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Speaker 1: I want Robert to be held accountable for his actions

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Speaker 1: over the past thirty plus years and not be able

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Speaker 1: to break up any more.

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Speaker 2: Families, welcome back to forgive me for I have followed.

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Speaker 2: I'm Jess Cossabetto and.

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Speaker 3: I'm Kalia Gray. Our series explores the story of Robert Chin,

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Speaker 3: the Eli Basha Kinda Church, and seven M Films. This

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Speaker 3: is our part too, with our conversation with Melanie last

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Speaker 3: time we left off, there was just so much to

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Speaker 3: unpack that we decided it would be best to split

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Speaker 3: it into two episodes.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it was important that we slowed the

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Speaker 2: conversation down a little bit because the Wilkings decision to

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Speaker 2: go live really propelled this story forward. That wasn't an

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Speaker 2: easy decision for them to make.

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Speaker 3: From the outside looking in, it feels like it would

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Speaker 3: be so easy to just Okay, let's get it all

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Speaker 3: out there because we're trying to get our sister back.

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Speaker 3: But it was more of a difficult decision than I

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Speaker 3: think the rest of us knew. We wanted to really

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Speaker 3: hear more from Melanie about everything leading up to it

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Speaker 3: and the strength that it really took them to come

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Speaker 3: out and make this situation very public, especially with Miranda.

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Speaker 4: To the public.

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Speaker 3: She was saying a lot of like how her family

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Speaker 3: was controlling, and they were just saying things. So it

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Speaker 3: must have been a lot harder for them going against

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Speaker 3: what Miranda is saying about them and in the words

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Speaker 3: of Miranda, like airing out their private family dirty laundry.

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Speaker 3: But it's still being such a necessary step I think

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Speaker 3: in this whole situation.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I think really understanding the links of family

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Speaker 2: will go to reunite with their daughter and their sister,

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Speaker 2: and there's something really beautiful and powerful about that. And

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Speaker 2: so I'm excited to jump into part two.

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Speaker 3: This is our part two of our conversation with Melanie.

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Speaker 2: Mel what was that conversation like with your parents leading

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Speaker 2: up to the live What was it that made you

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Speaker 2: guys say let's do this.

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Speaker 1: There were a few things I would say that led

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Speaker 1: us to that point. It was essentially a full year

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Speaker 1: of no contact with my sister, and it happened completely

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Speaker 1: cold turkey. You know, one day, she's my best friend,

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Speaker 1: We're going to get coffee in the morning, and literally

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Speaker 1: that day it's like I'm moving out. I can't go

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Speaker 1: home because we were flying home at the time. So

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Speaker 1: then it was just silence, and we had obviously tried

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Speaker 1: to get in touch. I was literally driving around North Hollywood,

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Speaker 1: California with my friend Ricky, trying to find my sister.

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Speaker 1: At one point, it was the most pathetic thing. It

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Speaker 1: was so sad, so like we did that. My parents

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Speaker 1: tried to find where she lived, finally found where she lived.

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Speaker 4: Then still nothing.

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Speaker 1: And then December twenty twenty one, I actually was in

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Speaker 1: the area by Robert's house, meeting up with a friend

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Speaker 1: for lunch, and then I remember thinking, like, he lives

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Speaker 1: a minute away. I'm just going to drive by the

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Speaker 1: house and see if they're there. And I drove by,

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Speaker 1: and sure enough, all the cars were there, and actually

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Speaker 1: the guys were dancing in the garage, and I made

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Speaker 1: eye contact with James, and I just remember like, oh, shoot,

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Speaker 1: what do I do now, Like I was not expecting

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Speaker 1: anyone to be there, and now they know I'm here,

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Speaker 1: I have to say something. And I called my parents

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Speaker 1: on my way.

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Speaker 5: So they were on the phone while this is happening,

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Speaker 5: and I'm like, I just locked eyes with Jade's I

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Speaker 5: have to say something, and so I remember I went

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Speaker 5: up and this was another moment where like Robert is

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Speaker 5: supposedly this like godly figure, he's this leader, and he

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Speaker 5: was such a coward.

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Speaker 1: And he stood in the garage by the door and

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Speaker 1: had Daniel, his right hand man at the time, and

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Speaker 1: James come out and talk to me, and I just said,

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Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, I'm in the area.

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Speaker 4: I saw that my sister's car was here.

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Speaker 1: I'm just wondering if I could go say hi, give her.

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Speaker 4: A quick hug. No, she's busy.

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Speaker 1: And at this point I'm bawling my eyes out and

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Speaker 1: I'm like, you can just watch. I haven't talked to her.

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Speaker 1: I just want to give my sister a hug. Nope,

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Speaker 1: And Robert was just standing in the corner, just looking.

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Speaker 1: And It's like, if you had nothing to hide, why

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Speaker 1: couldn't I just go hug my sister. Why couldn't Robert

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Speaker 1: come talk to me? And then the same thing happened

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Speaker 1: when my friend and I, Ricky, went to their Christmas

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Speaker 1: show at the end, went up to Robert trying to

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Speaker 1: get some answers, and he was fumbling his words, could

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Speaker 1: not speak to me. I was asking, why can't I

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Speaker 1: see my sister, like could not speak, and so then

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Speaker 1: he just scurried away. So I think this whole time,

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Speaker 1: it was like she's idolizing this leader in her eyes,

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Speaker 1: he is such a coward. He can't even speak up

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Speaker 1: for what he supposedly believes me. So at that point

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Speaker 1: of us going live, it was on my sister's birthday

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Speaker 1: and I sent her a message because we were blocked

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Speaker 1: on like phone numbers, I was blocked on all of

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Speaker 1: her social media accounts. So it was on James's post

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Speaker 1: and he made a post for her birthday and I

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Speaker 1: just commented, you know, happy birthday, something along the lines

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Speaker 1: of like I hope you get all the love you

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Speaker 1: deserve today, and within two minutes I was blocked. And

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Speaker 1: it was just like all of these things, like what.

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Speaker 4: Is going on?

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Speaker 1: And now I'm blocked from James. At least I could

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Speaker 1: see what my sister was up to through his account.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm blocked from that, and of course my parents

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Speaker 1: were blocked as well. So at that point we were

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Speaker 1: just like, we don't know what else to do. It's

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Speaker 1: been over a year, and we talked to several cults

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Speaker 1: experts and psychologists, and every single one of them were

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Speaker 1: saying the longer they're in, the harder it is for

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Speaker 1: them to leave, and so in our minds it's like,

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Speaker 1: it's a year later, She's already been in there for

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Speaker 1: a year. How can we try to expose this thing

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Speaker 1: or try to get through to her? And so it

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Speaker 1: was very chaotic, not planned at all. We set up

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Speaker 1: the phone and pressed record, and like we didn't even

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Speaker 1: have the conversation of like, what are we going to say?

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Speaker 1: Are we going to say it's a religious cult? Are

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Speaker 1: we going to say these things?

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Speaker 4: So that's why it was so chaotic.

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Speaker 1: But we were just at a point where we had

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Speaker 1: no idea what direction to go, and we'd already exhausted

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Speaker 1: all of our options, and that just seems like the

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Speaker 1: next step.

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Speaker 2: Well, I have to say this, like feisty, badass version

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Speaker 2: of Melanie Walking. I'm here for it, I'm living for it.

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Speaker 2: I'm like tell them, tell them.

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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I will say at the Christmas show,

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Speaker 1: I'm so thankful that my friend Ricky was with me

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Speaker 1: because he has the backbone that I do not have.

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Speaker 1: He was like, you are going to talk to him?

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Speaker 1: When are you ever going to be in the same

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Speaker 1: room as him ever again? And that was actually a

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Speaker 1: point where Robert's son Conrad said that that situation completely

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Speaker 1: broke him and he saw firsthand that his father would

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Speaker 1: breaking up families. So that was really interesting because in

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Speaker 1: the moment, I'm just like, oh my gosh, we're.

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Speaker 4: Causing this scene. This is so awkward.

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Speaker 1: But then to see that it actually did touch people

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Speaker 1: and made people realize like, oh my goodness, this is

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Speaker 1: not good. This is not the greatness that we thought

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Speaker 1: we were a part of. So in those moments, I'm like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: it was for something.

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Speaker 2: It was worth it.

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Speaker 3: Even the content day because we were both there, because

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Speaker 3: it was like everyone was there filming videos. I was inside,

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Speaker 3: and that was like one of the first few red

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Speaker 3: flags that Kevin had seen was like, why is Melanie

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Speaker 3: being treated in this way?

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Speaker 4: Like that's her sister and.

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Speaker 3: Like he always like talks about like the face that

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Speaker 3: you had when you walked up, and I think that

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Speaker 3: really stuck with him throughout our journey there to really

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Speaker 3: be like, hmm, I remember the energy of how Melanie

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Speaker 3: felt walking up to the house to just ask like, Hey,

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Speaker 3: is my sister here?

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Speaker 2: Like can I see my sister?

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Speaker 3: That was one of my big moments of like they

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Speaker 3: really twisted that story because I heard it from Robert's mouth,

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Speaker 3: and then I heard it from somebody else's mouth who

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Speaker 3: saw it, and it was two completely different stories because

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Speaker 3: Robert was like, Melanie's boyfriend came up and tried to

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Speaker 3: beat me, and they.

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Speaker 4: Were like what.

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Speaker 3: There was someone else's like, that's not even the same person.

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Speaker 1: Like, oh my gosh, we were just trying to, you know,

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Speaker 1: get some answers.

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Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, no violence, no violence.

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Speaker 3: And the other story that I heard that was the

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Speaker 3: first hand account, was like, no, Melanie was just there

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Speaker 3: supporting her sister, and I thought it was really beautiful.

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Speaker 3: And I was like, yeah, I agree, I think that

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Speaker 3: was really beautiful that Melanie showed up to support. Because

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Speaker 3: of the two stories, I was like, I don't think

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Speaker 3: that the one that Robert said happened.

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Speaker 2: Well, mel I think that you are not only just

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Speaker 2: like one of the kindest people I've met, you and

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Speaker 2: your family are just absolutely amazing.

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Speaker 4: But thank you.

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Speaker 2: I have two sisters that I'm very close with that

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Speaker 2: I just love. I talk to them every single day.

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Speaker 2: Like when one of my sisters like she's working a lot,

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Speaker 2: We're like, what the heck, what's going on? Why is

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Speaker 2: she hitting us back? Like it is a deal, and

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Speaker 2: I think that the passion behind those meetups and trying

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Speaker 2: to go and see her. When you have family that

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Speaker 2: you love and that you're concerned about, you'll do whatever

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Speaker 2: you need to do. You'll go outside of your comfort

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Speaker 2: zone to try to reconnect with them. So I just

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Speaker 2: really appreciate not only how amazingly kind you are, but

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Speaker 2: the love that you have for your family and the

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Speaker 2: love that you have for your sister. And I really

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Speaker 2: really hope that she feels that again soon because you know,

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Speaker 2: naturally it's going to get twisted, it's going to feel

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Speaker 2: that you're attacking them, but really from an outsider, we

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Speaker 2: know it is just an outpour of love. So I'm

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Speaker 2: really rooting for her, and I'm also staying hopeful. I mean,

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Speaker 2: we were a little more optimistic in the process. I

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Speaker 2: think we try to wait as long as humanly possible

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Speaker 2: to deliver that third episode in hopes that maybe the

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Speaker 2: outreach that you guys were doing, the outreach that we

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Speaker 2: were doing, that maybe they would see in our hopes

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Speaker 2: that they would have gotten out, But obviously not the case.

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Speaker 2: But we remain hopeful. Absolutely we'll be right back with

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Speaker 2: the conclusion of part two of our conversation with Melanie Walking.

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Speaker 2: This is forgive me for I have followed.

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Speaker 3: Welcome back, and now the conclusion of part two of

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Speaker 3: our conversation with Melanie Walking.

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Speaker 2: I had a million questions about, like you and your

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Speaker 2: family when you were saying that you were driving around

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Speaker 2: North Hollywood trying to find her. I have so many

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Speaker 2: questions about that time because some videos were shared with us,

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Speaker 2: and I remember just being so fascinated with the private

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Speaker 2: investigating skills that you and your family had. There was

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Speaker 2: a video that you shared that one time you guys

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Speaker 2: were in the car for like hours. I think you

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Speaker 2: drove down to Santa Anna.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we went and checked out that Orange County

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Speaker 1: of property and it was just like a little storefront

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Speaker 1: with like an apartment on the top, and we actually

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Speaker 1: saw I believe it was Matthew pull up and go inside.

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Speaker 4: That was a crazy time.

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Speaker 1: It was just driving around, being full on private investors,

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Speaker 1: actually getting a private investigator oh wow, trying to figure

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Speaker 1: out any information that we could.

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Speaker 4: Sadly, it didn't.

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Speaker 1: Get us very far, but thankfully after the live stream,

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Speaker 1: we were able to connect then with a ton of

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Speaker 1: people and then so much information came out, which really helped,

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Speaker 1: but in the meantime, yeah, it was almost borderline scary

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Speaker 1: of like how much you can find out about someone

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Speaker 1: because not that it was easy, but my parents were

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Speaker 1: able to figure out where my sister lived. It was

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Speaker 1: like putting together the pieces of these videos that they

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Speaker 1: posted and then hearing this from this person and hearing

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Speaker 1: this and literally driving around matching like fences.

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Speaker 4: I'm like, this is crazy.

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Speaker 1: But at that time we had no idea what was

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Speaker 1: going on. We didn't know if my sister was safe

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Speaker 1: or not.

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Speaker 4: At that time, we didn't know if she was dead

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Speaker 4: or alive.

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Speaker 1: So it was like you said, like you will do

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Speaker 1: anything to find your family member to reconnect. The lengths

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Speaker 1: that we went to was pretty crazy.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if you saw, but that property in

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Speaker 2: Santa Ana days after the documentary came out went pending

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Speaker 2: on zillow.

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Speaker 4: Oh I did not know that. Wow.

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Speaker 3: I almost everyone has moved also from whatever housing they

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Speaker 3: were in into something else now, so they have been

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Speaker 3: mobilizing just as we're getting connected with more resources, so

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Speaker 3: we are also mobilizing to try to get some sort

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Speaker 3: of justice retribution balance.

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Speaker 2: But I think that's.

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Speaker 3: Another question that I have, is like how has it

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Speaker 3: been navigating like the legal system with you and your family.

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Speaker 1: It's honestly been a very frustrating process.

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Speaker 4: Because they're adults.

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Speaker 1: You have free will, you can deciber you want to

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Speaker 1: go to church, and who you follow, who you give

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Speaker 1: money to. Anything that we kind of thought, oh, we've

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Speaker 1: got them now, or we found out this information, or

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Speaker 1: we're reporting this.

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Speaker 4: It kind of went to a dead end.

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Speaker 1: Now I do believe there are agencies looking into Robert

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Speaker 1: and so that is comforting, but it's just difficult because

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Speaker 1: you know, brainwashing, coorsion is so hard to prove, and

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Speaker 1: we know that they're doing very bad things over there,

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Speaker 1: and even with the documentary, we didn't want to be

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Speaker 1: a naive to think that these things were happening, but

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Speaker 1: then to hear first hand accounts, it was just heartbreaking

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Speaker 1: to know that my sister is still in there, and again,

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Speaker 1: like I can't be naive to think that things aren't

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Speaker 1: happening to her as well, and so to feel like

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Speaker 1: you can't help in that way is difficult. But we

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Speaker 1: just have to hope that they are being investigated and

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Speaker 1: that justice is served.

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Speaker 3: I could feel the frustration there where it's like we

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Speaker 3: feel like this should be an open and closed case, right,

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Speaker 3: but due process is due for everyone.

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Speaker 4: And so it's just feeling that like.

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Speaker 3: Being elongated and the time it takes, and I'm like

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Speaker 3: seeing our legal system front and center, and I'm like.

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Speaker 1: Ooh, right, Like you feel like this should be so easy, right,

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Speaker 1: this is happening. These people are coming out and saying,

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Speaker 1: point Blake, I was braidwashing. It just takes so much time.

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Speaker 2: And there are paper trails. There are paper trails, and

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Speaker 2: you need to find all that concrete evidence, and like

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Speaker 2: it would be nice to be able to ask some

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Speaker 2: of these questions to law enforcement and get a better

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Speaker 2: understanding for ourselves and for the families and for the

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Speaker 2: people that experienced it. So maybe there's a little peace

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Speaker 2: of mind there. But shifting gears. After the documentary came out,

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Speaker 2: there was a big question on whether or not Miranda

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Speaker 2: would go to your wedding. We've seen on social media

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Speaker 2: that she did. Can you tell us a little bit

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Speaker 2: about what that was like, and was that the last

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Speaker 2: time that you had seen her?

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Speaker 1: That is the last time I have seen her. She

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Speaker 1: showed up, which I am very grateful for.

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Speaker 4: She did not have to do that.

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Speaker 1: I know that was a very uncomfortable situation that she

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Speaker 1: had to be in because she's never met any of

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Speaker 1: my husband's family, hasn't seen our family for years.

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Speaker 4: But I didn't know.

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Speaker 1: If she was coming or not up until pretty much

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Speaker 1: she was there. To protect myself, I don't like to

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Speaker 1: get my hopes up on anything, so it was if

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Speaker 1: she shows up, great, If not, all good, and so

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Speaker 1: she was there, and I'm just very glad that now

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Speaker 1: at least we have those memories together. We have, you know,

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Speaker 1: our family photos together at my wedding. But during the wedding,

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Speaker 1: it was fine. It seemed like they were doing okay.

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Speaker 1: They were able to reconnect with some of our family,

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Speaker 1: which was great. I you know, spoke to them very briefly,

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Speaker 1: but everything was light hearted and so it was a

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Speaker 1: pleasant experience and I'm grateful that they were there. And

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Speaker 1: James was there too, which was I'm sure uncomfortable for

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Speaker 1: him as well. And I don't take that lightly. I

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Speaker 1: know that was hard for them.

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm really glad that they went and that you

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Speaker 2: guys were all able to have a good time. What's

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Speaker 2: the ideal resolution look like for you.

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Speaker 1: At the end of the day. I want my sister

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Speaker 1: out of this group and out of Robert's control. He

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Speaker 1: is not a good person and to have her out

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Speaker 1: and everyone under his control for that matter, and then

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Speaker 1: I want Robert to be held accountable for his actions

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Speaker 1: over the past thirty plus years and not be able

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Speaker 1: to do this to anyone else, break up any more families.

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Speaker 1: It's just awful what he has done, and I hope

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Speaker 1: justice has served for him and that all of these

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Speaker 1: members that are under Robert's control can be freed and

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Speaker 1: have amazing lives. Because you know, Khalia, you're a perfect example.

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Speaker 1: There's so much more than just that group.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 1: I think you're told that or even you feel like

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Speaker 1: everything is with that group. You know, they're your friends,

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Speaker 1: they're your new family. Maybe you know your house you're

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Speaker 1: renting from them, or your car is with them, and

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Speaker 1: so you feel like if you leave, what do I have?

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Speaker 1: I have to start over and for them to know

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Speaker 1: that there is light at the end of the tunnel

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Speaker 1: and you can have an amazing life. I think all

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Speaker 1: the people that were involved in the documentary that have

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Speaker 1: gotten out of Robert's control is just a testament to that,

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Speaker 1: and there's so much more. So I just hope everyone

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Speaker 1: can be freed.

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Speaker 3: Do you have any advice for someone that might be

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Speaker 3: going through a similar situation as you are, like grieving

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Speaker 3: a loved one that is still present in here and alive.

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Speaker 1: The main advice that we had gotten very early on

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Speaker 1: is to try to have some sort of communication. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: that was broken for us for a while and we

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Speaker 1: did not have that, but then we did regain it back,

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Speaker 1: and so trying, I think, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: to be a person that your loved one can come to.

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Speaker 1: They know, like I have to believe my sister knows

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Speaker 1: that all the things we have done, it is because

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Speaker 1: we love her and we are here for her. And

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Speaker 1: when she comes out someday, she knows that we're there

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Speaker 1: and we will support her. And so to be that

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Speaker 1: helping him. And another thing is just to not give up.

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Speaker 1: I am so proud of my family and I for

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Speaker 1: just being persistent and sharing our story. There's so much

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Speaker 1: good that has come out of that. And I know

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Speaker 1: that's so hard to have those two things at once,

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Speaker 1: to be speaking out and exposing something that your family

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Speaker 1: member thinks so highly of and you're talking about it

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Speaker 1: in a negative light, but then also being someone that

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Speaker 1: can be a helping hand. And that's why I say

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Speaker 1: these situations are so delicate and difficult, so just being

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Speaker 1: that safe place, even if they don't see it right now.

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Speaker 3: This concludes the second part of our conversation with Mellie

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Speaker 3: wil King. We truly appreciate her for taking the time

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Speaker 3: to chat with us so extensively.

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Speaker 2: We know this experience has been undeniably difficult for her

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Speaker 2: and her family, so we commend and thank her for

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Speaker 2: sharing her story. We wish her and her family all

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Speaker 2: the very best on their healing journey.

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Speaker 3: This has been Forgive Me For I Have Followed.

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Speaker 2: We'll be back next week.

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Speaker 3: Forgive Me For I Have Followed is a production from

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Speaker 3: wv Sound, Dirty Robert and iHeartMedia's Mikael Tora podcast network,

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Speaker 3: hosted by me Kalia Gray and me Jess cossabetto Forgive

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Speaker 3: Me For I Have Followed is produced by Aaron Burlson

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Speaker 3: and Sophie Spencer's zabos.

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Speaker 2: Our Executive producers are Khalia Gray, myself, Wulmar Balderama, Leo

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Speaker 2: Klam and Aaron Burlison at wv Sound.

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Speaker 3: This episode was edited by Sean Tracy and features original

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Speaker 3: music by Madison Davenport and Halo Boy. For more podcasts

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Speaker 3: from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 3: you listen to your favorite shows.

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Speaker 2: See you next week, See you next week,