SUMBERGED

A young bride drowns in her bathtub. Her husband of four months is accused of murder. What happened in their tiny suburban bathroom–and why–was never resolved. A gripping true-crime drama, based on exclusive new information, SUBMERGED exposes hidden angles of a case that divided an American community, tore apart two families and tested the criminal justice system. Compelled by conscience and curiosity, former Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Janice Hisle–who covered the saga of Ryan and Sarah Widmer from the start–dug deep to tell the untold story.





About The Book

A gripping true-crime drama, based on exclusive new information, Submerged exposes hidden angles of a case that divided an American community, tore apart two families and tested the criminal justice system.

Compelled by conscience and curiosity, former Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Janice (Morse) Hisle—who covered the saga of Ryan and Sarah Widmer from the start—dug deep to tell the untold story. Ten years later, new questions and answers surfaced in dozens of interviews, 6,000 pages of trial transcripts and previously unrevealed records about Sarah’s bathtub drowning and Ryan’s prosecution.

Author Janice Hisle was among three panelists who discussed the Ryan Widmer case and the battle over obtaining his deceased wife’s DNA.  Widmer’s attorneys want to conduct genetic tests to determine if Ryan’s wife, Sarah, may have suffered from a health disorder that could have caused her to drown in her bathtub.

I did't think there was a murder or anything like that, his lawyer said.

Janice Hisle, Submerged.

Reminders of the Widmer case confronted me almost constantly as I went about my daily business

Janice Hisle, Submerged

The case never stopped hurting peoples hearts and confounding their minds -- mine included.

Janice Hisle, Submerged