In the summer of 1908, America was transfixed by the murder of a woman found floating in a country pond in upstate New York. The mystery of a young beauty brutally killed became an instant sensation, splashed across the front page of the country’s newspapers.

Was she killed by a spurned lover? Was she leading a secret double life outside of her station as a governess to the wealthy residents of Troy, New York? Did she know too many secrets?

The murder went unsolved, and after about three weeks, the girl in the pond was all but forgotten. More than a century later, the cold case rocketed back into the public eye thanks to a popular television show and true crime-obsessed pop culture.

In this limited series podcast from the Times Union, we’ll go back in time to an era of wealth and prosperity, rampant political corruption, and secrets and lies in Upstate New York. We’ll unravel the mystery of the life and death of one young woman, and why her story still resonates in pop culture today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices