In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman perished during a barn fire. The coroners report: natural causes. Idas husband, Eli, was never considered a suspect. But when he eventually rejected the faith and took his son, Danny, with him, murder followed. What really happened to Ida? The dubious circumstances of the tragic blaze were willfully ignored and Elis shifting narratives disregarded. Could Elis subsequent cross-country journey of deathincluding that of his own sonhave been prevented if just one person came forward with what they knew about the real Eli Stutzman? The questions haunted Gregg Olsen and Idas brother Daniel Gingerich for decades. At Daniels urging, Olsen now returns to Amish Country and to Elis crimes first exposed in Olsens Abandoned Prayers, one of which has remained a mystery until now. With the help of aging witnesses and shocking long-buried letters, Olsen finally uncovers the disturbing truthabout Idas murder and the conspiracy of silence and secrets that kept it hidden for forty-five years.
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