{"id":468,"date":"2026-07-19T05:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T05:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/?p=468"},"modified":"2026-07-19T05:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T05:36:20","slug":"my-wife-took-our-son-and-daughter-on-a-trip-and-they-never-came-back-40-years-later-i-found-a-box-hidden-inside-my-daughters-mattress-that-made-my-blood-run-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/?p=468","title":{"rendered":"My Wife Took Our Son and Daughter on a Trip, and They Never Came Back \u2013 40 Years Later, I Found a Box Hidden Inside My Daughter’s Mattress That Made My Blood Run Cold"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I spent 40 years mourning the family I believed I’d lost in one terrible night. When failing health forced me to clear out the rooms I’d kept untouched, I uncovered evidence that challenged everything I’d been told and pointed toward a betrayal much closer to home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Forty years after my wife took our children on a short trip and vanished, I found a box sewn inside my daughter’s mattress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The first line of Clara’s note made my hands go numb.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Andrew, if you’re reading this, something has happened to me. Read everything carefully. Don’t trust Gwen.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For 40 years, I’d believed my family had died in a river.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Now I knew someone had buried the truth inside my own house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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\u201c<\/span> “Don’t trust Gwen.” \u201e<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That morning, my nephew, Jackson, arrived with 12 empty boxes and no patience left for my excuses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You were on the kitchen floor for three hours, Uncle Andrew,” he said.<\/p>\n

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He stared at me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“That correction is exactly why you can’t live alone.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I slipped.”<\/p>\n

\n

“And you couldn’t reach your phone. The doctor said that next time, you could be there overnight.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At 73, I knew Jackson was right. He wanted me to sell the house and move in with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I agreed on one condition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Nothing gets thrown away without my permission.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Fine. You still have receipts from 1989.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Paper remembers better than people.”<\/p>\n

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Jackson picked up a box. “Where do we start?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Shaun’s room.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Shaun had been six when he vanished. His cars and blue blanket remained untouched.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I picked up the silver watch beside his lamp and wound it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jackson watched me”It loses four minutes a day.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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“Then why keep winding it?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Because Shaun hated it when it stopped.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I slipped it into my pocket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We moved to Aria’s room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She had been nine. She loved sewing dresses for her dolls, though every seam leaned because she pulled the thread too tight.<\/p>\n

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Her unfinished dollhouse still sat near the window, its front door hanging crooked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Don’t touch that,” I said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“You’ve had 40 years to fix it.”<\/p>\n

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My legs weakened, so I sat on Aria’s bed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A sharp crack sounded beneath me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jackson turned.<\/p>\n

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“Was that the frame?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“No.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“How do you know?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I repaired wood for 45 years. That sound came from inside the mattress.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We turned it over and found a puckered seam with tight, uneven stitches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Aria did this,” I said. “She always pulled the thread too tight.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I cut the seam, reached inside, and pulled out a dust-covered wooden box.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Inside were photographs, a letter from Gwen, a birthday card, and two folded notes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The photographs showed me with a woman from work. In one, my hand rested on her arm. In another, we were entering a caf?.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I knew how they looked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, it was my wife’s handwriting on the first page that stole my breath.<\/p>\n

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“Andrew, if you’re reading this, something has happened to me. Read everything carefully. Don’t trust Gwen. There’s something you never knew.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The note ended there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Under it was a page written in purple crayon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Daddy, I hid Mommy’s letter because I didn’t want you to be mad. I’m sorry. Please don’t let her leave.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I read it three times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jackson sat beside me.<\/p>\n

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“Aria hid the box.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“She thought Clara was leaving me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He picked up the photographs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Who is this woman?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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“Was there an affair?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I never touched her.”<\/p>\n

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“I didn’t accuse you, Uncle Andrew.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Your face did.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Then explain.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sarah feared losing her job after being treated unfairly, so she asked me to meet privately.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Did Clara know?” Jackson asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“No. It wasn’t my story to tell.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“You could’ve told her enough.”<\/p>\n

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I looked away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Years earlier, Clara had asked why I kept coming home late.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Is there something you need to tell me?” she’d asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Nothing you need to worry about,” I’d said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the time, I’d believed silence was honorable.<\/p>\n

\n

Now it sounded like a locked door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jackson unfolded Gwen’s letter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gwen’s letter gave directions to her home and recommended a motel if the children needed a break.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Clara had taken Aria and Shaun on a short trip to visit her sister.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I had been overwhelmed with work, so they went without me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Clara had not called by nine, I phoned Gwen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Is Clara there?”<\/p>\n

\n

I stood so quickly that my chair struck the wall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Check with the neighbors. Shaun may have gotten sick.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“She would’ve called.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Check anyway.”<\/p>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

By midnight, the police had Clara’s route and car description.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

They found it below a river bridge the next day. Its parking brake had failed after Clara left it on the shoulder. Divers found no bodies, and years later, a court declared all three dead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Gwen’s letter gave us the first place Clara might have stopped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“We’re going there,” I told Jackson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Not until you take your medication,” Jackson said, taking my coat.<\/p>\n

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“I’ve already lost 40 years.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Then don’t collapse before you get an answer. I’ll drive.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The motel was now an apartment building. An elderly woman in the lobby studied Clara’s photograph.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I remember her. Her son had a fever, and she kept trying to call her husband.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I showed her Gwen’s picture.<\/p>\n

\n

“Did this woman come?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Yes. They argued. Your wife wanted to go home and hear the truth from her husband.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n

“I’m the husband. What did Gwen say?” \u201e<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“She said you’d already left town with another woman.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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My chest seized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“That was a lie.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jackson pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n

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“Sit.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I need one more answer.” I faced the woman. “Did Clara leave willingly?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Yes, but she looked dizzy when she got into the car.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

After my breathing settled, Jackson drove me to Sarah’s home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I placed Gwen’s photographs on her table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Clara saw these.”<\/p>\n

\n

Sarah’s face drained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“She thought we were together?”<\/p>\n

\n

Sarah’s records proved every photograph showed a documented meeting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sarah looked at me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I told you to explain enough to Clara.”<\/p>\n

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“I couldn’t expose your case.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“You could’ve protected me without shutting out your wife. You left an empty space, Andrew. Gwen filled it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On the drive home, I stared at the passing road.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I had mistaken faithfulness for innocence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Clara asked for reassurance, and I’d handed her a wall Gwen used against us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Back at the house, I unfolded Aria’s crayon note.<\/p>\n

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“We don’t know that,” Jackson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“A child who writes this doesn’t forget it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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My goal changed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I still wanted the truth, but first, I needed to find my daughter before she spent another day believing she had destroyed our family.<\/p>\n

\n

After three days, Jackson found a school counselor matching Clara’s maiden name, the town, and Aria’s age.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In her photograph, she held one elbow, just as Aria did when nervous.<\/p>\n

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“Because she looks like Clara?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“No. Because she looks like herself.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jackson offered to contact her, but I refused.<\/p>\n

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I deleted two drafts, one cold and one angry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Finally, I wrote:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Aria, I don’t know what you were told.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I only know that I loved you when you left, and I’ve loved you every day since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I found the note you hid. Nothing that happened was the fault of a nine-year-old girl. I won’t come unless you ask me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I added my number and address, then prayed as I hit send.<\/p>\n

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She called that night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After a long silence, she asked, “Did you know where we were?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“No.”<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
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\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent 40 years mourning the family I believed I’d lost in one terrible night. When failing health forced me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470,"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions\/470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flavorlab.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}