transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:01] On September 18th, 2023, the story hit the press. The headline read, Baby Mama Drama? Bachelor Clayton Echard's ex-fling demands he take paternity test in court case after she becomes pregnant with twins.
Speaker 2:
[00:16] My name is Diana Cooper, and I am a former reporter with the US Sun. And back in 2023, I broke the story of Laura Owens and Clayton Echard alleging that she was pregnant with his twins.
Speaker 1:
[00:31] Diana received a tip, an email from a woman in Arizona with a shocking claim.
Speaker 2:
[00:37] A lot of people on our team were like, is it real? Like when you have to question something, it's kind of like, okay, maybe readers are going to be just as interested as we are.
Speaker 1:
[00:46] The readers were very interested. Under the headline, the Sun posted multiple pictures of Clayton from his time on The Bachelor. You can imagine what this felt like for him. He was trying to leave his bachelor past behind. Now he was in the spotlight again, and not in a good way.
Speaker 3:
[01:05] As soon as he saw the article, I put my hands on my head and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is going to be such a mess.
Speaker 1:
[01:13] Clayton's phone started blowing up with texts and DMs.
Speaker 3:
[01:17] It was nerve wracking at the time because I assume most of these DMs were going to be negative.
Speaker 1:
[01:22] But they weren't all negative. One of them turned out to be extremely important.
Speaker 3:
[01:28] So I was just scrolling through my Instagram DMs and all of a sudden I see this message from a woman named Ashley.
Speaker 1:
[01:34] The message came in just 24 hours after the story broke. And this is what it said.
Speaker 3:
[01:39] Hey, you need to look into this court case. You're not the only one. Look up Owens v. Gillespie in the AZ court docs. Two plus years ago, she accused my boyfriend of getting her pregnant with twins.
Speaker 1:
[01:57] I'm Stephanie Young, and this is Love Trapped. The day the news broke, Clayton was actually on his first day of a new job, a hosting gig for a local TV show called Pickleball Paddle Battle.
Speaker 3:
[02:36] The thing is, I don't even play Pickleball, but when the opportunity came through, I figured, hey, why not? It'll be a fun gig, we'll have a good time, and I'm not going to pass this up.
Speaker 1:
[02:46] The day before filming started, he posted on social media saying he'd be on set that week. Then he got an email, the kind of email he'd been getting all summer. It was from Laura Owens. He'd come to expect them, but he hadn't gotten used to them.
Speaker 3:
[03:04] She said, look, I'm going public if I don't hear back from you. I've given you enough chances, but now it's time for this story to be heard and for people to find out who you really are.
Speaker 1:
[03:13] He'd been issued this ultimatum a few times before, Laura demanding he engage with her and threatening to go public if he didn't. Clayton ignored her message, but this time, Laura wasn't bluffing.
Speaker 2:
[03:27] Laura sent us a tip to the Sun's tip line email.
Speaker 1:
[03:32] That's Diana Cooper again, the one who broke the story. At the time, she was writing nearly a story a day for the Sun, mostly about the Bachelor. When she got the tip email from Laura Owens, it had a lot of attachments, like court documents, police reports, and photos. It looked legit.
Speaker 2:
[03:50] In the beginning, I was convinced. I was like, okay, she had all these dates. She had proof in email.
Speaker 1:
[03:59] Clayton was getting ready for his first day of filming when he got an email from Diana Cooper.
Speaker 3:
[04:04] She wrote, Hey, I've been talking with Laura Owens, and we're going to release a story today at this time.
Speaker 1:
[04:12] Diana needed his response within the next few hours.
Speaker 3:
[04:16] I have done a phone call and I said, this is a complete lie. This woman is lying out of her teeth. She has no evidence.
Speaker 1:
[04:22] But Laura provided the tabloid with court documents and a very compelling narrative. It was enough for the Sun to run with. Diana published it that evening, and she sent Clayton the link. He was on set in between filming when he opened the article.
Speaker 3:
[04:38] I'm like, oh my gosh, what do I do? First thing I think, I'm like, I gotta go tell the Pickleball Paddle Battle. I gotta tell these people. Like, it's day one. They've all literally just met me. And I've gotta explain what's going on. I can't just like breeze over this. This is gonna get right in front of them.
Speaker 1:
[04:57] He went to the show producers to explain the situation and tell them his side of things. They held a closed-door discussion about how to move forward. When they called him back in, they said, We believe you.
Speaker 3:
[05:09] So let's just keep it rolling. And that meant a lot to me, you know, like, I remember just being like, I can't believe it. These people just met me. And they're gonna roll with me?
Speaker 1:
[05:21] So Clayton went back to filming. All the while, his phone was in his locker, buzzing nonstop with text messages and calls.
Speaker 3:
[05:29] One thing I'm really good at is compartmentalization. Unfortunately, I did it on The Bachelor. I learned it through football.
Speaker 1:
[05:36] While Clayton was in compartmentalization mode, his friends and family were all sending around the article. Here's how it starts. Bachelor Clayton Echard's ex-fling has demanded he take a paternity test in court documents exclusively obtained by the US son. When Clayton got a chance to sit down and read it, he was surprised to see that Laura hadn't used her own name. She'd asked the son not to publish her name. Here's Diana.
Speaker 2:
[06:06] She said she was a podcast host, she gave TED Talks, and she wanted me to include that information. We used her age and where she's from, Arizona. She just didn't want her name used.
Speaker 1:
[06:21] Even though the tabloid didn't print her name, the clues Laura provided were enough for the internet to identify her, within minutes.
Speaker 4:
[06:29] Female podcaster, has a TEDx talk, lives in Scottsdale. Sorry, too much information. They know your street address within a moment. Like, welcome to the internet.
Speaker 1:
[06:39] That's Dave Neal. He's a stand-up comedian and host of the popular daily podcast The Rush Hour, where he covers pop culture and bachelor news.
Speaker 4:
[06:48] Good morning, everybody. Happy Thursday to you. I got all your news for your Rush Hour ride to work.
Speaker 1:
[06:54] His show has been going for almost six years, and it's earned him an extremely loyal following. Dave was one of the first people to pick up the story about Clayton.
Speaker 4:
[07:03] My audience is so piped in that usually I'll get 10 messages before I even wake up when there's a story like this.
Speaker 1:
[07:10] Dave wasn't alone. He called Reality Steve, who'd also been covering bachelor news for years. They'd seen a lot of drama before, but nothing quite like this.
Speaker 5:
[07:21] Immediately, Dave, Neil, and I contacted each other, and we were like, oh my gosh, this is crazy. Covering Bachelor Nation, I just hadn't seen anybody involved in a paternity scandal like this. So I was like, Dave, this is huge. And Dave's like, absolutely, we got to cover this.
Speaker 1:
[07:37] At first, they weren't sure what to make of it.
Speaker 4:
[07:40] This is either the craziest story of a bachelor villain, or the biggest scam is happening. It's one or the other.
Speaker 1:
[07:48] For Dave and Reality Steve, the Peace in the Sun was jaw-dropping. It's just not the kind of thing you read every day. In it, Clayton is adamant about his side of things. He told the tabloid, my response is in the court documents. I'm not giving it the time of day because it's baseless. We did not have sexual intercourse. That caught Dave Neal's attention.
Speaker 4:
[08:11] I'm looking at this going, this does not pass the sniff test.
Speaker 1:
[08:15] In the article, Laura doesn't provide any medical documentation, like ultrasounds or scans. But she does provide multiple text exchanges with Clayton. She openly expresses that she wants to try dating him. For Dave Neal and Reality Steve, Laura's apparent infatuation with Clayton was an immediate red flag.
Speaker 4:
[08:34] It read like fan fiction. It didn't make sense.
Speaker 5:
[08:38] Something doesn't seem right with this story.
Speaker 4:
[08:42] The red flags for me is when someone wants to share information, but not all the information. We knew early on she cherry picked the hell out of things.
Speaker 1:
[08:51] So they started investigating Laura's claims.
Speaker 4:
[08:54] I have to take these claims seriously for the sake of my audience. Initially, it's a fact finder mission.
Speaker 1:
[09:04] Within a few days of the article coming out, Reality Steve tried to fill in some of the blanks by reaching out to Clayton directly.
Speaker 5:
[09:12] I got a hold of Clayton. We had about a 90-minute conversation. And I believed every word of what he told me. And it had nothing to do with, oh, just gonna side with the guy because. If Clayton seemed shady in that phone call with me, I absolutely would have called him out for it. He didn't. He told me so many details that I'm like, there's no way this guy is that good of a liar.
Speaker 1:
[09:34] Dave Neal believed him too.
Speaker 4:
[09:36] The reason I believe Clayton is, his biggest issue on his season was that he was too honest.
Speaker 1:
[09:44] I heard this from so many people, including Clayton's own family. One of his defining characteristics is candor, maybe even to a fault. Here's Dave Neal again.
Speaker 4:
[09:57] For him to say, hey, no, this isn't true, that immediately, you know, was like game on. Now we have a story because it's a he said, she said, which by the way, is the most provable thing in the world. Either she's having these kids and they're yours or they're not. Why would anybody lie about that when you could prove it the next day?
Speaker 1:
[10:21] Dave was right. This should be a very simple thing to prove. By this point, the Internet was going crazy. The story was blowing up on Reddit in the Bachelor and Bachelor Nation subreddits.
Speaker 6:
[10:35] I can't believe I started to feel bad for Clayton for all the hate that he got. Well, that's gone.
Speaker 7:
[10:39] If he didn't want children, he should have worn a condom.
Speaker 8:
[10:42] For anyone defending Clayton in here, y'all okay?
Speaker 9:
[10:45] I hope you'll get full custody and child support.
Speaker 10:
[10:49] It's confirmed that Clayton is a piece of garbage. I feel for those poor babies.
Speaker 11:
[10:54] I never liked him and I guess my gut feeling was right.
Speaker 1:
[10:58] At first, everyone assumed Clayton was the bad guy. I'll be honest, I did too. I remember seeing the headline and thinking, sounds about right. His reputation from The Bachelor preceded him. Plus, we've worked hard as a society to air towards believing women when they say they've been victimized. I wanted to believe Laura, but the way she presented her side of the story in The Sun was just off. People on Reddit were picking up on that too.
Speaker 2:
[11:28] This isn't a good way to start motherhood. If you want anonymity, then let it get settled in court.
Speaker 7:
[11:34] Posting Clayton's text without including your own in the full conversation suggests you're hiding something.
Speaker 1:
[11:40] It sounds like this isn't really about your pregnancy. This is about your unrequited feelings for him.
Speaker 11:
[11:46] I really don't understand why this was brought to the internet in the first place.
Speaker 6:
[11:50] Why are you desperately pursuing someone who doesn't want anything to do with you?
Speaker 8:
[11:55] You claim to be so innocent, but I see so many red flags on your end, girl.
Speaker 1:
[12:02] The cracks in Laura's story were showing. It only took days for online sleuths to realize that.
Speaker 4:
[12:09] There is a lot of groupthink online, but the audience was about 90 percent against Clayton immediately. Within the week, they were about 99 percent for Clayton. The complete tide shifted away from Clayton being the worst person to ever be on The Bachelor, to, oh boy, this might be a different story.
Speaker 1:
[12:31] Laura likely expected the public to be on her side after coming forward. But after the internet started poking holes in her story, it seemed like going public had backfired. A few days after she went to the tabloids, Laura took to the Bachelor subreddit, where she made a post with this headline, read by a voice actor.
Speaker 12:
[12:51] I am the anonymous woman in the Clayton scandal. Here's the proof. Here's my story.
Speaker 1:
[12:58] When she made this reddit post, Laura added a link. It went to a Dropbox folder filled with what Laura claimed was proof of her pregnancy. Mirror selfies, cropped text messages, and a photo of the positive pregnancy test. The Dropbox link has since been deactivated.
Speaker 12:
[13:15] As a side note, for those who are questioning whether I want attention or followers, please remember I am anonymous in this case. I don't want money from Clayton. All I have asked for is communication.
Speaker 1:
[13:27] By this point, the internet had already figured out Laura's name. This is what Dave Neal thought when he saw the Dropbox folder of proof that Laura posted on Reddit.
Speaker 4:
[13:37] The fact that she was so brazen in sharing evidence, but wouldn't share the screenshots. The internet is a jury. And all people want to say is like, show me the full story. She wouldn't do that.
Speaker 1:
[13:51] The story was becoming an internet sensation, taking on a life of its own. It earned some creative nicknames online, like the Tonsel Twins or the Blowjob Babies. And Laura was actively replying to people on Reddit and on social media. She was writing comments about her alleged pregnancy. Clayton had to decide how he was going to respond.
Speaker 3:
[14:15] This woman released this publicly, thinking it was going to derail me, thinking that I was going to want to do everything in my power to keep it silent. But once you open up Pandora's Box, guess who's jumping in with you? Me. I have been through so much shit. I was publicly humiliated for my time as The Bachelor. I'm like, this doesn't rattle me like you think it does.
Speaker 1:
[14:37] Clayton fired back on Instagram and included a pointed message.
Speaker 3:
[14:42] So I post a story and I said, Hey guys, I'm actively in court with this individual in the Phoenix court system. That was me saying, go look so you can find her name. And then I said, you know, I'm not the only one. I put that story out without doxing her, but basically like leading a horse to water.
Speaker 1:
[15:01] And this really pissed Laura off.
Speaker 3:
[15:05] She's sending like all caps emails.
Speaker 13:
[15:07] And so she's like, we got to seal this. I'm going to sue you.
Speaker 3:
[15:10] And I was just like, ah, this is music to my ears right now. Like, I'm so annoyed that we're in this, but at least for this moment, I'm like, oh yeah. Like, how does it feel? Everyone just found out your name and now you're in the spotlight. And guess what? Now, it's going to be a matter of who can withstand the fire longer. And as far as I'm concerned, you've never been in the fire, but I have.
Speaker 1:
[15:29] Clayton wasn't afraid of bad press. He'd been through it before. Now that the story was out, his goal was to expose the truth about Laura Owens. If there's one thing I've learned about Laura Owens while researching for this podcast, it's that she doesn't back down easily. Clayton thought the public backlash might be her breaking point, but the pressure only pushed her to take it a step further. On September 22nd, 2023, Laura called the Scottsdale police. Here's a recording of that call.
Speaker 10:
[16:16] Scottsdale police.
Speaker 14:
[16:17] Hi, my name is Laura Owens. I am out of town right now. I'm out of Arizona, but I'm trying to get an emergency injunction against harassment against my ex, who is celebrity and is very publicly posting for people to look up my cases, our current case and look up my case. I have two other restraining orders against the same man. And I am just desperately trying to stop it, to stop him from continuing to post because it's getting picked up from my People magazine and that's weekly. I'm not in town, I don't know what to do.
Speaker 1:
[16:49] The Scottsdale police followed up with Clayton.
Speaker 3:
[16:51] I said, here's what I posted. I said, she's trying to defame me. I'm a public figure. You don't have to worry about me. I'm not going to go after this woman. I literally don't want anything to do with her. And so he was like, all right, well, she told me to call you. So I told her I would. Hopefully this will blow over for you. I said, yeah, hopefully.
Speaker 5:
[17:07] And that was it.
Speaker 1:
[17:09] But of course, that wasn't it. She also hit Clayton with a cease and desist. He kept talking about Laura anyway, because he knew something about her story was very wrong. Remember, Clayton got that DM from a stranger named Ashley, who said her boyfriend had been through the same thing with Laura Owens. Clayton reached back out to her.
Speaker 3:
[17:31] She gave me his number, and that's when Greg and I first started talking.
Speaker 1:
[17:36] His name was Greg Gillespie. Greg had experienced a remarkably similar encounter with Laura two years prior. We'll hear more about Greg's story later, but for now, Clayton was feeling a rush of relief.
Speaker 3:
[17:49] It almost didn't feel real. Talking to Greg was the first time that I had hope. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to be able to connect the dots and prove that this is a whole paternity scheme that this woman runs.
Speaker 1:
[18:01] Hearing Greg Gillespie's story lit a fire under Clayton. Suddenly, everything made sense.
Speaker 3:
[18:09] I go right to the courthouse because honestly at this point, this is the most important thing in my life by far. Work, all these other things go by the wayside. I couldn't even function anyways mentally. I couldn't focus. So I sit down on this computer and I type in the court case number and up pulls all of the documents. And so I was sitting there for probably an hour to an hour and a half.
Speaker 1:
[18:32] As Clayton sat in the courthouse reading Greg Gillespie's documents, he realized that his case was part of a pattern.
Speaker 3:
[18:39] One thing Greg did that I'm super grateful for was he said, I did not seal the documents because I knew she was going to do it again.
Speaker 1:
[18:47] The person who initially messaged Clayton, Ashley, was actually Greg Gillespie's girlfriend, now wife. And Ashley had said one other important thing at the end of her message to Clayton.
Speaker 3:
[18:59] You have to connect with my boyfriend's lawyer if you don't already have someone.
Speaker 1:
[19:05] That lawyer was named Greg Woodnick. To Greg's confusing, I know, we're going to call this lawyer Woodnick from now on. Unbeknownst to Clayton, Woodnick had already heard about his story.
Speaker 15:
[19:18] I'm sitting at my desk one day and my law clerk walked into my office with her laptop and she said, you got to see this. I didn't know what she was here to talk about. And she turns around her laptop and there's an article from, I think, the Sun Magazine. And it describes this woman and Clayton Echard. And she said, doesn't this remind you of that case you worked on? And she was obviously referring to the Greg matter. And I looked at the article and I go, it's the same fucking person. And she said, what? I go, it's the same person. And she looked at me like quizzically and she's like, how do you know that? I go, what are the chances that a podcaster from Scottsdale was involved in the same sort of crap that we were dealing with with Greg? And so I'm looking at the article and my eyes bug open. And I pick up my cell phone. And as I go to text Greg, the three dots pop up on my iPhone that Greg is texting me.
Speaker 1:
[20:16] Clayton took Ashley's advice and decided to reach out to Woodnick. They had a great conversation. But ultimately, Clayton didn't think he could afford Woodnick's help.
Speaker 15:
[20:26] I think people assumed that him coming from celebrity status, that he had a lot of resources. And I learned pretty quickly that he didn't. He was getting his feet on the ground in the real estate market. He wasn't poor, but the potential expense and legal expense dealing with Laura was going to be significant. He didn't have the resources to go forward. And I said, just let me know if you need anything. And we kind of left it at that.
Speaker 1:
[20:50] But before they hung up the phone, Woodnick gave Clayton a warning.
Speaker 3:
[20:54] He's like, I don't think you know what you're up against. I was like, yeah, no, I'll be fine.
Speaker 1:
[21:02] Even without legal representation, Clayton knew he had to act. Fearing what Laura might do next, he filed for a restraining order to hopefully put an end to the chaos. His day in court was officially on the books for the following month.
Speaker 3:
[21:18] I inform her of it because she obviously has to defend herself. And then that's when she shortly filed an order of protection against me.
Speaker 1:
[21:26] It seemed like Laura filed the order of protection as retaliation. If that wasn't it, it was convenient timing. You see, after five months of back and forth about getting a paternity test done, Clayton found a company willing to do a prenatal paternity test on twins. At the time, a lot of companies wouldn't because of the remote possibility that twins could have two different fathers. Laura had publicly claimed that Clayton was refusing to take a paternity test. He says that wasn't the case. It was more of a matter of logistics. Finally, he found the right testing facility, Ravgen, and submitted his DNA sample. Now he just had to wait and see if Laura would submit her portion of the test. Clayton wasn't sure if she was actually pregnant. But if she was, there was no way he was the father. So he hoped this test would finally put an end to the conversation. A few days later...
Speaker 3:
[22:23] I get an email, they're like, hey, just wanted to let you know Laura submitted her sample. And my heart dropped. I was like, what? She submitted a sample? And they're like, yeah, yeah, she submitted it, so we have it, and we'll get to you the answers back within like seven to ten business days.
Speaker 1:
[22:41] All Clayton could do was wait.
Speaker 3:
[22:43] When the phone finally rang, I wait there for about a second or two to answer because I'm just like, this is where my life changes forever, potentially.
Speaker 1:
[22:54] Ravgen said the results came back inconclusive.
Speaker 3:
[22:57] I said, what's that mean? He said, well, it means that like there wasn't enough evidence, like there was little to no fetal DNA. I said, okay, so like she's not pregnant. He goes, well, no, it's not saying that. It's just saying that we didn't have enough fetal DNA to prove whether or not you're the father.
Speaker 1:
[23:18] Prenatal paternity testing companies assume that if a woman is submitting her blood for testing, there is in fact a pregnancy. Then they test the blood for paternal DNA. In Laura's case, the results came back saying there was little to no fetal DNA present. It could mean there was an issue with the sample, or it could mean there was no pregnancy. So Clayton asked the lab if they could prove that Laura wasn't pregnant.
Speaker 3:
[23:46] He goes, well, you can't really with this. In a case like this, what happens is we have to retest her. I go, and what happens if it comes back a little to fetal DNA again? He goes, then we'll retest her a third time.
Speaker 1:
[23:57] Clayton was becoming frustrated, and he wanted proof. But Ravgen couldn't provide it.
Speaker 3:
[24:04] He goes, well, after the third test, we would tell her to go to her doctor. Her doctor would conduct an exam.
Speaker 1:
[24:10] The problem was, Laura wasn't allowing Clayton to participate in any of the doctor's appointments she said she'd made. Actually, to get technical here, a few months prior, Laura told Clayton she'd had an ultrasound done, and she said she had the image, but that she would only show it to him if he met her in person. He didn't want any further communication with her, and he definitely didn't want to see her in person. Clayton felt like he was out of options. The paternity test wasn't the definitive end that he expected it to be. He couldn't prove that Laura wasn't pregnant, but he was desperate to bring this scandal to an end. Clayton decided to take to social media and announce the RavGen results, that there was little to no fetal DNA found in Laura's sample.
Speaker 3:
[25:00] I can't say she's not pregnant, because that would technically be a lie based on what I was just told. I'm going to say it in a way that sounds so confident that like it's over. That was the whole point. I'm going online, I'm going on with everything that I got.
Speaker 1:
[25:16] At this point, he was desperate, rabid even, for the public to believe him. Here's what he posted.
Speaker 13:
[25:24] Listen, it's Friday, and you know what we need on a Friday? We need some good news, and who's got the good news today? I got the good news. What's that good news, Clayton? Well, test results came back early, and they said, little to no fetal DNA present. Let's go, baby. We knew, I knew that that was gonna happen. Thankfully, five months of torture can finally be put to rest.
Speaker 1:
[25:54] Clayton's celebratory tone here may seem off-putting. I asked him why he sounded almost enthusiastic in this video, because it's my impression that he was at a breaking point. He told me that it was an intentional performance. He'd given himself this pep talk before filming the video.
Speaker 3:
[26:13] You need to make this seem like you are 1000% confident that it's done, it's over. Hey, thanks everybody for following along. Glad we got this put to rest. Everyone have a great day.
Speaker 13:
[26:24] We're done.
Speaker 1:
[26:25] For a moment, it seemed like the video worked.
Speaker 3:
[26:29] Everybody was like, congratulations. I'm so happy this is over with. Like, I won. In the public eye, it's over.
Speaker 1:
[26:38] But if you've learned anything about Laura by now, you know this was far from over. Her response to the video was quick. First, she filed a restraining order. And unlike Clayton's, hers was immediately granted. A hearing was set for the next month. Now, she and Clayton had dueling restraining orders, but hers had been given emergency status, likely due to the very real precedent of women needing emergency protection in cases of domestic violence. Then, Laura demanded that Clayton remove the video under threat of a lawsuit. She followed that up with another call to the Scottsdale police.
Speaker 10:
[27:19] Scottsdale police? Hi, my name is Scott Owens.
Speaker 14:
[27:23] I got an order of protection granted a couple of hours ago, and the person's already violated the order. The judge said I could call, so I don't know if you can...
Speaker 10:
[27:31] Well, it only happens once they've been served. Has they been served?
Speaker 14:
[27:35] No, but he said that I could call before if I had a copy of it, and I do have a copy.
Speaker 10:
[27:40] But it doesn't go into effect until that person's been served the order.
Speaker 14:
[27:45] Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:
[27:47] Even though she'd just filed for an order of protection, Laura began contacting Clayton again. The same day she made that call to the police, she sent him more than 10 emails. One of them was particularly notable. It contained a video of an ultrasound. This was something Clayton had been asking her to send for months. Then, a few days later, Laura sent a photo of another ultrasound. But the photo looked strikingly different from the video. Most notably, the photo shows a pregnancy with a single baby. The video shows a twin pregnancy. This is where things get confusing. Even though these were the first ultrasounds Laura had sent him directly, it wasn't the first one Clayton had seen. A few months earlier, he'd been on a Zoom call with Laura's attorney, who was sharing her screen. Clayton took a screenshot of the page that supposedly showed Laura's six-week ultrasound of twins. It was the only image he had, until these new ones showed up in his inbox. There's something else about these ultrasound images. Clayton and his lawyers weren't the only ones to receive them. By this point, Laura was in constant contact with content creators like Reality Steve and Dave Neal. Laura was aggressively refuting their coverage, and sending them what she claimed was proof. Here's Reality Steve.
Speaker 5:
[29:20] Here are three reasons I'm going to prove to you that I'm pregnant. One was a note from her neurologist. Neurologist. Last time I checked, neurologists don't deliver babies. The second thing was an ultrasound. And then the third thing was a picture of her in the mirror with a baby bump.
Speaker 1:
[29:43] Laura sent the video ultrasound evidence to Reality Steve, an audio only podcaster. Yet, notably bypassed Dave Neal, one of the creators who actually specializes in video content. Dave Neal is going to pick up the story.
Speaker 4:
[29:58] Steve and I, we go way back, and then of course your boy gets a copy of it, and we analyze it. And this ultrasound, I would have believed this was a real ultrasound. It was the nurses, the professionals in our community, when we shared the ultrasound that said, oh, no, no, no, no, the header is all off. She messed her name up, right? It didn't say Owens comma Laura. It said Laura Owens. That was a gigantic red flag. The one thing we can all agree on is that in the medical world, it's all standardized. Now, there might be different brands of ultrasounds, different medical equipment, but she sent us a video of an ultrasound and the time code wasn't moving. So in her, I don't know, Photoshopping, she was able to insert her name. So technically the pixels, the color, the font, perfect replicas, the flaws come in from user error.
Speaker 1:
[30:51] Dave's audience knows what they're doing. They were the first online sleuths on this case. They traced Laura's ultrasound video back to its original source, a YouTube video posted six years prior by an ultrasound company. For everyone following the case online, this discovery was a bombshell. But they hardly had time to process it. Because Laura was sending even more quote-unquote proof of her pregnancy to content creators like Dave Neal.
Speaker 4:
[31:21] I have a video of what Laura claims is her father in a hospital bed, in a hospital gown, rubbing Laura's belly. This ends the conversation, if it's real.
Speaker 1:
[31:34] This video clearly shows Laura's father, Ron Owens. I've seen a copy of it. Ron is a public figure. He's recognizable. But to Dave, several things about the video seemed off.
Speaker 4:
[31:48] It is a video with no sound, which first of all is a super red flag. When was the last time you recorded an iPhone video and turned the sound off?
Speaker 1:
[31:57] Laura sent the same video to Clayton, again after she'd filed the restraining order against him.
Speaker 3:
[32:02] It was blatantly obvious that it's not her, because the video is really cut off, so you can't see above the neck. That was what was so odd about it, and why it instantly flagged me, and I'm like, this isn't you. This is ridiculous. I can't believe you just sent this to me.
Speaker 1:
[32:17] As Dave and his audience did more digging, they developed a theory that could explain the hospital room video.
Speaker 4:
[32:23] I find out that last year, Laura's sister was pregnant, and then my alarms go full siren mode. It's my belief she's faking a pregnancy and using her sister's real pregnancy as cover.
Speaker 1:
[32:39] Dave even reached out to Laura's sister Sarah to try to set the record straight.
Speaker 4:
[32:44] I've received no comment.
Speaker 1:
[32:47] Laura could no longer control the narrative. When she initially reached out to tabloids asking them to cover her story, I don't think she anticipated that she herself would be scrutinized in the public eye. I don't think she imagined that online sleuths would analyze her videos frame by frame. But what had begun as an online discourse was about to enter the courtroom.
Speaker 16:
[33:11] And how far along are you as you sit here today with respect to the pregnancy?
Speaker 14:
[33:16] I am 24 weeks along.
Speaker 1:
[33:31] By October, Clayton and Laura both had filed restraining orders against the other. Technically, Clayton filed an injunction against harassment, which is what you file when it's a stranger harassing you. And yes, he said he did that to be petty. But it functions nearly the same as a restraining order. Over a period of a week, they would both be in court for their restraining order hearings.
Speaker 14:
[33:55] All right. Thank you, maybe see you then.
Speaker 1:
[33:59] Laura attended the first hearing virtually, with her lawyer present in the courtroom. Clayton appeared pro se, meaning he represented himself. He didn't have the cash on hand to hire Woodnick, the lawyer he'd been connected with.
Speaker 3:
[34:13] I walk in there, and I have my briefcase, and I printed off all these documents, and I'm like, this is my time.
Speaker 1:
[34:20] Laura was on Zoom, standing up in front of the camera. She looked very pregnant. She told the court she was six months along. In the video of this hearing, it looks like she's wearing a nude, long-sleeved bodysuit underneath her tank top. It was widely speculated online that she could be wearing a fake pregnant belly.
Speaker 17:
[34:41] We're hearing the matter of Clayton Echard. Echard. Echard. Echard, sorry, versus RLN. This is CB. 2023053952. We'll begin by having everyone state their names. Echard, if you can state your name.
Speaker 1:
[34:56] Once the hearing got underway, Clayton quickly realized he might be in over his head.
Speaker 3:
[35:02] I have no idea, like, how the court runs. So I'm over here, and I'm raising my hand at points. The judge is, like, very kind to me, being like, dude, what are you doing here without a lawyer?
Speaker 1:
[35:12] Ultimately, Clayton did a pretty good job of representing himself. But there was one small problem. Dave Neal explains.
Speaker 4:
[35:20] Laura's attorney tried to hand Clayton a USB drive of information. And Clayton goes, I don't have a laptop with me. I wasn't prepared for this. And the judge gave Clayton the best gift in the world. The judge said, we're gonna pause this, and we'll come back a week later.
Speaker 1:
[35:35] And as the judge was looking for a date on the calendar to continue the hearing, Laura piped in over Zoom. What you're about to hear is the courtroom audio from this moment.
Speaker 14:
[35:46] Your Honor, is it possible for me to show Clayton that I am in fact pregnant, because he hasn't seen me?
Speaker 10:
[35:53] No.
Speaker 1:
[35:56] Laura had been showing the camera her belly the whole time.
Speaker 4:
[35:59] When you kind of really read between the lines, see that she's standing for 90 minutes. She's like at a standing desk. She continues to reframe things so that it shows the belly.
Speaker 3:
[36:10] Right after the hearing was adjourned, I get a text from Dave Neal, and he's like, hey, you did good in there. And I was like, what?
Speaker 4:
[36:17] He's like, well, you were in there. And I was like, bubba, we all were in there.
Speaker 1:
[36:21] Clayton didn't realize it, but this hearing had been live streamed. Thousands of strangers who'd become interested in this case had been watching it live.
Speaker 4:
[36:31] That was the most watched family court case in that county's history, probably.
Speaker 1:
[36:37] Word of the live stream had reached Reddit, where the link circulated rapidly, drawing a massive crowd of eager viewers.
Speaker 4:
[36:44] So it was at that moment where I said, Clayton, we gotta help you.
Speaker 1:
[36:48] The help Clayton needed was legal representation. But at the time, he couldn't afford it. Dave and his online community were ready to jump in.
Speaker 4:
[36:58] I said to Clayton, let me know when I can turn on this GoFundMe. Everyone wants to support you. And Clayton had a lot of pride. He didn't want to ask for help. He needed it.
Speaker 1:
[37:10] After some back and forth, Clayton agreed to let Dave Neal crowdfund for his legal fees. Overnight, they raised enough money to cover the rest of his proceedings. But things were moving faster than Clayton could keep up with. Because the very next day, he and Laura were both due in court again for Laura's restraining order hearing against Clayton. Since it had been less than 24 hours, Clayton was still representing himself. And this time, Laura appeared in person. She wore a black and white striped sweater that highlighted her visible pregnancy. The central point during this hearing was a specific photograph of Laura that had surfaced on Reddit. A photo of her had been turned into one of those Halloween costume memes. And Laura was offended by it. Again, this is audio from their hearing. It starts with Laura talking.
Speaker 14:
[38:09] So exhibit 11 is a screen grab of a Reddit thread saying how to win the scariest costume contest. And it's me turned showing my stomach. And it's me holding a sonogram of our son that only he had possession of. So he clearly made this up of me, which obviously was offensive.
Speaker 1:
[38:37] Whoever made this meme photoshopped the sonogram in, as if Laura was holding it. Laura testified that Clayton was the only recipient of the sonogram, implying he was the only one who could have posted this meme. However, multiple sources have told me they saw the sonogram in the Dropbox folder of evidence Laura posted on Reddit. I can't confirm that because the link has since been deleted. But Clayton denies that he posted the Halloween meme. Furthermore, in my opinion, the possibility remained that Laura could have fabricated the post herself. Despite these inconsistencies, the judge ultimately ruled in Laura's favor.
Speaker 18:
[39:19] She said, you're the only person that she sent it to. I realize it's possible that she could have sent it to somebody else who could have published it. And then I have to decide, would she really want to do that? Because it's not the most flattering picture that obviously when a person's pregnant, you know, their body changes. And it's something that I don't believe that she would have wanted to share. And this depiction not only showed her, but it was poking fun at her.
Speaker 1:
[39:46] The judge claimed the photo of Laura was so unflattering that she would not have sent it to anyone else or posted it anywhere. It was mind-blowing for me to hear this from a judge. But that was his final decision. And on October 25th, 2023, Laura was successfully granted an order of protection against Clayton. As Clayton prepared for his follow-up hearing the next week, he utilized the funds from Dave Neal's audience to retain professional legal representation.
Speaker 4:
[40:17] We were hoping to get him the attorney that could crack this thing. And of course, that's Greg Woodnick. I mean, Greg Woodnick, he knew the game plan.
Speaker 1:
[40:26] He knew the game plan because he had represented the other victim of Laura Owens a couple years prior. But because of what he knew, he wasn't immediately ready to jump back in. Here's Woodnick.
Speaker 15:
[40:38] I was feeling really bad because I knew what he was about to go through. I was remembering what had happened with Greg. I was remembering what I had learned at that point. And I didn't really want to get involved with her again.
Speaker 1:
[40:51] While the weight of the decision took a toll on him, he was supported by the expertise of Deandra Arena, a fellow family law attorney.
Speaker 15:
[41:00] At some point, Deandra walks into my office and she says to me, are you sure you don't want to help him? I said, no, I'm not sure I don't want to help him. I do, and I also realize what is happening to him and how bad it is. And I think at that point, Deandra said to me, what if I help him? And I said, seriously? And she said, yeah, she said, what if I just help him with the balance of this protective order thing? We just represent him kind of one and done. Let me go in there and help him clean this mess up.
Speaker 1:
[41:28] Here's Deandra.
Speaker 19:
[41:29] I said, listen, I think we all know that she needs to be cross-examined by a woman who understands the ins and outs of pregnancy and I had been recently pregnant, so I'm happy to do it. I can do this. We'll just do this one case, this one injunction against her asthma hearing and we'll be out.
Speaker 15:
[41:50] And I said, have at it. And so I think at that point, Deandra and I agreed to represent Clayton, but Deandra was going to handle the hearing and she did, and she did a wonderful job.
Speaker 1:
[42:00] For their third hearing, Laura appeared virtually once again, though this time her pregnancy was not visible on camera and she wore a black turtleneck. Clayton appeared in the courtroom with his new attorney, Deandra.
Speaker 19:
[42:14] I remember thinking, how do I make this clear? Like, what is the one point that I can make for another woman or even a man who has had a pregnant sister or wife, whatever, who's been through that process to really understand this is weird.
Speaker 1:
[42:30] When Laura got on the stand, Deandra wasted no time, immediately questioning Laura regarding the current status of her pregnancy.
Speaker 16:
[42:38] And how far along are you as we sit here today with respect to pregnancy?
Speaker 14:
[42:42] I am 24 weeks along.
Speaker 1:
[42:46] Laura's testimony here would later become incredibly important.
Speaker 16:
[42:53] Can you please provide us with your alleged due date?
Speaker 14:
[42:58] February 14th.
Speaker 16:
[43:00] As we sit here today, not a single DNA test has come back indicating that Clayton is the father, correct?
Speaker 14:
[43:08] The samples were diluted and I'm going back next month is what I was doing.
Speaker 16:
[43:11] Is there a yes or no question? It's a very simple question. As we sit here today, you have no DNA test that indicates that Clayton is the father, right?
Speaker 14:
[43:24] The results, the testing is on going is what I was told, as was Clayton.
Speaker 1:
[43:29] In the video of this hearing, you can see Laura visibly chugging a Monster energy drink. If that was what was actually in the can, it has 160 milligrams of caffeine. That stood out to Dave Neal.
Speaker 4:
[43:43] My wife's pregnant, I'm making my wife decaf coffee, at most. Couple milligrams here and there. You're not supposed to have caffeine. It even says it on the label of Monster, like, don't drink this if you're pregnant.
Speaker 1:
[43:56] The scope of this hearing was not to verify Laura's pregnancy. Rather, the burden of proof rested on Clayton to demonstrate that she had been harassing him. With this objective in mind, Deandra continued her cross-examination.
Speaker 16:
[44:09] Mr. Echard told you he didn't want you contacting him anymore and then would block your telephone number, correct?
Speaker 14:
[44:18] But told me to email him.
Speaker 16:
[44:21] Ms. Owens, these are yes or no questions. Isn't it true that Mr. Echard indicated he did not want you contacting him anymore and then would block your telephone number?
Speaker 14:
[44:31] Actually, that's incorrect.
Speaker 1:
[44:33] It's slow going, just getting Laura to acknowledge the messages she sent to Clayton.
Speaker 16:
[44:39] And here, Ms. Owens, on May 25th of 2023, Clayton says to you, I'm debating filing a police report. Please leave me alone, correct?
Speaker 14:
[44:49] The context needs to be stated.
Speaker 16:
[44:50] He did not make the offer. I am asking you yes or no question.
Speaker 14:
[44:55] And he was found in violation.
Speaker 17:
[44:56] Your attorney will have the time to ask you a question again, Ms. Owens. So, just answer her question and your attorney will ask an opportunity to question you again.
Speaker 1:
[45:05] With every question, Laura's agitation becomes increasingly apparent. I asked Deandra what it was like to cross-examine Laura.
Speaker 19:
[45:14] There are times where I remind her that these are yes or no questions, and you can tell that, you know, she's not an easy witness to cross-examine, candidly.
Speaker 1:
[45:25] As the hearing continues, Laura is visibly rolling her eyes, sighing, shaking her head, laughing, and throwing her head back.
Speaker 19:
[45:35] I've done a lot of bench trials. I don't recall seeing a reaction like that more than maybe one or two other times.
Speaker 1:
[45:49] Then it came time for closing arguments. Here's Deandra's audio from the hearing.
Speaker 16:
[45:54] She's not being truthful today, and my client is legitimately fearful of what else she's capable of. He's asking that this court recognize that he has done everything to handle this appropriately. He has begged and pleaded with her to stop contacting him. There is no reason for these two to have communication, despite what Ms. Owens will say regarding this alleged pregnancy. There is no proven pregnancy at this point. So we are asking that this court find that she has harassed Mr. Echard from May of 2023 up until today's date, and we're asking that the court find that the injunction against harassment needs to be ordered and maintained.
Speaker 17:
[46:37] When the judge finally gave her ruling, As I stated when we first started this hearing, I'm not making a determination as to whether or not she's pregnant or not. The communications that I have a lot of concerns with are the ones where she's trying to make offers to him to continue a relationship that she is trying to facilitate. If you do this, then I'll give you this. Those kinds of messages are of the nature that are harassing and can be viewed as alarming, annoying, or harassing. There were a number of threats to go to the media, which were other additional attempts to try to use the media as manipulation, or the threat to go to the media as manipulation. I find those to be alarming, annoying, or harassing. So I am going to grant the injunction at this time. The injunction is going to prevent any communication outside of the legal process.
Speaker 1:
[47:41] As Clayton walked out of the courtroom, he repeatedly thanked his lawyer, Deandra.
Speaker 3:
[47:47] We end up winning. She won for me and she's like, Clayton, hopefully this is like the end of it for now. At least she's not going to be able to bother you anymore. So I was like, thank you. It should be quiet from here on out. And if it's not, she'll get arrested.
Speaker 1:
[47:58] Given everything you've learned about Laura so far, you're probably expecting her to continue her relentless pursuit of Clayton. Instead, she fell uncharacteristically silent, a stillness that proved to be even more unsettling than the noise. In the silence, this scandal would take on a new dimension. Hundreds, even thousands more strangers would get involved, and they would uncover so much more about Laura Owens.
Speaker 4:
[48:29] Good morning, everybody. In our featured story, Bachelor Clayton Echard, and the lady that accused him of being the father of her unborn twins.
Speaker 18:
[48:38] Who would make this up?
Speaker 10:
[48:40] Well, Laura Owens.
Speaker 18:
[48:42] That's who would make it up.
Speaker 9:
[48:43] My money was on a 911 phone call. She was going to be in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, and I was right.
Speaker 4:
[48:50] I'm sent all of this from Reddit community, from people in my audience. They find this stuff before I even can.
Speaker 9:
[48:56] This is the greatest programming in the history of YouTube. It was like the smoking gun of the entire case discovered live.
Speaker 4:
[49:05] Reddits were getting taken down.
Speaker 9:
[49:07] She's so screwed because people are watching and they're not going to allow it to happen.
Speaker 4:
[49:12] And if he wasn't famous enough to have a Sun article written about him, she would have gotten away with it 1000%.
Speaker 1:
[49:54] Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to follow Love Trapped on Apple podcasts, the iHeart radio app, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a review. A five-star rating helps others find this show. We're grateful for your support. If you would like to reach out to the Love Trapped team, email us at lovetrappedpod at gmail.com. That's lovetrapped, P-O-D, at gmail.com. Love Trapped is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. This show was executive produced by Nancy Glass, Andrea Gunning, and Ben Federman. Written, produced, and hosted by me, Stephanie Young. Our story editor is Monique Laborde. Additional production support from Sidney Gladue and Todd Gans. Our production manager is Kristen Malkiri. For iHeart Podcasts, Allie Perry was our executive producer. Audio editing and mastering by Anna McClain. Additional editing support by Zach Proto and Matt DelVecchio. Thank you to our voice actor, Leslie Talley. This podcast was developed in collaboration with Danny Passman and Leb Abramoff at Crybaby Media. The Love Trapped theme is composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MIBE Music. A special thanks to Carrie Lieberman, Will Pearson, Jessica Kreincheck, Allie Cantor, and the entire iHeart podcast team. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.