Episode 185 - James Dallas Egbert III - Nerd Crimes

In 1979, a missing teen genius accidentally birthed the 'Satanic Panic.'

Welcome to Brew Crime: Nerd Crimes, where fantasy meets felony. We're kicking off with the case that turned a brand-new tabletop game into a cultural boogeyman: the disappearance of 16-year-old child prodigy, James Dallas Egbert III.

Dallas vanished from his college dorm, leaving behind a confusing note and a pile of Dungeons & Dragons books. When a flamboyant P.I. started a bizarre search in the university's underground steam tunnels, the media latched onto a theory: did the brilliant student lose himself in a live-action game? Or was the tragic reality far more personal, heartbreaking, and complex than any fantasy quest?

Roll for a deep dive into the real story behind the headlines, the fear-mongering, and the life of the boy who became the scapegoat for a nation's moral panic.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dallas_Egbert_III

• https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/09/disappearances-dragons-the-james-dallas-egbert-iii-story/

• https://www.sengifted.org/post/seng-s-25th-anniversary-conference-reflections-on-seng-s-history

• https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-dungeon-master-the-disappearance-of-james-dallas-egbert-iii_william-c-dear/341434/

• (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_controversies)

• https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/dungeons-and-dragons-dd/

• https://timharford.com/2024/11/my-epic-40-year-dungeons-dragons-odyssey/

• https://news.virginia.edu/content/dungeons-dragons-and-burgers-really-bad-outcomes-when-we-dont-grasp-fractions

• https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Exhibit/162-567-5/campus-legends-and-myths/

• https://michiganlgbtqremember.com/2018/04/22/j-dallas-egbert-iii/

• https://statenews.com/article/2024/02/msus-secret-steam-tunnels-reveal-hidden-history-beneath-our-feet

• https://digital.nls.uk/1980s/society/dungeons-dragons/
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345770827_Misguided_Paladins_A_Sympathetic_Investigation_of_Cultural_Factors_That_Gave_Support_to_the_Factually_Inaccurate_Campaign_Against_Dungeons_Dragons

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