case, the systemic cracks it exposes, and why this story continues to haunt us. It’s uncomfortable, it’s honest, and it’s necessary. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:33

The last clue is a production of Smith Media Team LLC. If you have any information about these cases, please email us at info at Smith Media Team LLC.com.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

This is exclusive.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Exclusive.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

I'm trying to stay calm. I know I'm not gonna do a very good job of it.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

That's okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

And you know, our new uh friends here probably aren't gonna help out much either.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Which friends?

SPEAKER_00 1:04

We have new coffee.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

No ho.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

We We had a nice little message from a company that sells their own coffee, and I pulled out your debit card and ordered coffee from me.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

I saw that come through.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Yep. No shift coffee company.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

No shift.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

No shift.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

That might be a safe for work thing that we can use in our regular podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

As long as I don't talk too fast, because my normal language would say the other, which I guess I can say.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

That's what I would say. I know. I gotta be careful.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Well, if if you say no shift.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

The the s'mores will help. I have the I have the s'mores. Do you need s'more of that? Maybe. Your first shift? My first shift. Your first sip of no shift. No, I'm not gonna say sip anymore. If no shift comes on as a sponsor, I'm gonna say my first shift. Okay. Shift of coffee. Holy shit, that's smooth.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Yeah. Okay. Alright. S'mores coffee, no shift coffee company. And exclusive.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Exclusive.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Well, let's dive into this. Let's go. We we've talked all week about our exclusive content. And I am enraged as a father, as a human, decent person, and as a human being.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Yeah. Sorry. Sometimes when I get angry, I'm either extremely vocal or I'm extremely quiet. There's really no no in between with me.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

And you know, there's uh there's something to be said for the people that do this and and aren't just people that are regurgitating stories. Uh there are some true crime podcasts out there, and I'm I'm not taking shots at anybody, but there are some true crime podcasts out there that just regurgitate the story that you've heard a hundred times. What we try to do is we try to give you the facts, but we also try to incorporate either some investigation that we have personally done or our opinions so that it will cause comments, back and forth, etc. on our social media pages. And we don't do it to we we don't say black just because everybody else is saying white. That's not what we're about. We we give our opinions on stuff, and our opinions are our opinions. Now, if you ask a couple of people on our Facebook page, they think that we should do some other stuff, but that's neither here nor there. That that's gonna really get me fired up. Well, that's part of exclusive. Oh God. Let's talk about Tanner Lynn Horner.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Oh, that motherfucker.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

First of all, Tanner Lynn Horner belongs in the general population, and if they were smart, they would pair him with about a dozen other fathers who are in prison that have also lost children.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

That's maybe they're in prison because they lost children.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

That's exactly what I would do with Tanner Lynn Horner. If you are not familiar living under a rock, maybe hearing this story for the first time. Oh and it's our exclusive listeners. Uh oh, for sure. They they know, but this this whole this was December of 2022, and seven-year-old Athena Strand out in Paradise, Texas, was in front of her home and became missing. And a missing child search began and it has been discovered over time. Now it depends on what story you listen to, because this this guy has told so many stories that I don't even remember. I cannot keep his story straight. He has told the story that he this a FedEx driver, Tanner Lynn Horner, that he delivered a package, which ironically was a package of dolls to what?

SPEAKER_01 5:32

No, I was just thinking, didn't he hadn't he been there previously? I I believe he had delivered to the home previously.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Probably how he scouted.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah, exactly. And she ran up to the Fat X truck looking for her Barbies.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Yeah. And again, he's told so many stories, so many lies that it's hard to keep everything straight. At one point he said he backed the truck up and backed into her, thought she was injured, bullshit and then for whatever reason loaded her up in the truck.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Bullshit. He's gonna take her to the hospital, whatever the fuck it was.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Another story is he just he's all bullshit. Invited her into the FedEx truck, I believe, and she got in and he took her. Anyway, this Jagoff has wasted everyone's time. And you won't hear me say this very often, but he's wasted the court's time, which I could give a shit about the court's time because I'm sorry, but you're you're talking about bureaucrats and attorneys that are making four hundred dollars an hour. I could give a shit less about their time. I'm sorry. I and we have we have friends that are attorneys. We have friends that are law enforcement, we have absolutely I'm and I'm sorry. I I hate to say that, but if you're making four hundred dollars an hour, then you're you're not wasting your time in court, no matter how what the outcome is, because you're you know going home to a bathtub full of money. Back off. So Tanner Lynn Horner has lied throughout this entire thing. As I said, he said he backed his FedEx truck into her, thought she was injured, was gonna take her somewhere, instead of picking up his cell phone, calling 911, going up to the door, ringing the doorbell saying, Hey, I think I might have hit your daughter. Screaming. All of it's a total lie.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Any anytime that you do something like this, I I would like to think if if I hit a child, you best believe my arms are flailing, my voice is screaming, I am weeping, I am hollering, I am fumbling for my phone. I'm I am gathering the attention of anyone that is near, far. Anybody that's going to come help, help. And I'm getting their attention as I'm calling 911. If I'm taking this child to the hospital, I'm telling somebody on the phone, I get an ambulance here. I'm on my way to the hospital with an injured child. This is going on. Help me, help, help, help. I have this child. I'm going to the nearest hospital. This is where I'm at. This is what I'm doing. I am racing 100 miles an hour in my mind, I on the phone, kind of like I am right now.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Well, we just watched an episode of Eye of the Storm where uh an amateur, I say amateur, I don't know his profession, but he was he was watching a storm. He ended up in the area where there was a tornado. Storm chaser. He happens to go onto this road where said house was and finds nothing. And and there is a a husband, a wife, multiple children, a dog just like walking, devastated because her house is gone. The youngest boy, the young boy is bleeding. Yes. He loads them up in the car and he calls 911 while he's driving them. He's got a dog in his lap, a dog that he doesn't know. He's got a husband sitting next to him that has a broken hand. He's got a child sitting in the middle console in the back that is bleeding, and he is telling the hospital. He is telling the hospital everything he can possibly tell them. You even hear him on the video, because he's videoing the whole thing. He's a storm chaser, he's videoing the whole thing. He says, I don't know your name. What's your name? But he's telling them everything he can possibly tell them.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

You've got the mom in the back with the with the kids, the child is bleeding profusely, and she's applying the pressure. She's saying what she's doing. He's telling the 911 operator everything that's going on. Yes, the the child, the little boy's bleeding from the head. She's applying pressure. We're heading to this hospital. This is where we're going. This is what we're doing. You know what Tanner Lynn Horner didn't do? Any of that. Any of it.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

So this Tanner Horner, by the way, 34 years old.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Oh, get off.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Again, hasn't told a straight story yet. And now, on top of it, not only has he wasted everyone's time, including the family of Athena Strand, who just wants to try to find some type of peace through this entire thing, if that's even possible. This girl was seven. That I don't know if peace will ever be possible for any of them. Nope. I cannot imagine what would happen if something happened to a to a seven-year-old child that I was even associated with, much less my daughter. So this guy has come up with all of the stories. He waits until moments before his trial was set to begin in Fort Worth, Texas, and he pleads guilty. Which he should have done from the get-go. He should have done that in the fucking FedEx truck after he tried to strangle her and after he tried to break her neck with his bare hands. He should have he should have admitted it then, but he doesn't know how to tell a straight story. So insert zero his multiple personality that just so conveniently shows up when this guy is not telling straight stories. Zero.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

I thought it was a nightmare. I thought I was having a nightmare. And when I woke up the next morning and I found her pants in my bag, I realized it wasn't a nightmare. So zero must have done it.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

I've had nightmares. I've got I've slept walk. I'm gonna tell you, I've peed in a sink more than once for no apparent reason. I don't know what nightmare I was having or what dream I was having or whatever. I've found myself in other rooms before. I get that. I have never, to my knowledge, woken up and hurt someone during a nightmare. Now, I I may have flailed my arms and accidentally hit you or something like that. Wow. But I mean, that this guy with his bare hands strangled the life out of Athena Strand and then tried to break her neck. Actually, uh back that up. He tried to break her neck first, and it was too difficult for him to do, or zero, depending on if you're believing any of that bullshit.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Zero zero, zero truth-telling skills, zero remorse, zero idea of what the fuck you should do as a decent fucking human being.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

I wish we could use the sound clip of I believe it's the teacher or principal from Billy Madison that says zero point zero. It's a great sound clip.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

But I have zero clue because I've never seen the movie.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

I haven't either. I actually just know the reference. But this guy tries to break a seven-year-old girl's neck, and then when he can't do that, he strangles the life out of her, and by all accounts, including his, when he got rid of a little Athena Strand's body, he tossed her by her head into a creek. This is the type of individual that he won't. He won't because even as big and bad as Texas justice says it is, Texas justice far and away is kind of laughable. And I'm not saying that to take a shot at Texas. I know that there uh are some good people in the justice system down there, but what should happen with Tanner Horner is he should go to a very rough prison. He should be put into general population, and he should be cellmates with at least two other men who have lost children to some type of ordeal that could even be comparable to this. That's what should happen to Tanner Horner. This this entire zero thing, this is laughable. This is him trying to get out of taking responsibility. He pled guilty, but he's trying the zero angle to say, Well, I'm mentally unstable, so I shouldn't. The punishment shouldn't include this. The punishment shouldn't include this. The punish he's trying after murdering a seven-year-old.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

Which already makes you mentally unstable, but that does not excuse what you've done.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

He is trying to get out of any type of punishment he can possibly get out of by creating this zero character that came up. He has zero character. I have you're exactly right. I have seen no one in all of I've had to read this shit over and over and over and over again and read what he's done. I have seen no one to borrow a phrase from Tanner Horner, I have seen zero people mention this multiple personality character or multiple personalities, period, before speaking about Tanner Horner.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Well, because he is a lying piece of shit. So there's that. And I we've we've said that over and over again. He's he's he's he's a goddamn liar. He's a goddamn liar. That's all there is to it.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

We've had we've had a person that says that they are close to the family, that is upset that we have posted the picture, now infamous, of Tanner Horner driving the FedEx truck with little Athena Strand in the back. The reason I mention that is to say this one of the rulings that has come out of this that I do agree with. I personally I I love horror movies and I'd love to be scared. I think I said in the podcast that what one of my favorite genres is found footage horror films. I I like that realism. I drove several hundred miles when the Blair Witch project came out to watch the uh the premiere that happened in Dallas. I I'm I I'm a fan of that genre. What I don't think I can handle and what luckily the court has deemed that hopefully no one outside of that court will ever hear is the audio from the FedEx truck of Tanner Horner murdering Athena Strand. It is going to be played in court. It is going to be played for the jurors, but it will not, hopefully, hopefully, will not see the light of day. Now, my fear is that some less than scrupulous news outlet will get a hold of it and it will make its way on the airwaves if it hasn't by the time that we publish this episode. I personally don't that's too real for me.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

And and there are social media pages and groups and such that do that morbid kind of stuff. I am not looking for it. I don't want to see it. I don't want to hear it. And I I don't want any part of that. And I think that's that's one of the things that bothered me. There was another comment on our our page that said, stop sharing the video. We never shared the video.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Not one time.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Not one time. And we wouldn't. We never would. That's no, no, that's not that's not journalism to me.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

No. We we did share the photo because that photo has been mass-shared by everyone from CNN to the local news outlets to true crime podcasts across the country. It is a still photo of Tanner Horner behind the wheel of the FedEx truck and Athena Strand standing in the walkway from the driver's area to the back of the truck. That's the only thing that we've shared. Now, if we shared a news story and it had that video in it, that's not us sharing that video. We we're not gonzo journalists. We're we're not these people that take clips that don't have anything to do with stories, and this goes back to our coverage about Jesse Mac Butler. We're not finding these video clips that don't have anything to do with the case and posting them and saying, look what happened to Athena Strand. That's not us. That's not us. I mean, we make mistakes, sure. Yeah. Daily. Daily, but that is not the kind of journalism we're after. If you know anything about us, if you you've read anything about the podcast, we we're about justice. We just want an end, and hopefully a good end. There's not a lot of good ends in true crime. No. I don't want to break news here, and we don't have a breaking news sounder. There are not a lot of positive endings when it comes to true crime. We we both work regular jobs. I don't know why I said it in a Michigan accent, but that's one of the places I I claim. We we both work regular jobs, and then we come home and we dive into true crime. And when I say d dive into true crime, it's not turning on the Netflix special of the week. It's not going to Paramount Plus, it's not doing those things. We're we are reading about cases. If you saw the amount of paperwork in this house and the whiteboard and everything else, you would go, God, how do you keep your sanity?

SPEAKER_01 20:13

How m how many emails we get, how many texts we might get from personal friends, how many times we're tagged in stories and DMs.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

And we don't mind that at all. No, not at all. But but again, we're we're two people, so we are we're doing the best we can with what we have. And you you continue getting back on track here. You just continue to read over and over and over again about the Athena Strand murder, the seven-year-old girl who had her life ahead of her. We we are not going to go the cheap route. I can promise you, if someone decided to send us that audio, that would be one of, if not the only, emails that I would probably never open. I just I don't think that's it. I don't think I have it in me to to listen to it. It would that would make me want vigilante justice more than what I have already said. That would make me want to drive to to Texas, I'm sure, and take Athena's justice in my own hands. And that's not the right thing to do. That's not the right thing for anybody to do. Let's just clear the air right now. This this is not a situation where you need to go to the courthouse in Fort Worth and try to get justice for Athena yourself.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

And my reasoning, and you can put your own words out there, but my reasoning for sharing that photo was not to traumatize the family. It wasn't to re victimize the family or Athena or anything of the sort. My reasoning was to get Tanner's face out there because I want people to continue to stay angry. At this person for what he did. I'm not calling him a man because he's not a fucking man. That's my reasoning behind it. It's not to upset the family or anything of the sort. I'm taking it from the other side, and I want people to stay angry.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

And the and and the thing, the thing that I have issue is is the same thing that we've talked about just a little bit earlier, but he already did one of the most reprehensible things you can think of. And it still, I don't believe, has been determined if Athena Stram was actually sexually assaulted. There there is there is DNA that has been brought up in the court. It has not been publicized whether that has happened yet, but it's going to come out one way or the other. But he's done one of the worst things he could possibly do.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

I believe it's out there.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

It is. I didn't know if it was confirmed. Like if some if a law enforcement official had come out and said this happened. Right. Regardless. But he has he's taken the life of a seven-year-old girl. He's taken the life of a human being anyway, but a seven-year-old girl who never got a chance to even experience life. He's taken her from this earth. He's taken her from this family. And then all he has done is lied to cover his own ass this whole time. And then gets to the 11th hour and decides, you know what? I'm going to go ahead and plead guilty because I've already laid the tracks with all of my lies that I am going to attempt to save my own fucking ass from Sparky. That is exactly what he's done this whole time. He did the worst possible thing, one of the worst possible things ever. And then he has continued to make this worse on everyone involved. And I believe, even himself. Probably. Which I hope, because if if all of this comes to light and if it does come out that he does in fact have a mental illness, it's not going to change my feelings. Nope. But I would I wouldn't have compassion. I would have a a a very minuscule amount of possible understanding because I I don't truly understand what kind of mental capacity would make you go to that length. But if it does come out that he has a tried and true mental illness, I would have just a very probably a piece of sand. And I don't even want to say understanding, but I would I would think about it maybe just a little bit of a different way. I don't think the ending should be any different. And I'm not going to say that. If he comes out and has a mental illness, I still think that he should be put in one of the worst prisons in America. I think he should be put in the general population. And I think that he should be forced to make friends with some of the most violent killers who have lost children in the past. This guy, you only did this to yourself. You had every opportunity. You had every opportunity to try to help Athena Strand. And you didn't.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

And this is our this is your opinion. You're allowed to have your opinion.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Am I? I d I don't know. We got we got one lady on our Facebook page that would beg to differ.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Yeah, she wants us to to take the the picture in the FedEx truck down. And this that's why that that's my reasoning that I I'm I'm not taking it down. We're not taking it down. Again, it's not to traumatize the family. It is to continue to make people angry about what this person did to Athena.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

My mom and dad used to say want in one hand and shit in the other and see what's going on. See which one fills up faster.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Yep. First. Mine said faster. First. My parents said faster.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

She's arguing with me now.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Well, I'm angry.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

But listeners, what are your thoughts? I mean, we we've already had some pretty scathing comments about Tanner Horner, but it is there is there any reason at all that he should end up in solitary confinement? Is there any reason at all in your mind? Is there any reason he should end up on suicide watch? Is there any reason that he shouldn't face the death penalty? Just it any anything that you have on your mind, we we read every comment. We we try to respond. I bet we're I bet if we saw our numbers, we're probably in the 95 to 98 percent percentile of responding. We try to respond to everything. We want to.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Sometimes Zuck doesn't let us. Sometimes Zuckers I I won't want to say, well, and sometimes Zuck just doesn't show us. But you can also email us. You don't have to you don't have to comment on social media. We we appreciate it if you do. It makes it more real it it and conversational because other listeners will also jump in with their opinions and their thoughts and get a conversation flowing.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

But we've also had people that have emailed us and the email the email is info at smithmedia teamlc.com. We've had people email us and go, hey, I you know, I I don't think I should tell you this, or there's something you should know, or whatever. Those people's names will never come out.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

That's fine too. You can also email us through Buzz Sprout. There's a a fan mail button there where you can send us an email and get a hold of get a hold of us that way.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Buzzmail.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Buzzmail.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

If Buzz Sprout calls their email system Buzzmail, uh we want to cut. I am I'm saying that we're the first person to ever say that.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Buzzmail.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Buzzmill.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Buzzmail.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Buzzmill. That's not no buzzmill's something different. But what are your thoughts on what should happen to Tanner Horner? Do you really think that he has a multiple personality that could have carried out the murder of seven-year-old Athena Strand? Do you think he should avoid the death penalty? Do you think he should spend the rest of his life in jail? Do you think he should not go to jail at all? Whatever your thoughts. We want to hear those and we want to hear your reasoning why. Don't just put a comment up that says he should fry. Talk to it. Give us some perspective on what you're actually thinking. That's what we like. We want you to think about these. We do not record once a week on these stories just to hear, I agree. I don't want that. If you agree, that's fine. Give us a perspective. If you disagree, that's even better. Let's talk about it. But you know, I let let's just have a conversation. So what do you think should happen to Tanner Horner? I've already told you what I think should happen. You've already said what you think should happen. Now, listeners, it's your turn. I'm getting more coffee.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

That's insightful commentary there. I mean Wow.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Sorry. I'm still processing. I'm I'm sitting here sweating bullets and drinking coffee. That'll be proud out of anger, so probably gonna sweat even more. But speaking of coffee, I'm listening. Well, we have a buy me a coffee set up now. And some people don't know what that is, but buy me a coffee is another way to support the show. Like some people do Patreon or things like that. We have a buy me a coffee link and it's buymea coffee.com slash the last clue podcast.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

We try to keep it simple so you can find us.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

It's it's just another way to support the show. I it you don't have to be a member. You can just throw in a dollar, you can throw in fifty dollars at anything in between.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

So throw us a dollar forty-four. I think that would be that that will show that you actually listened to this episode.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

That's just a gross number. One dollar you're right.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

God, I did not think that through before I said it. Send us my math mind. Send us three dollars and fourteen cents.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Pie.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Yeah. Just throw it throw us some random number so at least we know you heard this. I like it.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Random number. I like a random number.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Final thoughts on Tanner Horner.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

I don't want to think about him ever again after this. I really don't. Because it makes me angry. I I know I said I want people to stay angry about him, and and I want it to stay that way through the trial. Beyond that, I don't ever want to think about him again.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

And we also have a hearing coming up on Jesse Mac Butler, who was the little story that was supposed to stay little because nobody wanted it outside of that county, and it actually became a national news story that we have covered in a prior episode or two. What do you think is going to happen just quickly? We're not going to go into huge detail. Is anything going to happen from this Jesse Mack Butler court hearing coming up? I I've seen a lot of politicians talking about it.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

It's an evidentiary hearing that has to do with Marzi's law. So I just I hope the victims stay loud. I really do. Because with the way that one of the victims' mom is has been a bulldog from the beginning. Kudos to her. Girl, keep making the noise.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

I like it. And I I want, you know, I I want the Powell family to keep making noise too, because that story needs to go national.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

That has a court date coming up too, I believe. We'll be on it. We will. For the Jesse Mike Butler case, do you think if he faces additional punishments, like if they go through this whole deal and he the courts find that he needs to face some additional charges? Do you think his mother should also face Absolutely?

unknown 32:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:35

She she was kind of a presence in the videos when they went to go pick him up from his home.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

So was his sister, who happens to be an educator.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

She did not educate Jesse on the word no.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

None of them did.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Apparently. Alright, folks, that's a wrap for us. We will be back probably this coming week with a new episode. We will. And we'll also have exclusive.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Exclusive.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

You'll have to tune in to find out what that's going to be about. But I'm sure it's going to be something that we're angry about. Alright, folks. Stay out of trouble.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Please don't be an episode.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

And always keep searching for the last clue.