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radio walking dead season 9 AMC

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for AMC's "The Walking Dead" season nine finale, "The Storm."
A mystery woman sent a distress call over a radio asking for help at the episode's very end.
Showrunner Angela Kang tells INSIDER we'll learn more about them next season.
Until then, we're rounding up the most likely candidates who may have sent the distress call. Maggie, Anne, and "Fear the Walking Dead" characters are popular guesses.

The season nine finale of AMC's "The Walking Dead" ended with a mysterious distress call over a radio.

"It becomes a part of the story going forward in season 10. We'll see what happens," showrunner Angela Kang told INSIDER of the mystery person. "Anytime we kind of encounter some mysterious circumstances like this, it's going to creep into the world of our heroes, and it will turn the story in some way."

Closed-captioning confirmed the garbled voice was indeed a woman. The voice says, "Hello? Hello? Calling out live on the open air. Is anybody out there?" If you're straining your ears trying to figure out whether or not the voice on the radio is recognizable, INSIDER asked fans to tell us their best guesses for the mystery woman on the radio.

Season 10 of "The Walking Dead" won't premiere on AMC until the fall. Until then, we rounded up the best theories we've seen and received about the mystery radio caller and how accurate they likely are.

The safe guess is that it's Stephanie from the Commonwealth.

AMC, Image Comics/Skybound

In the comics, the radio reveal goes down a little differently. Eugene is actually at the radio and is trying to communicate with someone. If you had the captions on during the episode and are a comic fan, you may have noticed that the dialogue is almost exactly what Eugene said at the end of issue No. 151.

We eventually learn Eugene has been speaking with a woman named Stephanie, who's a member of the Commonwealth — a community in Ohio that was teased on the season nine trailer for the show.

Why it's logical: This is basically what happens in the comics. It would be the safe road for the show to go if it wants to adapt the Commonwealth story, which comes next in the comics.

Why we're not sold on this: The show has been deviating from the comic more and more now that Rick and Carl are gone. While we wouldn't be disappointed if the show revealed the caller as Stephanie, this is an opportunity for the show to do something way more original. The show hinted at Commonwealth, a community of about 50,000 survivors (yes, that's a big number) early on season nine when there was a sign at a makeshift camp for survivors which read Toledo.

Presuming that sign was meant for Toledo, Ohio and not just a gag, it may have been pointing in the direction of the Commonwealth. Many think the Commonwealth is where Maggie went off to with Georgie earlier on season nine.

A lot of fans are convinced it has to be Maggie.

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

This is one of the most popular responses I've seen and received from fans.

Lauren Cohan left "The Walking Dead" earlier on season nine and is out there somewhere in the zombie apocalypse. Supposedly, she's with Georgie (Jayne Atkinson). If you don't remember Georgie, you can read about here. On the season nine finale, Michonne asks Yumiko if the Hilltop has heard from Maggie. It turns out, no one has. That seems a bit strange.

Though Cohan currently stars on ABC's "Whiskey Cavalier," the actress is expected to appear on the next season of "TWD" in some capacity. Showrunner Angela Kang told INSIDER in February there have been conversations about her return. On Sunday's aftershow, "Talking Dead," Kang gave another hint at the top of the show that it's likely we'll see her.

"We found out, as we were partway through the story, that we were going to be writing out Maggie, at least for awhile," said Kang, hinting at Cohan's return.

Why I'm not buying it's her: It's difficult to imagine Maggie would try radioing someone instead of just showing up at one of the communities. It is concerning she hasn't showed up at the Hilltop and that no one has heard from her since her friends Tara, Jesus, and Enid were all just killed by a group of survivors who wear zombie masks over their faces.

The only scenario where this is Maggie: I can only imagine this being Maggie if she was with Georgie and the twins and something went terribly wrong. If Maggie was desperately in need of help and couldn't make her way back to the Hilltop, I could see her reaching out. The only problem with that is the radio call doesn't seem particularly urgent. It just sounds like it's someone who's trying to make content with others out of curiosity.

I also don't believe the voice sounds like Cohan, and I've listened to those last final moments of the "Walking Dead" finale many times over.

A few fans think it's Dwight's ex-wife Sherry.

AMC

The last time we saw Sherry (Christine Evangelista), she escaped from the Sanctuary and was off on her own somewhere. If Dwight (Austin Amelio) never found her, it's possible she's out there somewhere in the world.

Why we love this theory: Since leaving "The Walking Dead," Evangelista appeared on E!'s "The Arrangement," which was recently canceled after season two.

INSIDER asked AMC if Evangelista may be appearing on "Fear the Walking Dead" with Amelio in January, but couldn't confirm she would be joining the spin-off.

If she's not on either series, there's always hope she could turn up in one of the many planned shorts, specials, or digital series chief content officer of AMC's "Walking Dead" universe, Scott M. Gimple, has been teasing since November.