The Facebook Message

My Mom’s Murder

Lauren Lee Malloy's life is upended when a stranger named Louise contacts her via Facebook, claiming that Lauren's mother did not die of heart

Key takeaways

• Louise provides specific crime scene details, such as bread on the floor and hair being ripped out, which are corroborated by former residents.
• Lauren's half-brother Tommy admits that the family intentionally withheld the truth about the death to protect Lauren.

Main topics

• Facebook message revelation
• Cold case investigation

Notable quotes

My mom hadn't died from heart disease. She'd been murdered.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a gripping introduction to a personal quest for

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of My Mom's Murder early and ad-free. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or by subscribing Speaker 1 (0:10) on Apple Podcasts. This project contains conversations and information obtained over a number of years, and individual memories of events referenced and or portrayed may differ. Any persons depicted in the project suspected of a crime are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Speaker 1 (0:35) My name is Lauren Lee Malloy, and I grew up without my mom. For the first 27 years of my life, I was told that my mom, Lori Lee Malloy, died at age 30 from heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to be exact. I was only 18 months old when my mother died. Speaker 1 (0:58) I've lived in Rhode Island my entire life, mostly around the capital city of Providence. And though I've traveled outside the state, Rhode Island has just always been home. Rhode Island is tiny, and Providence is even smaller. It's a unique place where somebody always knows somebody who can help with whatever you need, and the phrase, how you doing, is a standard greeting. We have good food and bad roads, and directions are given with long-gone landmarks mixed in. For example, You try that new taco spot? It's where the old Benny's used to be. So aside from a few adventures in my younger years, like the time I spontaneously booked a solo trip to California without telling my family, or the time I helped move a friend and her two dogs from Texas back home to Rhode Island in a Chevy Tahoe driving continuously for 29 hours, or the time I went cliff jumping at 17 years old, still can't believe I did that one, I'm sort of a creature of habit. I used to work in finance and now work in communications for a large tech company. My life has pretty much always been about work, my family, and my friends. My day-to-day has just never been anything out of the ordinary. Then, in June of 2020, a few months into the global pandemic that had us all in lockdown, something happened that changed my life forever. Speaker 5 (2:26) I got this Facebook message Speaker 1 (2:27) from a woman asking me if I was the daughter of Lori Malloy, if I had an Aunt Allison from East Providence, Rhode Island. And I was like, sorry, but who are you? And like, what is this? Speaker 5 (2:39) She tells me her name is Louise and some info about my family that I don't understand how she knows. She keeps messaging me and tells me she and my mom were so close that she knows I'm named Lauren after my mom's favorite perfume. She even says I was almost named Louise after her. She tries to call me on Facebook Messenger, but this is still all too strange, so I don't answer. Who is this woman? If she was my mom's best friend, why have I never met her, let alone heard of her? But then, a couple of days after I received the message, I remember something. I have a photograph of my mom smiling and posing with another woman. They're standing side by side in someone's kitchen. My mom looks like she's in her early to mid-20s and is wearing a blue dress. The other woman is wearing a skirt and a white sweater with a heart on it. On the back, my mom had written, me and Louise on our way to a busy town. Speaker 5 (3:44) I send the photo to Louise and she confirms that it's her. Yep, Speaker 1 (3:49) me and your mom on the way to New York City, she writes. Then she sends me a couple pictures she has of my mom, including one from her wedding day to her ex-husband. I mean, how would she have gotten that if she hadn't actually known my mother? Speaker 5 (4:07) So I finally get Louise's phone number and agree to talk to her. Speaker 5 (4:13) When I get on the phone with her, Louise tells me she was my mom's best friend from middle school. But the interesting part is what she says next. Speaker 1 (4:22) Louise tells me that my mom hadn't died from heart disease. She'd been murdered. Speaker 8 (4:35) He lurks in shadow. He slips into dreams. He casts no reflection. Audible presents Bram Stoker's Dracula, a new full-cast audio thriller starring Jonathan Bailey as Dracula and Ella Purnell as Mina Harker. Don't miss the year's best new audio thriller. Listen to Bram Stoker's Dracula only on Audible. Speaker 6 (4:55) I'm Candace D. Long, host of the podcast Killer Psyche. In our latest episode, we go inside the case of Lindsay Clancy the postpartum psychosis defense, and the stunning mistrial that just reignited a national debate. Listen to Killer Psyche on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (5:37) Audible Originals presents My Mom's Murder, hosted by me, Lauren Lee Malloy. Episode one, the Facebook message. Hey guys, today I'm finally talking about my mom's murder cold case. Speaker 1 (5:56) When Louise first called me, I had no way of knowing she was going to tell me my mom was murdered, so I didn't think to hit record on my phone. But I took notes on the call, and here's what Louise told me. Not only was my mom murdered, but her death was originally considered a homicide by the police. My mom was found naked and dead on the floor of our apartment in East Providence, Rhode Island, with her hair ripped out, the front door wide open, and the place a mess. There were also two drinking glasses on the table and bread scattered all over the floor. By the next call with Louise, I realize I need to start recording our conversations. Rhode Island only requires one party consent to being taped, so I'm good to go. You really think that that's what happened? I know that's what happened. That's her. That's Louise. How do you know, though? Speaker 3 (6:50) It was an East Providence detective. I ran into him. I said, what happened to Lori, my friend? And he said, Louise, he was the responding detective up there. He goes, somebody was there with her. There was two wines or beers, whatever, on the kitchen table. There was drugs involved. I don't know if there was. you know, a residue of something, whatever. I don't know. He didn't go that deep. And he goes, Lord, it was in the bathroom. I said, well, she was in the bathroom. He goes, well, it looked like she was puking and she just fell backwards. Speaker 5 (7:29) My jaw is on the floor at this point. Not only had I always been told my mom died from a heart problem, but no one really answered my questions about it growing up. Louise not only knows details about my mom's life and death, but she knows about my life after I was adopted too. She knows where I grew up and even where my adopted family hung out. Speaker 1 (7:51) At this point, I'm not sure what to make of any of this or if I even believe a word she's saying. but I'm completely freaked out. The next day, I go to work out at the gym with my best friend, Ramona. There's always so much traffic here. I've only known Ramona since the end of 2015, but she feels like family, like a sister who's been there through the good and the bad. I download her on the weird call I'd had with Louise. Ramona listens to my story, then asks where my mom had grown up. When I tell her, she stops what she's doing because she realizes that my mom and her family lived on the exact same street. What did your family say when you were telling them about all of this? I'm so curious, like, what was their reaction? I Speaker 2 (8:40) think my sister was the first one I called. And I said, hey, do you remember Lori? Lori Miller. She's like, oh my gosh, of course I do. She was my best friend. And I was like, that's Lauren's mom. And she never put two and two together. And she kind of just paused. Oh my gosh. It had been so long. You know what I mean? It had been so long. And it was like, she was close to your mom. And then right before your mom passed, she didn't hear anything from your mom. And then years later, it's like her daughter is basically in our family. Speaker 5 (9:22) My mom died when I was 18 months old. So I only have snippets of memories of her. Speaker 5 (9:33) What I remember most about my mom is her voice and how she felt. She used to sing to me all the time. She was warm and light like sunshine, and her voice was the most comforting sound. All I knew with her was love.