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Speaker 1: School of Humans.

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Speaker 2: On June twenty fifth, twenty twenty, fifty six year old

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Speaker 2: James Escalante, who also went by Blackhawk, left home on

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Speaker 2: a red Mountain bike. He was headed out to help

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Speaker 2: a woman named Dee, a friend of his, and his girlfriend, Sherry's.

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Speaker 2: Dee's truck had gotten stuck out in the desert near

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Speaker 2: Wonder Valley, but he never made it back home, and

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Speaker 2: no one reported him missing until September seventh. Heather Escalante

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Speaker 2: and her husband, John, James's son, started their own search.

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Speaker 3: After Heather started.

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Speaker 2: Posting on social media and looking for information, she heard

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Speaker 2: that remains were found in the desert on August eighth

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Speaker 2: by a hunter. The body was a John Doe. Half

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Speaker 2: his face was missing, he had long black hair, and

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Speaker 2: there was no id found. Heather contacted the detective working

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Speaker 2: on the case in September to say she believed that

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Speaker 2: that body could be James. On on December fifteenth, the family's

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Speaker 2: worst fears were confirmed. They got a call from the

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Speaker 2: coroner James as Galante was dead. The cause and manner

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Speaker 2: of his death were undetermined. What happened out there in

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Speaker 2: the desert? I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past five years

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Speaker 2: of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone, I've learned

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Speaker 2: that there is no such thing as a small town

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Speaker 2: where murder never happens. I've received hundreds of messages from

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Speaker 2: people all around the country asking for help with an

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Speaker 2: unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and their communities.

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Speaker 2: If you have a case you'd like me and my

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Speaker 2: team to look into, you can reach out to us

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Speaker 2: at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six seven eight

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Speaker 2: seven four four six one four or five. That's six

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Speaker 2: seven eight seven four four six one four five, or

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Speaker 2: you can send us a message on Instagram at Helen gonpod.

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Speaker 2: This is Helen Gone Murder Line. We got access to

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Speaker 2: the coroner's report, which had some more details of what

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Speaker 2: went down on the day that James's body was found

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Speaker 2: and some details about.

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Speaker 3: The exact condition of the body.

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Speaker 2: According to the coroner's report, the hunter Kyle Gibson, was

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Speaker 2: out in the desert off Highway sixty two when he

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Speaker 2: saw a skeleton. He called the police, and Jason Board,

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Speaker 2: a deputy from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, responded

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Speaker 2: to the scene. The deputy found a skull with skin

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Speaker 2: on the left side of the face and top of

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Speaker 2: the head. Part of James's body was lying down with

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Speaker 2: the legs spread wide apart. His head was pointed forty

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Speaker 2: degrees northeast. He was wearing a pair of plaid shorts,

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Speaker 2: a black sock, and a red and black Nike high

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Speaker 2: top on his left foot, but James's right foot, his arms,

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Speaker 2: and other body parts, including all of the organs in

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Speaker 2: his torso, were missing. Detectives found signs of animal activity

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Speaker 2: on the body, shoe marks and the hips, rib cage,

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Speaker 2: and legbones. One of the deputies who arrived on the

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Speaker 2: scene was Elizabeth Gonzalez. She noted in her report that

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Speaker 2: she saw a stain in the dirt about forty feet

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Speaker 2: south of the body, and three feet away she found

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Speaker 2: another more faint stain. She also found a pocket knife

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Speaker 2: and a lighter near James's body.

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Speaker 3: According to the coroner's report.

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Speaker 2: He indicated that he was going to get it tested

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Speaker 2: for fingerprints, but Heather said that this never happened. According

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Speaker 2: to the autopsy report, a lot of tests could not

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Speaker 2: be performed due to the condition of the body and

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Speaker 2: the fact that James had been out in the elements

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Speaker 2: for so long, but a drug panel showed he did

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Speaker 2: test positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine at very high levels,

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Speaker 2: which Heather said was not a surprise. She said that

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Speaker 2: though police did do an investigation, she sometimes felt that

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Speaker 2: due to James's drug use, that he was written off

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Speaker 2: by law enforcement. His cause and manner of death were undetermined.

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Speaker 1: I shouldn't neither one having to do this. No, I

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Speaker 1: hear two one day at least done their due diligence,

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Speaker 1: and I felt like they had at least done that

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Speaker 1: much and just couldn't get anything. But like they've never

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Speaker 1: looked at James, They've never looked at it, they've never

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Speaker 1: been in it. When never going out there, how do

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Speaker 1: you know that wasn't a crime thing you didn't want?

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Speaker 1: Miyama don't know that he wasn't killed in there and

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Speaker 1: dumped out in the desert. Like we have no idea

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Speaker 1: because damn it looked.

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Speaker 2: People do disappear out there in the desert, even people

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Speaker 2: who know the area well. Like we said last week,

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Speaker 2: this is a part of the country where a lot

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Speaker 2: of people go missing for a lot of different reasons.

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Speaker 2: Around nine days before James went missing, thirty seven year

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Speaker 2: old Erica Lloyd also disappeared and Even though there's no

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Speaker 2: official indication that Erica and James's deaths were connected, we

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Speaker 2: wanted to see if anything about Erica's disappearance could help

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Speaker 2: provide a clue about what happened to James. Family and

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Speaker 2: friends say Erica had been going through a tough time.

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Speaker 2: She was a single mother with a twelve year old son,

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Speaker 2: and she had been battling depression. COVID had hit her

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Speaker 2: hair dressing business hard. She was worried about money, though

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Speaker 2: her mother, Ruth Lloyd, said that the family did not

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Speaker 2: know the extent of Erica's mental health struggles until much later.

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Speaker 2: Erica dropped her son off to stay in Walnut Creek,

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Speaker 2: where they lived. I've seen some media reports that say

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Speaker 2: she dropped her son off with a friend. Others say

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Speaker 2: that her son was dropped with his father. Either way,

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Speaker 2: he was staying there with someone. Walnut Creek is in

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Speaker 2: northern California, between Sacramento and San Jose. She told people

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Speaker 2: she was going on a pandemic road trip. Erica didn't

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Speaker 2: seem to have an exact itinerary. The San Bernardino Sentinel

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Speaker 2: newspaper reported that Erica may have been planning to see

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Speaker 2: a friend someone who had reportedly moved to twenty nine

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Speaker 2: Palms in April of twenty twenty, but so far that's unconfirmed.

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Speaker 2: According to The Sentinel, Erica originally left on June eleventh.

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Speaker 2: She drove straight over five hundred miles down the I

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Speaker 2: five and her two thousand and six black Honda accord.

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Speaker 2: Her destination was Joshua Tree National Park. She parked at

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Speaker 2: the Jumbo Rocks campground and stayed there for two nights.

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Speaker 2: While she was there, she wrote in her journal that

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Speaker 2: she met two people named Christian and James. On Saturday,

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Speaker 2: June thirteenth, she drove back home to Walnut Creek again

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Speaker 2: in one single drive. She spent some time there with

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Speaker 2: her son and her roommate. On June fourteenth, she left

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Speaker 2: Walnut Creek to go back to that same campground. She

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Speaker 2: did not appear to be in distress, though before she

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Speaker 2: left she did delete her Facebook page. She was active

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Speaker 2: on Instagram until the next day, June fifteenth. She told

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Speaker 2: people while she was home that these people she met,

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Speaker 2: James and Christian, were watching her stuff. On June fourteenth,

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Speaker 2: when she got back to the Jumbo Rocks campground, apparently,

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Speaker 2: James and Christian were no longer. There, she called her mother, Ruth,

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Speaker 2: and according to the Sentinel, her mom said that Erica

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Speaker 2: was talking really fast. She said she could tell by

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Speaker 2: the background noises that Erica was driving her car. After that,

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Speaker 2: Erica's family never heard from her again. Park rangers found

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Speaker 2: the car and saw that there was damage to the

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Speaker 2: rear window, windshield, and dashboard. Then, on Tuesday, June sixteenth,

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty, surveillance video showed Erica's car leaving the north

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Speaker 2: entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. Then later the car

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Speaker 2: was seen on surveillance video at two fifty pm in

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Speaker 2: the town of twenty nine Palms.

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Speaker 3: At four pm, a.

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Speaker 2: California Highway patrolman spotted a car parked on Shelton Road,

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Speaker 2: just north of the intersection with Highway sixty two near

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Speaker 2: twenty nine Palms.

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Speaker 3: The car was blocking.

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Speaker 2: The roadway, so the Highway patrol called in nearby auto

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Speaker 2: repair company to come and tow the car. News Channel

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Speaker 2: three talked to the owner of that towing company. They

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Speaker 2: said the windows of the car were busted out, the

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Speaker 2: radio was shattered, and the air bag had deployed. And

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Speaker 2: this is where the story takes a really tragic turn

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Speaker 2: because This turned out to be Erica's two thousand and

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Speaker 2: six black Hondo cord Ell. Lloyd's family reported her missing

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Speaker 2: on June seventeenth. This was the day after a car

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Speaker 2: had been towed off Shelton Road, the car that turned

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Speaker 2: out to be Erica's, and even after she was reported missing,

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Speaker 2: at first, no one connected the abandoned car with her.

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Speaker 2: Since the California Highway Patrol didn't know that there was

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Speaker 2: someone who had been.

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Speaker 3: In the car, they just towed the vehicle.

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Speaker 2: They mailed the toe slip to Erica's apartment, which obviously

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Speaker 2: she never received. Eventually, the Walnut Creek Police Department notified

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Speaker 2: the Highway Patrol that Erica was missing, and they started

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Speaker 2: to look for her. Erica's family flew out on the nineteenth.

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Speaker 2: They started putting up flyers. They kept trying to call

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Speaker 2: her cell phone. On June twentieth, finally someone answered, but

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Speaker 2: it wasn't Erica.

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Speaker 3: It was a man.

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Speaker 2: Erica Lloyd's family was calling her cell phone in a

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Speaker 2: desperate attempt to find her, and on June twentieth, someone

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Speaker 2: picked up the phone, but it wasn't Erica.

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Speaker 3: It was a strange man.

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Speaker 2: He told Erica's family that he had found her cell

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Speaker 2: phone on June eighteenth on Cottonwood Drive in twenty nine Palms,

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Speaker 2: so they were wondering how did she get separated from

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Speaker 2: her car and her phone. Some people suggested that Eric

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Speaker 2: had been kidnapped or killed by a serial killer, but

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Speaker 2: the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said no foul play

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Speaker 2: was involved. Investigators pieced together a theory that Erica had

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Speaker 2: crashed her car and left her vehicle, then she became

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Speaker 2: disoriented in the desert heat. They believed this because there

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Speaker 2: was also significant damage to the bottom.

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Speaker 3: Of her car. Underneath it, it looked like she had.

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Speaker 2: Crashed into one of those berms out on the side

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Speaker 2: of the road, the areas that kind of slope up

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Speaker 2: on the side of the highway one of the natural barriers.

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Speaker 2: Investigators thought that after she crashed, Erica might have seen

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Speaker 2: the Marine Corps base in the distance and mistook it

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Speaker 2: for the town of twenty nine Palms. This may have

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Speaker 2: caused her to walk off of Highway sixty two to

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Speaker 2: try and cut through there. This could have been a

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Speaker 2: fatal mistake because that would have led her through miles

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Speaker 2: of desert in sweltering heat and what no one knew

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Speaker 2: at the time was that the spot where police found

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Speaker 2: her car on Highway sixty two and Shelton was not

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Speaker 2: the original crash site. Because shortly after Erica abandoned her car,

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Speaker 2: two people, David Krow and Tila Campbell, saw it on

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Speaker 2: the side of the road. They hooked it up to

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Speaker 2: a big truck they had, and they started towing the

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Speaker 2: car and driving south, But they only made it about

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Speaker 2: two miles from where it crashed before the car overheated,

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Speaker 2: so they detached Erica's vehicle and bailed. This means that

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Speaker 2: when the search effort began for Erica, it started at

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Speaker 2: the wrong spot. The police focused on the area around

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Speaker 2: where the car had been dropped off by David and Tila,

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Speaker 2: not the spot where Erica had actually crashed her car

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Speaker 2: and started wandering around in a daze. There is no

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Speaker 2: indication that David and Tela knew the car had been

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Speaker 2: abandoned by someone who was in trouble, but they didn't

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Speaker 2: call the authorities.

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Speaker 3: We don't know.

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Speaker 2: If they saw the reports of Erica missing on the news,

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Speaker 2: but if they had called, there's a possibility they could

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Speaker 2: have saved her life.

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Speaker 3: Tragically.

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Speaker 2: Searchers might have been able to find Erica if they

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Speaker 2: had just searched closer to where she actually left the car,

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Speaker 2: but we will never know that for sure. We reached

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Speaker 2: out to Erica's mother, Ruth Lloyd. She responded in an email.

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Speaker 2: She said that she had been wary of some podcasts

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Speaker 2: in the past that were, in her opinion, erroneously trying

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Speaker 2: to make connections between Erica's case and a serial killer,

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Speaker 2: or implying Erica and James Escalante's cases were connected.

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Speaker 3: Ruth wants to make it clear.

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Speaker 2: She believes Erica crashed her car and succumbed to the elements,

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Speaker 2: and that law enforcement did a good job. Her email

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Speaker 2: reads quote, because especially in the first several years, we

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Speaker 2: found that there were some crime podcasters and sluice that

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Speaker 2: were looking to find entertainment and exploiting the tragedies of

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Speaker 2: the victims and or their families. So we felt that

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Speaker 2: you had better understand Erica's sudden mental health break. And

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Speaker 2: it is sadly what caused Erica to be where she

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Speaker 2: ended up in the desert that day, where her car

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Speaker 2: crashed and got stuck on a sandburm in Wonder Valley,

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Speaker 2: which getting stuck is not uncommon in the desert end quote.

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Speaker 2: Ruth talked about going out to Wonder Valley and discovering

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Speaker 2: the challenges of being in that part of the desert,

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Speaker 2: which she described as a mix of homestead junkyards with

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Speaker 2: the occasional Airbnb renovated with the hot tub. She wrote, quote,

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Speaker 2: from everything we know, we don't believe Erica had any

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Speaker 2: intention of being out where she was, and this was

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Speaker 2: definitely an area she was not familiar with. Even for

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Speaker 2: us being from Maryland, going out in the desert at

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Speaker 2: that time of the year was like going to Mars

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Speaker 2: end quote. Ruth talked about how going to the area

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Speaker 2: in the intense heat, with the smoke and the ash

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Speaker 2: from the California wildfires, how beautiful it was, but how

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Speaker 2: it was ninety eight degrees even at night, it can

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Speaker 2: be an unforgiving place. She said that the family got

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Speaker 2: a lot of calls and texts from people who thought

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Speaker 2: they saw Erica.

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Speaker 3: She talked about how.

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Speaker 2: They found five homeless women, all of whom looked a

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Speaker 2: lot like Erica, and how many people are wandering lost

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Speaker 2: in one way or another out there.

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Speaker 3: She wrote, quote, we.

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Speaker 2: Found many of these women and men live wherever they

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Speaker 2: can find a place to stay, crawl into, or get under.

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Speaker 2: So it makes you wonder when they are alone and

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Speaker 2: die in the desert, who's looking for them? End quote.

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Speaker 2: Ruth said that their family had a search team out

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Speaker 2: on June twenty fifth. This was the day that James

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00:14:49,085 --> 00:14:51,405
Speaker 2: Escalante headed out to the desert to help de get

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Speaker 2: her truck unstuck. The team stopped at noon that day

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Speaker 2: when it got too hot. James was at the corner

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Speaker 2: of Shelton in Highway sixty two when he made the

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Speaker 2: call and then headed up Shelton Road. He would have

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Speaker 2: had to carry his bike because of the loose sand.

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Speaker 2: The bike was later found with some drug paraphernalia on

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Speaker 2: the side of the road. It was found by the

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Speaker 2: caving and mining expert who worked with Erica's family. But

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Speaker 2: what happened to James after that? Did he stash the

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Speaker 2: bike there or did someone else dump it out there.

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Speaker 2: Erica's body was discovered by hikers near Danby Road and

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Speaker 2: Amboy Road in Wonder Valley on January thirty first, twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty one. In June of twenty twenty one, Tila Campbell

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Speaker 2: and David Crowe were arrested. They were charged with stealing

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Speaker 2: Erica's car. They admitted that they had seen the car

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Speaker 2: out there in the sandburn got it off there, hauled

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Speaker 2: it off and drove it until it overheated, then abandoned

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Speaker 2: the vehicle. David Crowe was sentenced after a plea deal,

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Speaker 2: but Tila Campbell's case is still going through the courts.

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Speaker 2: According to Erica's mom, Tila's next hearing date is set

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Speaker 2: for January twenty twenty five. Erica's family did travel to

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Speaker 2: Joshua Tree to give a family impact statement in front

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Speaker 2: of Tila and David.

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Speaker 3: Wrote quote.

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Speaker 2: At the hearing, they both appeared to understand the consequence

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Speaker 2: of what their actions caused Erica that day end quote.

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Speaker 2: Ruth said that the defendants appeared to be sorry and

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Speaker 2: remorseful in court, and that the family felt a certain

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00:16:18,765 --> 00:16:21,685
Speaker 2: amount of peace and closure in being able to address

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Speaker 2: both of them and let them know how they had

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00:16:24,205 --> 00:16:28,125
Speaker 2: devastated their family. Ruth said that they met the homicide

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Speaker 2: detectives that handled Erica's case and James's case. She said

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Speaker 2: detectives said they found no indication that the cases were connected.

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Speaker 2: Erica's cause and manner of death has never been revealed,

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00:16:40,525 --> 00:16:44,565
Speaker 2: but Heather Escalante said she wonders about that and if

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00:16:44,605 --> 00:16:47,365
Speaker 2: it's possible that the James in the desert that Erica

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00:16:47,405 --> 00:16:50,445
Speaker 2: wrote about in a journal could be her father in law,

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Speaker 2: James Escalante.

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Speaker 1: I still think Eric Alloyd's what the narrative that has

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Speaker 1: been put out. I'm gonna be honest with you. Please

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Speaker 1: excuse my langage, but I think it's bullshit. Honestly, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I still think their cases are connected. There was a

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Speaker 1: James and Christian holding her can fight for her. I

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Speaker 1: get James as a common name, but that's a little wild.

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Speaker 1: I also think I know who Christian is.

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00:17:11,805 --> 00:17:15,605
Speaker 2: And then Heather found even more inconsistencies in Sherry's story,

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Speaker 2: inconsistencies that might connect him with eric A.

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Speaker 3: Lloyd.

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00:17:20,965 --> 00:17:23,645
Speaker 2: Heather eventually got access to James's call logs from his

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Speaker 2: cell phone. When she went through them, she found that

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00:17:27,205 --> 00:17:31,085
Speaker 2: Sherry's timeline of James's location in the past month did

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Speaker 2: not align with what she found in their text messages.

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Speaker 1: One of the things I found interesting was that Sherry

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Speaker 1: had claimed that my James couldn't be the James that

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Speaker 1: was with eric A. Lloyd that month because she was

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Speaker 1: with him the whole month, or he was with her

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Speaker 1: the whole month, but if you read through their text

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Speaker 1: messaging lags, there's nothing like almost all their text messaging

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Speaker 1: back and forth that month was like her saying are

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Speaker 1: you ever coming home?

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Speaker 3: So he wasn't with her.

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Speaker 2: Heather said that Cherry actually mentioned eric A Lloyd in

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Speaker 2: kind of a cryptic way, and Heather revealed something else.

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Speaker 2: She said that Sherry is actually friends with the two

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Speaker 2: people Tela and David, who had been charged with stealing

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Speaker 2: Erica's car. The place where they dumped the car was

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Speaker 2: also the exact same intersection where apparently they were hanging

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Speaker 2: out and where James went missing days later. There are

325
00:18:18,165 --> 00:18:22,405
Speaker 2: other unanswered questions from Erica's case, like who are Christian

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Speaker 2: and James? Are those their real names? Then there's Erica's campsite.

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Speaker 2: When the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department searched the Jumbo

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Speaker 2: Rocks campground where Erica was that day, they did find

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Speaker 2: her gear, but they found something else, an expensive, yeti

330
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Speaker 2: cooler that Erica's family said they didn't recognize. Could someone

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Speaker 2: else have been out there with her? Could it have

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Speaker 2: been James Escalante? It may seem far fetched, but no

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Speaker 2: one has ever found Christian or James. Signs may point

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Speaker 2: to her car crash being an accident, but I wonder

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Speaker 2: how do we know for sure that she was alone

336
00:18:58,445 --> 00:19:04,005
Speaker 2: in that car or what caused her to crash. Erica's

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00:19:04,045 --> 00:19:06,885
Speaker 2: car ended up getting abandoned at Highway sixty two and

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Speaker 2: Shelton Road. As we know, this is exactly the same

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00:19:11,005 --> 00:19:14,165
Speaker 2: area where James Escalante was headed nine days later on

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00:19:14,245 --> 00:19:17,885
Speaker 2: June twenty fifth, twenty twenty. It's where he stopped at

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00:19:17,925 --> 00:19:21,165
Speaker 2: that intersection and used his cell phone to call Sherry,

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00:19:21,205 --> 00:19:25,005
Speaker 2: telling her that he couldn't find d or her car. Now,

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00:19:25,045 --> 00:19:27,525
Speaker 2: the story that Heather and detectives were told was that

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00:19:27,565 --> 00:19:30,205
Speaker 2: Sherry made a three way call with James and D

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00:19:30,685 --> 00:19:33,205
Speaker 2: that D told him to honk his horn. He seemed

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00:19:33,205 --> 00:19:35,325
Speaker 2: to hear the horn and said I got it and

347
00:19:35,405 --> 00:19:39,205
Speaker 2: hung up, but he never got to D. Eventually, she

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00:19:39,285 --> 00:19:42,685
Speaker 2: was rescued by two other friends. No one ever heard

349
00:19:42,725 --> 00:19:47,045
Speaker 2: from James again. After James was found, searchers went back

350
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Speaker 2: out to the area. We have filed multiple freedom of

351
00:19:50,765 --> 00:19:54,525
Speaker 2: information requests with San Bernardino County. They first told us

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00:19:54,565 --> 00:19:57,445
Speaker 2: we would have a response by January ninth, The most

353
00:19:57,525 --> 00:20:00,045
Speaker 2: recent date they have given us is January twenty first,

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Speaker 2: so I will keep you updated.

355
00:20:02,725 --> 00:20:04,325
Speaker 3: Commenters on Reddit who live.

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Speaker 2: In the area talk about how the mob used to

357
00:20:06,605 --> 00:20:10,205
Speaker 2: dump bodies out there in the desert and how people

358
00:20:10,245 --> 00:20:14,965
Speaker 2: who use and deal methamphetamine are also around. The commoner

359
00:20:15,005 --> 00:20:18,365
Speaker 2: on Reddit, who says they live nearby, kind of nailed

360
00:20:18,405 --> 00:20:21,325
Speaker 2: the sometimes strange mix of people who populate the area

361
00:20:21,365 --> 00:20:24,245
Speaker 2: when they wrote quote, I've heard the local meth heads

362
00:20:24,285 --> 00:20:26,285
Speaker 2: make some comments about how easy it is to throw

363
00:20:26,325 --> 00:20:30,325
Speaker 2: a body in a dryer, put the dryer in a wash, etc. However,

364
00:20:30,805 --> 00:20:34,845
Speaker 2: it's become very popular among tourists, especially lately, and the

365
00:20:34,845 --> 00:20:38,245
Speaker 2: sheer number of people is a newer development. Many of

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00:20:38,285 --> 00:20:41,525
Speaker 2: these tourists being folk who already live in southern California.

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00:20:41,645 --> 00:20:43,605
Speaker 2: I think that gives them a false sense of security.

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00:20:44,085 --> 00:20:46,285
Speaker 2: They think they know what the heat is like. They

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00:20:46,325 --> 00:20:50,565
Speaker 2: don't realize how vast the park really is, and the landmarks,

370
00:20:51,045 --> 00:20:54,725
Speaker 2: while gorgeous, can easily all look the same end quote,

371
00:20:55,725 --> 00:20:59,925
Speaker 2: and sometimes we discover the desert has become a dumping

372
00:20:59,965 --> 00:21:07,565
Speaker 2: ground for killers hoping to cover their tracks. The desert

373
00:21:07,645 --> 00:21:10,965
Speaker 2: where Erica Lloyd and James Escalante went missing is a

374
00:21:11,005 --> 00:21:14,445
Speaker 2: spot where killers have been known to dump bodies. On

375
00:21:14,605 --> 00:21:19,485
Speaker 2: June seventeenth, twenty fourteen, nineteen year old Aaron Corwin disappeared.

376
00:21:20,525 --> 00:21:23,045
Speaker 2: Aaron was pregnant and she was married to a Marine

377
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Speaker 2: who was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat

378
00:21:26,165 --> 00:21:29,565
Speaker 2: Center in twenty nine Palms. The case made national news

379
00:21:29,605 --> 00:21:33,125
Speaker 2: and everyone was looking for Erica, and after two months,

380
00:21:33,325 --> 00:21:36,485
Speaker 2: her body was found hidden in an abandoned mine shaft

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00:21:36,605 --> 00:21:39,565
Speaker 2: near Joshua Tree. I want to note here that the

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00:21:39,645 --> 00:21:42,725
Speaker 2: person who led the search that found Erin was not

383
00:21:42,845 --> 00:21:46,245
Speaker 2: the police. It was Doug Billings, the same cave and

384
00:21:46,325 --> 00:21:51,685
Speaker 2: mining expert who found James Escalante's bike. It turned out

385
00:21:51,725 --> 00:21:54,365
Speaker 2: that Aaron was actually having an affair with another marine,

386
00:21:54,525 --> 00:21:58,285
Speaker 2: twenty seven year old Christopher Lee. Christopher was also married

387
00:21:58,285 --> 00:22:01,805
Speaker 2: to someone else. He and Aaron were neighbors. Christopher was

388
00:22:01,885 --> 00:22:06,045
Speaker 2: obsessively jealous and controlling of Erin. He later confess that

389
00:22:06,125 --> 00:22:09,205
Speaker 2: after meeting her on the night she disappeared, he strangled

390
00:22:09,205 --> 00:22:12,005
Speaker 2: her and through her body head first down the one

391
00:22:12,085 --> 00:22:15,405
Speaker 2: hundred and forty foot mine shaft. He first lied to

392
00:22:15,445 --> 00:22:18,645
Speaker 2: investigators about the affair, but after Aaron's body was found

393
00:22:18,805 --> 00:22:21,485
Speaker 2: along with some mountaineering rope and a propane tank that

394
00:22:21,525 --> 00:22:25,285
Speaker 2: were similar to ones Christopher owned. Evidence kept piling up,

395
00:22:25,605 --> 00:22:28,165
Speaker 2: and he confessed to strangling her in a jealous rage

396
00:22:28,325 --> 00:22:30,885
Speaker 2: and hiding her body in the mind. He said that

397
00:22:30,925 --> 00:22:33,805
Speaker 2: he was depressed because he was not being redeployed.

398
00:22:34,205 --> 00:22:36,045
Speaker 3: He was due to head back to his home state

399
00:22:36,085 --> 00:22:36,725
Speaker 3: of Alaska.

400
00:22:37,605 --> 00:22:40,245
Speaker 2: He also stated he believed that he might be the

401
00:22:40,325 --> 00:22:43,765
Speaker 2: father of Aaron's unborn baby. He said in court that

402
00:22:43,925 --> 00:22:46,405
Speaker 2: he was angry with Aeron because he believed that she

403
00:22:46,485 --> 00:22:49,125
Speaker 2: had molested his other daughter, which, by the way, is

404
00:22:49,165 --> 00:22:50,525
Speaker 2: the first time he ever said that.

405
00:22:51,005 --> 00:22:52,365
Speaker 3: Investigators say this.

406
00:22:52,245 --> 00:22:54,925
Speaker 2: Is obviously a lie, something he made up to try

407
00:22:54,965 --> 00:22:57,165
Speaker 2: to get sympathy from the jury, but it was a

408
00:22:57,245 --> 00:23:01,085
Speaker 2: justification that the jury did not buy. In twenty eighteen,

409
00:23:01,445 --> 00:23:05,165
Speaker 2: he was convicted of Aaron's murder. But I wonder if

410
00:23:05,205 --> 00:23:08,165
Speaker 2: air Ar wasn't living on a military base, if she

411
00:23:08,245 --> 00:23:10,725
Speaker 2: was someone who had a more nomadish life, and if

412
00:23:10,765 --> 00:23:14,165
Speaker 2: the whole community hadn't rallied around a look, would they

413
00:23:14,165 --> 00:23:18,525
Speaker 2: have ever found her. Erica Lloyd was totally unfamiliar with

414
00:23:18,565 --> 00:23:21,845
Speaker 2: the location where she was found, but James Escalante was not.

415
00:23:22,645 --> 00:23:25,725
Speaker 2: He had lived there for decades. He knew the desert

416
00:23:25,765 --> 00:23:28,325
Speaker 2: like the back of his hand. Would it really be

417
00:23:28,485 --> 00:23:31,685
Speaker 2: possible for him to get that disoriented? I look for

418
00:23:31,725 --> 00:23:34,165
Speaker 2: similar cases and that led me to the disappearance of

419
00:23:34,165 --> 00:23:37,045
Speaker 2: another person who went missing while on a short hike.

420
00:23:37,885 --> 00:23:40,485
Speaker 2: Paul Miller was a fifty one year old man from Canada.

421
00:23:41,085 --> 00:23:44,485
Speaker 2: On July thirteenth, twenty eighteen, he was on a bucket

422
00:23:44,485 --> 00:23:47,325
Speaker 2: list road trip to the area with his wife, Stephanie Miller.

423
00:23:48,205 --> 00:23:50,405
Speaker 2: They were staying at a hotel in twenty nine Palms.

424
00:23:50,805 --> 00:23:53,525
Speaker 2: They had already been in Joshua Tree for several days.

425
00:23:53,725 --> 00:23:55,965
Speaker 2: They were having a great time. They were hiking, They

426
00:23:56,005 --> 00:23:58,725
Speaker 2: were checking out scenery. They were due to check out

427
00:23:58,725 --> 00:24:00,765
Speaker 2: that day at eleven am and fly back to their

428
00:24:00,765 --> 00:24:04,165
Speaker 2: home in Ontario. Since I know we're all true crime

429
00:24:04,205 --> 00:24:06,685
Speaker 2: listeners here, I should say front they had a very

430
00:24:06,685 --> 00:24:09,805
Speaker 2: happy marriage. They had grown children. They had been married

431
00:24:09,805 --> 00:24:13,365
Speaker 2: for over twenty five years. There is no indication there

432
00:24:13,405 --> 00:24:17,285
Speaker 2: was any trouble in their marriage. They went to several destinations,

433
00:24:17,325 --> 00:24:19,605
Speaker 2: including the Grand Canyon, and were ending their trip at

434
00:24:19,645 --> 00:24:23,885
Speaker 2: Joshua Tree before flying home. Stephanie told reporters as they

435
00:24:23,925 --> 00:24:26,605
Speaker 2: were packing up, kind of on a whim, Paul said

436
00:24:26,605 --> 00:24:28,765
Speaker 2: he was going out for one more quick hike to

437
00:24:28,885 --> 00:24:30,805
Speaker 2: the forty nine Palms Oasis.

438
00:24:31,365 --> 00:24:32,605
Speaker 3: According to a blog.

439
00:24:32,325 --> 00:24:35,325
Speaker 2: Post later made by Paul's mom, at around nine am

440
00:24:35,405 --> 00:24:38,165
Speaker 2: he went out. He left his cell phone behind, which

441
00:24:38,325 --> 00:24:41,205
Speaker 2: was not out of character for him. Maybe he was

442
00:24:41,245 --> 00:24:43,485
Speaker 2: also thinking about the fact that a lot of areas

443
00:24:43,485 --> 00:24:48,405
Speaker 2: around Joshua Tree have zero reception For an experienced hiker

444
00:24:48,525 --> 00:24:51,245
Speaker 2: like Paul. This trail would have been a fairly easy hike.

445
00:24:51,765 --> 00:24:53,765
Speaker 2: It had a rank of moderate, it had a three

446
00:24:53,845 --> 00:24:56,525
Speaker 2: hundred foot elevation game, It's a mile and a half

447
00:24:56,645 --> 00:24:59,165
Speaker 2: in and a mile and a half out. He should

448
00:24:59,205 --> 00:25:02,165
Speaker 2: have been back within an hour. It was a trail

449
00:25:02,245 --> 00:25:04,725
Speaker 2: that he had actually been planning to hike together with

450
00:25:04,805 --> 00:25:07,965
Speaker 2: his wife, but apparently it was raining on the day

451
00:25:08,005 --> 00:25:10,085
Speaker 2: they planned to try it, so he just wanted to

452
00:25:10,125 --> 00:25:13,325
Speaker 2: do one more thing before they left. At first, his

453
00:25:13,405 --> 00:25:16,085
Speaker 2: wife thought maybe he was taking pictures or got caught up,

454
00:25:16,125 --> 00:25:19,365
Speaker 2: but when he wasn't back by checkout time, she immediately

455
00:25:19,405 --> 00:25:23,765
Speaker 2: contacted the authorities and they immediately started looking for him.

456
00:25:23,965 --> 00:25:27,405
Speaker 2: Paul Miller was just gone. His family tried everything they

457
00:25:27,445 --> 00:25:29,645
Speaker 2: could think of to look for him. They had drones

458
00:25:29,725 --> 00:25:33,325
Speaker 2: go up via a nonprofit called Western States aerial search.

459
00:25:34,045 --> 00:25:38,565
Speaker 2: They looked through thousands of images. Finally, on December twenty third,

460
00:25:38,645 --> 00:25:42,885
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, they found his body crouched behind a large boulder.

461
00:25:43,445 --> 00:25:46,485
Speaker 3: He still had water and food with him. They believed

462
00:25:46,485 --> 00:25:46,765
Speaker 3: that he.

463
00:25:46,765 --> 00:25:50,605
Speaker 2: Was hiking and headed back when, possibly due to the heat,

464
00:25:51,045 --> 00:25:53,925
Speaker 2: he suffered some kind of physical collapse, maybe a heart

465
00:25:53,925 --> 00:25:57,365
Speaker 2: attack or heat stroke. He probably just wanted to get

466
00:25:57,365 --> 00:25:59,365
Speaker 2: to the shade, so he found the boulder and sat

467
00:25:59,405 --> 00:26:04,725
Speaker 2: down there. Unfortunately, he never got up. They also think

468
00:26:04,725 --> 00:26:07,405
Speaker 2: that after he at the forty nine Palms Oasis and

469
00:26:07,525 --> 00:26:10,885
Speaker 2: was coming back, he might have seen something either a

470
00:26:11,125 --> 00:26:13,645
Speaker 2: wash or an animal trail, something that looked like part

471
00:26:13,685 --> 00:26:16,725
Speaker 2: of the regular trail. He might have gotten confused and

472
00:26:16,765 --> 00:26:19,285
Speaker 2: wandered a little bit off course. They don't know if

473
00:26:19,325 --> 00:26:21,565
Speaker 2: he had some kind of heart condition or felt sick,

474
00:26:21,685 --> 00:26:23,445
Speaker 2: or why he headed to that shaded area.

475
00:26:23,965 --> 00:26:25,565
Speaker 3: He might have even had hyperthermia.

476
00:26:25,805 --> 00:26:29,685
Speaker 2: This can cause dizziness, weakness, nausea, and can incapacitate someone

477
00:26:29,845 --> 00:26:32,725
Speaker 2: very quickly, especially if there's something else going on physically.

478
00:26:33,365 --> 00:26:36,525
Speaker 2: Even a seasoned hiker on a short, easy route can

479
00:26:36,565 --> 00:26:37,725
Speaker 2: be at risk of death.

480
00:26:37,485 --> 00:26:38,565
Speaker 3: If they get turned around.

481
00:26:39,445 --> 00:26:41,125
Speaker 2: I want to just take a second here for anyone

482
00:26:41,165 --> 00:26:43,405
Speaker 2: who's a hiker or even headed out to an area

483
00:26:43,405 --> 00:26:46,725
Speaker 2: with no cell reception, please let someone know where you're going.

484
00:26:47,405 --> 00:26:49,565
Speaker 2: Remember there is no cell surface in a lot of

485
00:26:49,565 --> 00:26:53,285
Speaker 2: these places. Officials recommend that you carry a minimum of

486
00:26:53,325 --> 00:26:56,525
Speaker 2: one gallon of water per person per day. They recommend

487
00:26:56,565 --> 00:27:00,165
Speaker 2: hikers carry two gallons per person per day. They recommend

488
00:27:00,205 --> 00:27:05,045
Speaker 2: avoiding strenuous activity when there's extreme heat, wearing sunscreen, sunglasses,

489
00:27:05,045 --> 00:27:06,965
Speaker 2: and a hat, and one of the most important, in

490
00:27:06,965 --> 00:27:11,805
Speaker 2: my opinion, consider hiking with another person. They also warned

491
00:27:11,805 --> 00:27:15,365
Speaker 2: that quote dramatic weather changes can occur with little to

492
00:27:15,485 --> 00:27:20,405
Speaker 2: no warning end quote. Joshua Tree National Park is huge,

493
00:27:20,525 --> 00:27:24,485
Speaker 2: over three hundred miles. Weather can turn on a dime.

494
00:27:25,245 --> 00:27:28,805
Speaker 2: Whatever happened to Paul Miller probably happened very quickly. We

495
00:27:28,965 --> 00:27:32,765
Speaker 2: may never know exactly what happened, but it wasn't foul play.

496
00:27:32,885 --> 00:27:35,085
Speaker 2: It does go to show even with a lot of

497
00:27:35,125 --> 00:27:38,045
Speaker 2: help and searchers, even when they knew the exact area

498
00:27:38,085 --> 00:27:40,805
Speaker 2: he would be in, finding people in that desert can

499
00:27:40,845 --> 00:27:44,365
Speaker 2: be like finding a needle in a haystack. Stephanie Miller

500
00:27:44,445 --> 00:27:47,445
Speaker 2: said after Paul's remains were found, she realized they'd been

501
00:27:47,445 --> 00:27:50,765
Speaker 2: searching very close to where he was, within twenty one

502
00:27:50,845 --> 00:27:55,085
Speaker 2: yards close enough so if he had been conscious, she

503
00:27:55,245 --> 00:27:58,925
Speaker 2: believes he would have heard them screaming his name. I

504
00:27:58,965 --> 00:28:01,205
Speaker 2: want to add when the family was trying to do

505
00:28:01,285 --> 00:28:03,765
Speaker 2: everything they could to get searchers out there, they contacted

506
00:28:03,765 --> 00:28:07,005
Speaker 2: the company I mentioned that had drones. Now, apparently there

507
00:28:07,045 --> 00:28:09,965
Speaker 2: are rules about where drones can fly to national parks.

508
00:28:10,325 --> 00:28:12,925
Speaker 2: Stephanie Miller has said she wants to make it easier

509
00:28:12,925 --> 00:28:15,285
Speaker 2: for families to be able to get drones in to

510
00:28:15,445 --> 00:28:18,925
Speaker 2: national parks to search for their missing loved ones. She

511
00:28:19,125 --> 00:28:21,805
Speaker 2: hopes that Paul's death will help to make changes on

512
00:28:21,805 --> 00:28:24,685
Speaker 2: that front, which I think is a very good cause.

513
00:28:26,005 --> 00:28:28,805
Speaker 2: Then there was Patrick Wells, a thirty eight year old

514
00:28:28,805 --> 00:28:31,045
Speaker 2: man who left his home in twenty nine Palms on

515
00:28:31,165 --> 00:28:34,245
Speaker 2: June fifth, twenty twenty one. He was headed to see

516
00:28:34,285 --> 00:28:37,485
Speaker 2: his dad, who lived in Riverside, California, but he never

517
00:28:37,525 --> 00:28:38,005
Speaker 2: got there.

518
00:28:38,605 --> 00:28:40,165
Speaker 3: No one ever heard from him again.

519
00:28:40,805 --> 00:28:44,285
Speaker 2: Then on June eighteenth, park rangers found his pickup truck

520
00:28:44,325 --> 00:28:48,085
Speaker 2: in Ridlesnake Canyon at the Indian Cove Campground. Again, in

521
00:28:48,205 --> 00:28:51,925
Speaker 2: Joshua Tree National Park, they found a human arm sticking

522
00:28:51,925 --> 00:28:54,605
Speaker 2: out from under a large Boulder and the San Bernardino

523
00:28:54,645 --> 00:28:57,405
Speaker 2: County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue cave unit came to

524
00:28:57,445 --> 00:29:01,525
Speaker 2: the scene. The coroner later issued a press release confirming

525
00:29:01,565 --> 00:29:05,085
Speaker 2: the body was Patrick Wells. No cause of death was listed.

526
00:29:05,685 --> 00:29:07,725
Speaker 2: They have stated that there was no reason to suspect

527
00:29:07,805 --> 00:29:11,325
Speaker 2: foul play in that case either, just another mysterious death

528
00:29:11,565 --> 00:29:20,365
Speaker 2: in San Bernardino County. In the summer of twenty twenty,

529
00:29:20,765 --> 00:29:24,885
Speaker 2: Heather Escalante and her husband, John, James's son, flew out

530
00:29:24,965 --> 00:29:27,885
Speaker 2: to Wonder Valley, California, from their home in South Carolina

531
00:29:28,245 --> 00:29:32,365
Speaker 2: and started their own investigation. They met up with Kyle Gibson,

532
00:29:32,645 --> 00:29:35,525
Speaker 2: the hunter who found James's body, and he took them

533
00:29:35,525 --> 00:29:38,765
Speaker 2: out to the exact location where he had found james skeleton.

534
00:29:39,645 --> 00:29:40,445
Speaker 3: Heather said that.

535
00:29:40,405 --> 00:29:43,605
Speaker 2: When she mentioned some of the inconsistencies in Sherry's story

536
00:29:43,645 --> 00:29:48,085
Speaker 2: to detectives, she asked that James's case be transferred to homicide.

537
00:29:48,245 --> 00:29:51,485
Speaker 2: She said detectives were resistant to do that, and she

538
00:29:51,725 --> 00:29:54,645
Speaker 2: said while she accepts that James may have died of

539
00:29:54,725 --> 00:29:57,445
Speaker 2: natural causes or overdosed, or something else that did not

540
00:29:57,565 --> 00:30:01,645
Speaker 2: involve foul play, she just wants to believe that detectives

541
00:30:01,645 --> 00:30:06,205
Speaker 2: investigated the case thoroughly before coming to that conclusion. Everyone,

542
00:30:06,765 --> 00:30:10,885
Speaker 2: even people who weren't their quotes perfect victims, deserve justice.

543
00:30:11,765 --> 00:30:15,325
Speaker 1: When I raised such a think about James's case being

544
00:30:15,805 --> 00:30:19,085
Speaker 1: transferred over to homicide, had got a very strange phone

545
00:30:19,085 --> 00:30:22,245
Speaker 1: call because I would say it, I would email it,

546
00:30:22,325 --> 00:30:24,685
Speaker 1: and then nobody would respond, so I'd email again and

547
00:30:24,685 --> 00:30:28,405
Speaker 1: put somebody higher up on the email chain rankfully. Detective

548
00:30:28,405 --> 00:30:30,525
Speaker 1: Halloway called me, and I'd taught them so much at

549
00:30:30,525 --> 00:30:32,645
Speaker 1: this point, like I kind of felt like I knew him.

550
00:30:32,845 --> 00:30:36,085
Speaker 1: I immediately knew something was off by his tone and

551
00:30:36,125 --> 00:30:38,765
Speaker 1: he said, you know, hey, Heather, Detective Halloway. I was

552
00:30:38,805 --> 00:30:43,125
Speaker 1: like hey, and he's like, so we got your emails

553
00:30:43,125 --> 00:30:46,525
Speaker 1: and I'm like yeah, and he said, well, my superior,

554
00:30:47,005 --> 00:30:50,325
Speaker 1: my superior, my boss was on the email and he

555
00:30:50,565 --> 00:30:54,885
Speaker 1: after reading your email, he personally went through James's file.

556
00:30:55,725 --> 00:30:57,765
Speaker 1: At this point tells me, oh, I'm sorry. He started

557
00:30:57,765 --> 00:31:00,445
Speaker 1: off by telling you that I was on speaker phone

558
00:31:01,005 --> 00:31:04,365
Speaker 1: and he was not alone. Yeah, somebody sitting there who

559
00:31:04,405 --> 00:31:05,885
Speaker 1: never spoke the whole time we were talking, and he had

560
00:31:05,965 --> 00:31:10,005
Speaker 1: me on speaker that said okay. He tells me that

561
00:31:10,485 --> 00:31:14,605
Speaker 1: his boss looked at the file and not only did

562
00:31:14,645 --> 00:31:18,405
Speaker 1: he get basically his wrists flapped for how much information

563
00:31:18,525 --> 00:31:21,245
Speaker 1: he actually gave me about James's case throughout the whole thing,

564
00:31:22,085 --> 00:31:25,325
Speaker 1: but he also got in trouble for spending too much

565
00:31:25,485 --> 00:31:29,845
Speaker 1: time investigating it. He tells me that at that point,

566
00:31:30,765 --> 00:31:36,125
Speaker 1: his boss is staying that unless they get a viable lead,

567
00:31:36,765 --> 00:31:40,605
Speaker 1: not some tweaker taale with his exact words, that they

568
00:31:40,605 --> 00:31:44,205
Speaker 1: can follow up on, that basically they're done investigating his cakes.

569
00:31:44,645 --> 00:31:48,085
Speaker 1: And I said, so, let me get this straight. Everybody

570
00:31:48,125 --> 00:31:51,045
Speaker 1: involved don drugs, but you don't want to hear what

571
00:31:51,085 --> 00:31:52,645
Speaker 1: they have to say. But they're the only ones who

572
00:31:52,645 --> 00:31:55,645
Speaker 1: don't know anythings. They were the ones that falls right right,

573
00:31:55,965 --> 00:31:57,805
Speaker 1: And he just sat there. He wouldn't even answer me.

574
00:31:58,245 --> 00:32:00,165
Speaker 1: Then I found this one even weirder because at the

575
00:32:00,245 --> 00:32:03,245
Speaker 1: end of the conversation they're basically telling me there's nothing

576
00:32:03,245 --> 00:32:05,285
Speaker 1: they're going to do. That was what that was the

577
00:32:05,365 --> 00:32:06,925
Speaker 1: just for the conversation, that is, drop it. And I

578
00:32:06,965 --> 00:32:09,205
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, y'all will know me that. Well, apparently

579
00:32:09,565 --> 00:32:12,805
Speaker 1: I'm not dropping it. Yeah, so looks like that might

580
00:32:12,845 --> 00:32:15,205
Speaker 1: work on other people. You got the wrong ones today.

581
00:32:16,165 --> 00:32:18,405
Speaker 2: Heather claims there are a lot of people out in

582
00:32:18,405 --> 00:32:22,445
Speaker 2: the desert who the police have not talked to. So

583
00:32:22,645 --> 00:32:24,725
Speaker 2: in next week's episode, we are going to focus our

584
00:32:24,765 --> 00:32:28,685
Speaker 2: search in Wonder Valley, California and see if we can

585
00:32:28,725 --> 00:32:31,925
Speaker 2: find some of these people and try to get answers

586
00:32:32,525 --> 00:32:36,005
Speaker 2: about what actually happened to James Escalante on the day

587
00:32:36,045 --> 00:32:41,165
Speaker 2: he disappeared. I'm Catherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line.

588
00:32:42,165 --> 00:32:44,205
Speaker 2: Helen Gone Murder Line is a production of School of

589
00:32:44,285 --> 00:32:47,485
Speaker 2: Humans and iHeart Podcasts. It's written and narrated by me

590
00:32:47,805 --> 00:32:51,685
Speaker 2: Catherine Townsend and produced by Gabby Watts. Special thanks to

591
00:32:51,725 --> 00:32:53,405
Speaker 2: Amy Tubbs for her research assistance.

592
00:32:53,725 --> 00:32:56,405
Speaker 3: This episode was sound design and mixed by Noah Kamer.

593
00:32:56,805 --> 00:33:00,325
Speaker 2: Our theme song is by Ben Sale, Executive producers of

594
00:33:00,405 --> 00:33:04,525
Speaker 2: Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, and LC Crowley. Listen to Helen

595
00:33:04,565 --> 00:33:07,725
Speaker 2: Gone ad free subscribing to the iHeart True Crime Plus

596
00:33:07,805 --> 00:33:10,965
Speaker 2: channel on Apple Podcasts. If you were interested in seeing

597
00:33:11,045 --> 00:33:13,725
Speaker 2: documents and materials from the case, you can follow the

598
00:33:13,765 --> 00:33:17,765
Speaker 2: show on Instagram at Helen gonepod. If you have a

599
00:33:17,805 --> 00:33:19,845
Speaker 2: case you'd like me and my team to look into,

600
00:33:20,005 --> 00:33:21,885
Speaker 2: you can reach out to us at our Helen Gone

601
00:33:21,925 --> 00:33:25,085
Speaker 2: Murder line at six seven eight seven four four six

602
00:33:25,245 --> 00:33:28,765
Speaker 2: one four five. That's six seven eight seven four four

603
00:33:29,165 --> 00:33:30,405
Speaker 2: six one four five.

604
00:33:35,205 --> 00:33:36,405
Speaker 3: School of Humans,