WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 1 0:00:08.285 --> 0:00:09.205 School of Humans. 0:00:12.765 --> 0:00:16.965 On September ninth, twenty twenty four, searchers on a property 0:00:17.005 --> 0:00:20.925 in Madison County in the area of Kingston, Arkansas, found 0:00:20.965 --> 0:00:24.525 female body parts. My source tells me that they found 0:00:24.525 --> 0:00:28.925 remains belonging to the same woman, including her torso elsewhere 0:00:28.925 --> 0:00:29.565 on the property. 0:00:30.445 --> 0:00:32.085 Police have shared. 0:00:31.845 --> 0:00:36.525 Almost no information about this investigation, and while Sheriff Ronnie 0:00:36.525 --> 0:00:40.445 Boyd at the Madison County Sheriff's Department has publicly denied this, 0:00:41.285 --> 0:00:44.365 some people in Madison County think that this body was 0:00:44.405 --> 0:00:48.965 discovered while the police were searching for Jason Lyrel. We 0:00:49.005 --> 0:00:52.485 did several episodes about that case. Forty one year old 0:00:52.525 --> 0:00:56.325 Jason Lerell was going through a divorce. His fourteen year 0:00:56.365 --> 0:01:00.845 relationship with his wife, Jamaica, had deteriorated. Jason had had 0:01:00.885 --> 0:01:04.765 issues with drugs in the past, and then sometime around 0:01:04.845 --> 0:01:08.165 the winner of teawenty twenty two, it seems he relapsed. 0:01:09.405 --> 0:01:13.805 In January of twenty twenty two, Jason Lerel was visiting friends. 0:01:13.445 --> 0:01:14.365 In Madison County. 0:01:15.005 --> 0:01:19.045 He was last seen at various residences in Huntsville, and 0:01:19.085 --> 0:01:23.365 then Jason disappeared. His abandoned car was found in the 0:01:23.405 --> 0:01:27.205 parking lot of a mall in Fayette, Arkansas. His car, keys, 0:01:27.285 --> 0:01:30.285 his motorcycle, and a lot of his other belongings were 0:01:30.325 --> 0:01:35.965 found in different places in Arkansas and in Missouri. Jason 0:01:36.205 --> 0:01:40.965 Lyrell was never seen alive again, which has had a 0:01:41.125 --> 0:01:45.085 lot of people asking what's going on in Madison County 0:01:45.645 --> 0:01:48.885 and if there could be a killer, maybe even a 0:01:48.925 --> 0:01:53.565 serial killer on the loose. I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the 0:01:53.605 --> 0:01:57.245 past five years of making my true crime podcast, Helling Gone, 0:01:57.445 --> 0:01:59.805 I've learned that there is no such thing as a 0:01:59.845 --> 0:02:04.205 small town where murder never happens. I have received hundreds 0:02:04.245 --> 0:02:07.525 of messages from people all around the country asking for 0:02:07.565 --> 0:02:10.685 help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, 0:02:10.965 --> 0:02:11.885 and their communities. 0:02:12.605 --> 0:02:14.445 If you have a case you'd like me and my. 0:02:14.405 --> 0:02:16.765 Team to look into, you can reach out to us 0:02:16.805 --> 0:02:19.325 at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six seven eight 0:02:19.605 --> 0:02:23.205 seven four four six one four five. That's six seven 0:02:23.285 --> 0:02:27.725 eight seven four four six one four five, or you 0:02:27.725 --> 0:02:31.405 can send us a message on Instagram at Hell and gonepod. 0:02:32.365 --> 0:03:24.485 This is Helen Gone Murder Line. When police found the 0:03:24.525 --> 0:03:27.765 remains in a field by a rural residence in Kingston, 0:03:28.365 --> 0:03:31.885 my sources said they were shocked to discover that those 0:03:31.925 --> 0:03:36.845 remains were not Jason Lyrell's. Instead, they found the body 0:03:36.885 --> 0:03:40.245 of a young woman. They figured out that that woman 0:03:40.365 --> 0:03:43.125 was thirty year old Taylor Barksdale, who had been living 0:03:43.165 --> 0:03:47.205 in Huntsville. A lot of Taylor's life is still a mystery. 0:03:47.645 --> 0:03:50.885 We don't even officially know when she went missing. We 0:03:50.925 --> 0:03:53.645 are trying to piece together what was going on in 0:03:53.725 --> 0:03:57.525 Taylor's life by talking to her family and friends. Taylor 0:03:57.605 --> 0:03:59.845 posted on social media that she worked at the Little 0:03:59.925 --> 0:04:02.645 Rock Airport at one point, but that was about ten 0:04:02.765 --> 0:04:06.085 years ago. In recent years, her family he tells me 0:04:06.285 --> 0:04:10.045 Taylor had become involved with drugs, and also, according to 0:04:10.125 --> 0:04:13.445 her family, the drug use had taken over her life. 0:04:13.925 --> 0:04:15.925 I called Taylor's. 0:04:15.485 --> 0:04:20.285 Aunt, Hello, oh had This is Catherine from Helen Gone. 0:04:21.165 --> 0:04:25.085 Nice to talk to you, which under circumstances I was 0:04:25.165 --> 0:04:27.845 gonna say, I'm so sorry it's under these circumstances, but 0:04:27.885 --> 0:04:31.165 I really do appreciate you talking to me. I appreciate 0:04:31.205 --> 0:04:33.165 you wanting to get involved in SODA's the rest of 0:04:33.205 --> 0:04:33.685 the family. 0:04:34.845 --> 0:04:37.205 The area where Taylor was found was in a very 0:04:37.285 --> 0:04:41.045 rural area of Kingston. Said that a woman she knows 0:04:41.085 --> 0:04:44.965 there lives next door to a property where she alleges 0:04:45.045 --> 0:04:49.725 that people manufacture, deal, and use drugs. Shortly after midnight 0:04:49.765 --> 0:04:53.045 on August fifth, she heard a woman screaming next door, 0:04:53.765 --> 0:04:55.645 so she called nine one one. 0:04:56.005 --> 0:05:00.565 She did not know Taylor, but she had seen Taylor 0:05:00.885 --> 0:05:04.565 the day before, so on August before, she saw Taylor 0:05:05.525 --> 0:05:09.805 on a property next to hers, which is a known 0:05:10.885 --> 0:05:16.085 drug area that drugs for being manufactured there. She has 0:05:16.125 --> 0:05:18.605 tried for three years to get this place shut down 0:05:19.485 --> 0:05:23.725 and no avail, many many calls and many emails and 0:05:23.805 --> 0:05:27.045 texts to the sheriff himself. She had made a nine 0:05:27.045 --> 0:05:31.845 one one call on August the fifth and told them 0:05:32.165 --> 0:05:36.645 that she could hear a woman screaming for help and 0:05:37.125 --> 0:05:41.245 that it sounded like she was being raped and tortured 0:05:41.525 --> 0:05:45.245 and or I'm not sure exactly which word, and or tortured. 0:05:47.405 --> 0:05:50.205 Went on to explain that the caller waited all night, 0:05:50.885 --> 0:05:53.485 but no one ever came to the residence. 0:05:53.765 --> 0:05:55.645 And I like, you're going to miss a police car 0:05:55.925 --> 0:05:59.525 coming exact fright road exactly. And if you have ANW 0:05:59.605 --> 0:06:03.125 one one call for a woman screaming for help, you 0:06:03.205 --> 0:06:06.845 should go with life blazing. Of course, it's an emergency, 0:06:07.165 --> 0:06:11.045 I mean absolutely you took an oath to serve and protect. 0:06:11.725 --> 0:06:16.725 So no, it was totally outragious. I mean, it's unbelievable. 0:06:16.925 --> 0:06:18.965 It's so unbelievable. 0:06:19.405 --> 0:06:23.165 As days and weeks passed with no communication from law enforcement, 0:06:23.565 --> 0:06:25.445 the nine to one one caller got more and more 0:06:25.485 --> 0:06:29.205 worried about the young woman, especially once she realized that 0:06:29.325 --> 0:06:31.085 since the day before she made the nine to one 0:06:31.165 --> 0:06:34.765 one call, since August fourth, she had not seen any 0:06:34.765 --> 0:06:38.805 trace of her. So I'm not sure exactly what the 0:06:38.805 --> 0:06:42.125 sequence of events is here. That's something I'm still trying 0:06:42.125 --> 0:06:44.605 to figure out, but it seems like the nine to 0:06:44.605 --> 0:06:47.525 one one caller went on social media and started googling 0:06:47.565 --> 0:06:51.525 missing people in Madison County. Then she saw a photo 0:06:51.565 --> 0:06:55.085 of Taylor Barksdale on an Arkansas missing person's page, and 0:06:55.165 --> 0:06:58.445 the date that Taylor was reported missing there was July twentieth. 0:06:59.285 --> 0:07:02.605 That's when she realized Taylor was the young woman that 0:07:02.685 --> 0:07:06.125 she had seen, and not only that, because this is 0:07:06.165 --> 0:07:11.725 a small town, she knew Taylor's aunt, so on September seventeenth, 0:07:12.165 --> 0:07:13.005 she reached out to. 0:07:14.925 --> 0:07:16.645 At the same time that this was all. 0:07:16.485 --> 0:07:19.485 Going on, there were rumors flying around that a woman's 0:07:19.525 --> 0:07:23.205 body had been found in Madison County, So the newspaper 0:07:23.285 --> 0:07:26.645 was asking the police for comment and doing foy requests. 0:07:27.125 --> 0:07:30.165 This was all happening at the same time. But when 0:07:30.245 --> 0:07:33.005 she talked to police, she said that they did not 0:07:33.165 --> 0:07:37.245 seem overly concerned about Taylor. Believes that they wrote Taylor 0:07:37.285 --> 0:07:40.485 off because she used drugs. Now, as I'm going to 0:07:40.525 --> 0:07:43.285 get into, as we get further into this case, when 0:07:43.365 --> 0:07:46.725 exactly Taylor went missing, who put her on that missing 0:07:46.805 --> 0:07:50.165 person's page, and why she was removed from the missing 0:07:50.165 --> 0:07:52.605 person's page at some point, or just some of the 0:07:52.605 --> 0:07:57.165 many mysteries around this case. Because police are not revealing anything, 0:07:58.085 --> 0:08:00.205 I talked to a source of mine who has spent 0:08:00.325 --> 0:08:03.845 countless hours trying to help Jason Lerell's family with their case. 0:08:04.565 --> 0:08:07.125 He's a former law enforcement officer who has worked in 0:08:07.165 --> 0:08:10.405 Madison County in the past. He knew Jason from high school, 0:08:11.005 --> 0:08:13.645 and he said that he started working on this case 0:08:13.725 --> 0:08:17.605 because he became very disillusioned with how things in Madison 0:08:17.645 --> 0:08:21.725 County were operating. He goes under the pseudonym Jay Brown. 0:08:22.525 --> 0:08:24.845 I reached out to him after I saw his posts 0:08:24.885 --> 0:08:28.565 on the website Jason Lerell Missing Persons that was set 0:08:28.645 --> 0:08:30.125 up by Jason's. 0:08:29.685 --> 0:08:31.005 Sister, Sarah Wood. 0:08:32.365 --> 0:08:36.005 He believes that Jason and Taylor's cases are connected. 0:08:36.965 --> 0:08:37.965 Could he be right? 0:08:38.685 --> 0:08:42.205 And could he also be right about Jason and Taylor's 0:08:42.245 --> 0:08:45.645 deaths being connected to as many as nine other deaths 0:08:45.685 --> 0:08:49.445 in Madison County, all of which he claimed were labeled 0:08:49.485 --> 0:08:54.125 accidental overdoses and never investigated by police. We're going to 0:08:54.205 --> 0:08:58.165 get more into these potential other cases in later episodes, 0:08:58.645 --> 0:09:01.685 but for now, I'll just say that they were all 0:09:01.845 --> 0:09:04.605 people who had a history with drug use. They were 0:09:04.645 --> 0:09:08.765 all found in the same area, and my source claims 0:09:08.805 --> 0:09:11.445 that many of the same people were involved in these cases. 0:09:11.445 --> 0:09:15.405 And he's asking why police don't seem to be prosecuting any. 0:09:15.205 --> 0:09:15.805 Of these people. 0:09:16.205 --> 0:09:19.565 If this is true, if these cases are connected, we 0:09:19.685 --> 0:09:22.845 need to go back to the beginning. We need to 0:09:22.885 --> 0:09:30.965 go back to Jason Lyrell's case. Some people in Madison 0:09:30.965 --> 0:09:35.085 County believe that Taylor Barksdale and Jason Lyrell's deaths are connected. 0:09:35.645 --> 0:09:40.245 So let's reinvestigate what happened to Jason. Remember, we talked 0:09:40.245 --> 0:09:43.725 to Sarah Wood, Jason's sister. She told us that in 0:09:43.765 --> 0:09:47.365 the fall of twenty twenty one, Jason had moved in 0:09:47.405 --> 0:09:51.325 with her into an apartment they shared and fayeateful. Jason 0:09:51.365 --> 0:09:54.485 started spending more and more time with old friends. Sarah 0:09:54.525 --> 0:09:56.925 believed that his friends were a bad influence, so she 0:09:57.005 --> 0:09:58.725 was worried about him, but there wasn't a lot she 0:09:58.765 --> 0:10:01.805 could do. He was with some of these friends on 0:10:01.885 --> 0:10:06.165 January twenty fourth, twenty twenty two, Sarah was leaving town 0:10:06.285 --> 0:10:09.845 for work. She expected Jason back at their apartment because 0:10:09.845 --> 0:10:12.325 he was supposed to dog sit for her, so they 0:10:12.325 --> 0:10:15.325 were texting back and forth. Jason said he was planning 0:10:15.325 --> 0:10:17.765 to be back at the apartment on January twenty fifth, 0:10:18.165 --> 0:10:21.605 but January twenty fifth came and Jason never showed up. 0:10:22.885 --> 0:10:25.965 Sarah did receive some text messages from Jason on the 0:10:25.965 --> 0:10:29.845 twenty fifth, but she told us that for various reasons, 0:10:30.325 --> 0:10:33.405 she does not believe that those texts were sent by Jason. 0:10:34.005 --> 0:10:37.405 She said they were misspelled, they were not written in 0:10:37.445 --> 0:10:40.485 a way that Jason had written his text messages, and 0:10:41.325 --> 0:10:45.005 she believed someone else had access to his phone. The 0:10:45.125 --> 0:10:48.765 last text she got from Jason's phone indicated that he 0:10:48.845 --> 0:10:53.485 was in Hinesville, Arkansas. Then, as we covered in previous episodes, 0:10:53.965 --> 0:10:57.445 Jason's car was found abandoned parked at the Fayetteville Mall. 0:10:58.165 --> 0:11:02.405 The car was out of gas, so the Fayetteville Police 0:11:02.445 --> 0:11:04.445 were in charge of the case for the first few 0:11:04.485 --> 0:11:07.565 days of the investigation. We filed a Foyer request and 0:11:07.605 --> 0:11:11.005 we got access to that police file. In my opinion, 0:11:11.045 --> 0:11:15.245 as I said before, it was very comprehensive. So from 0:11:15.245 --> 0:11:19.165 that police report, we learned that Sarah had started calling 0:11:19.205 --> 0:11:22.765 some of Jason's friends trying to find him. She found 0:11:22.765 --> 0:11:25.325 out that he had been spending time with some friends 0:11:25.445 --> 0:11:28.685 named Randall and Rachel. Apparently he stayed with him for 0:11:28.725 --> 0:11:32.005 a couple days. His Harley Davidson motorcycle was parked there, 0:11:32.525 --> 0:11:36.725 but then he left there on January twenty first, about 0:11:36.765 --> 0:11:41.405 three days before he disappeared. On the twenty first, he 0:11:41.485 --> 0:11:45.245 went over to another friend's house, a woman named Miriam Zulman. 0:11:46.445 --> 0:11:50.245 Miriam lived on a huge property that was owned by 0:11:50.245 --> 0:11:54.405 her family. It spanned over two hundred acres, and Miriam 0:11:54.685 --> 0:11:58.925 actually started speaking out about Jason. She talked to a 0:11:58.965 --> 0:12:02.645 podcast called Helen the Highlands. She posted a very detailed 0:12:02.685 --> 0:12:05.685 timeline of everyone who was at the house and and 0:12:06.085 --> 0:12:08.885 what Jason was doing during those days from her point 0:12:08.925 --> 0:12:12.045 of view. On social media, she said there were several 0:12:12.085 --> 0:12:15.085 people around on that property. There was a guy named 0:12:15.125 --> 0:12:18.245 Aaron and a guy named Don. There were also two 0:12:18.285 --> 0:12:21.885 other people, a couple named Troy and Charity. These were 0:12:22.125 --> 0:12:24.485 Miriam's friends and they had been staying on the property 0:12:24.525 --> 0:12:27.685 for a while. So for the first few days Jason 0:12:27.765 --> 0:12:31.725 was there, Miriam and Jason had a flirtation and they 0:12:31.725 --> 0:12:34.045 were all hanging out together. She admits that they were 0:12:34.165 --> 0:12:39.005 doing drugs and that those drugs included methamphetamine. At one point, though, 0:12:39.085 --> 0:12:43.245 things started to deteriorate. This happened, according to Miriam, after 0:12:43.405 --> 0:12:46.325 Jason and Don left her house together. She said when 0:12:46.365 --> 0:12:50.005 they came back, Jason was acting very strangely, almost like 0:12:50.045 --> 0:12:53.845 something traumatic had happened. She wrote on Facebook that Jason, 0:12:53.885 --> 0:12:56.525 in her opinion, was acting schizophrenic or like he was 0:12:56.605 --> 0:13:00.205 having some sort of mental breakdown. On her timeline, Miriam 0:13:00.285 --> 0:13:03.325 said Jason left her house but then came back on 0:13:03.405 --> 0:13:05.445 January twenty fourth, and that he was there that night. 0:13:06.045 --> 0:13:10.325 She said the next morning, on January twenty fifth, Miriam. 0:13:10.005 --> 0:13:11.405 And Charity went to Missouri. 0:13:12.125 --> 0:13:15.045 Now we went into this a lot in previous episodes 0:13:15.085 --> 0:13:17.485 in much more detail, but just to keep a long 0:13:17.525 --> 0:13:21.165 story short, they met another guy named Moses. They bought 0:13:21.165 --> 0:13:24.445 some meth from him. They got home at dark. Miriam 0:13:24.525 --> 0:13:27.125 was saying the last time she really saw Jason was 0:13:27.125 --> 0:13:29.765 on the night of the twenty fourth. She said that 0:13:29.885 --> 0:13:32.725 Jason spent the night with her on the twenty fourth, 0:13:33.405 --> 0:13:35.765 but then later she seemed to kind of equivocate. She 0:13:35.845 --> 0:13:39.045 said something along the lines of she had an impression 0:13:39.125 --> 0:13:41.845 that Jason was with her. She had felt him next 0:13:41.845 --> 0:13:43.605 to her in the bed, wrapped up in a blanket. 0:13:44.645 --> 0:13:47.765 On the twenty fifth, Miriam said that she left in 0:13:47.765 --> 0:13:49.845 the morning and by the time she got back from 0:13:49.845 --> 0:13:54.085 that outing to Missouri, Don and Jason were gone. Miriam 0:13:54.125 --> 0:13:56.845 said Don texted her at around four pm and said 0:13:56.845 --> 0:13:59.485 that he and Jason had left the house. So by 0:13:59.525 --> 0:14:01.965 the time she got back home from that outing to Missouri, 0:14:02.245 --> 0:14:05.845 Don and Jason were gone. Miriam got another man message 0:14:05.885 --> 0:14:08.805 from Jason's phone. It was a picture of a tree 0:14:09.205 --> 0:14:12.405 and some boots. Now we talked to Sarah who looked 0:14:12.405 --> 0:14:15.165 at that image. She said she did not recognize those 0:14:15.205 --> 0:14:19.525 boots as Jason. She believed someone else took that picture, 0:14:20.005 --> 0:14:23.885 and as we discussed in a previous episode, I believe 0:14:24.165 --> 0:14:28.765 that it looks like someone else who was holding Jason's 0:14:28.765 --> 0:14:32.765 phone took an accidental picture of their own feet, someone 0:14:33.205 --> 0:14:35.685 who potentially was trying to make it seem as though 0:14:35.765 --> 0:14:40.645 Jason was alive when he wasn't. Miriam and Don had 0:14:40.685 --> 0:14:44.885 conflicting stories because, according to the police report, Don told 0:14:44.925 --> 0:14:49.685 the police quote he meaning Don said Miriam told him 0:14:49.925 --> 0:14:52.445 Jason walked away from her residence and was not heard 0:14:52.485 --> 0:14:56.285 from again. So Don told the police Miriam was the 0:14:56.365 --> 0:15:00.685 last person to see Jason. Miriam said that Don left 0:15:00.685 --> 0:15:04.485 with Jason. These are two different stories, and Miriam said 0:15:04.525 --> 0:15:07.765 something else that was potentially very interesting. She said Don 0:15:07.885 --> 0:15:12.285 was bisexual and that she believed Don was sexually interested 0:15:12.285 --> 0:15:16.565 in Jason. She said Don was sexually aggressive with men, 0:15:16.765 --> 0:15:21.325 which Don completely denied. The police talked to Don, and 0:15:21.405 --> 0:15:23.645 Don claimed that he picked Jason up and that they 0:15:23.645 --> 0:15:26.525 went to his house, meaning that they went to Don's 0:15:26.525 --> 0:15:30.845 residence in Huntsville on January twenty fifth. Don said that 0:15:30.925 --> 0:15:33.045 he took a shower and while he was in the bathroom, 0:15:33.445 --> 0:15:36.045 Jason walked out of his house, and Don said he 0:15:36.085 --> 0:15:39.565 had not seen him. Since police issued a search warrant, 0:15:39.965 --> 0:15:43.405 they found some of Jason's clothing at Don's house. Don 0:15:43.525 --> 0:15:46.325 claimed that Jason left his stuff behind, But as I 0:15:46.365 --> 0:15:50.565 said before, I find Don's story totally unbelievable. Why would 0:15:50.645 --> 0:15:53.645 Jason leave any of his clothing behind? And more importantly, 0:15:54.325 --> 0:15:57.445 I question why he would leave his really nice, expensive 0:15:57.685 --> 0:16:02.405 leather bike stuff. His bike was precious to him. I 0:16:02.445 --> 0:16:04.565 don't think that's something he'd leave behind, no matter what 0:16:04.605 --> 0:16:11.245 the circumstance is. So the police did subpoena Jason's phone records. 0:16:12.365 --> 0:16:17.045 Verizon records showed Jason's phone last pinged on January twenty seventh, 0:16:17.125 --> 0:16:20.325 twenty twenty two. This ping was from a cell phone 0:16:20.365 --> 0:16:24.605 tower located on Highway twenty three in Carroll County. So 0:16:25.045 --> 0:16:29.125 this was an area where three counties, Benton County, Carroll County, 0:16:29.125 --> 0:16:32.525 and Madison County all converge, which of course adds another 0:16:32.605 --> 0:16:36.285 layer of complication to this investigation. But the area of 0:16:36.325 --> 0:16:39.405 the ping was close to Don's house and also to 0:16:39.485 --> 0:16:42.125 Miriam's house. These two residences were. 0:16:42.005 --> 0:16:43.685 Not far apart. 0:16:44.005 --> 0:16:48.125 So if Jason walked away from Don's home on January 0:16:48.165 --> 0:16:51.125 twenty fifth and was never seen again, what was going 0:16:51.165 --> 0:16:54.125 on between the twenty fifth and the twenty seventh. If 0:16:54.165 --> 0:16:56.525 something did happen to Jason on the twenty fifth, if 0:16:56.525 --> 0:16:59.965 someone's not telling the truth, who sent those text messages 0:17:00.005 --> 0:17:04.725 from Jason's phone? And if Jason was killed, where is 0:17:04.765 --> 0:17:11.685 his body? According to the police report, police had talked 0:17:11.685 --> 0:17:13.565 to a lot of people and heard a lot of 0:17:13.645 --> 0:17:15.845 theories about what could have happened to Jason Lyrel, and 0:17:15.925 --> 0:17:18.605 those theories include that he was murdered in dumped in 0:17:18.645 --> 0:17:22.205 beaver Lake, that he was burned and buried somewhere on 0:17:22.285 --> 0:17:27.445 Miriam's property or possibly Dons, or that he gave himself 0:17:27.485 --> 0:17:31.445 an accidental lethal hotshot of meth, walked away and froze 0:17:31.445 --> 0:17:35.965 in the woods. As we covered previously, I believe that 0:17:36.005 --> 0:17:38.765 it's very likely that something happened to Jason Lerell. In 0:17:38.805 --> 0:17:42.125 the early morning hours of January twenty fifth. There was 0:17:42.165 --> 0:17:45.725 another guy with Don and Jason and Troy and Charity 0:17:45.725 --> 0:17:46.205 of Miriam. 0:17:46.285 --> 0:17:50.685 His name was Erin. We talked about him before now. 0:17:51.085 --> 0:17:54.485 Miriam said Aaron and Jason were smoking meth together, also 0:17:54.525 --> 0:17:58.125 with Don and her on that first night. Later, Aaron's 0:17:58.205 --> 0:18:00.965 van was stolen. He claims the van was returned to 0:18:01.045 --> 0:18:04.565 him on January twenty fifth. Police went to Aaron's house 0:18:05.165 --> 0:18:07.325 and they found a pile of clothes on the porch. 0:18:08.005 --> 0:18:11.245 Jason's relatives said later that some of those clothes belonged 0:18:11.245 --> 0:18:14.805 to Jason. There was also a blanket for Miriam's house 0:18:14.845 --> 0:18:17.005 that had been on the bed when Jason stayed with her. 0:18:17.405 --> 0:18:20.325 There was reportedly blood on some of these clothes. When 0:18:20.365 --> 0:18:23.525 police asked Aaron where the clothes came from, he told 0:18:23.605 --> 0:18:26.365 police that the clothes had come from the van, the 0:18:26.365 --> 0:18:28.285 one that had been stolen, and he'd gotten back on 0:18:28.365 --> 0:18:33.685 January twenty fifth. So if that's true, that points to 0:18:33.725 --> 0:18:36.205 the crucial point in time, the crucial day in question 0:18:36.325 --> 0:18:40.925 being January twenty fifth, and then for months we have 0:18:41.005 --> 0:18:45.765 had radio silence on Jason Lyrel's case until there were 0:18:45.805 --> 0:18:49.885 reports of a body being found in Madison County. A 0:18:49.925 --> 0:18:54.085 lot of people believed this could be Jason Lerel. After 0:18:54.125 --> 0:18:57.685 the fact, though, the Madison County Sheriff's Department posted an 0:18:57.765 --> 0:19:01.885 update stating that the remains that were found had no 0:19:01.925 --> 0:19:05.085 connection to the Jason Lyrel case. As I said before, 0:19:05.125 --> 0:19:08.165 though a lot of people don't believe that police are 0:19:08.205 --> 0:19:11.325 claiming Taylor Barksdale's death had nothing to do with Jason's. 0:19:11.805 --> 0:19:14.085 My source is telling me that's just not true that 0:19:14.205 --> 0:19:19.965 police absolutely were looking for Jason's remains when they found Taylor's, which, 0:19:20.165 --> 0:19:22.725 if true, would seem to point to the theory that 0:19:22.765 --> 0:19:28.125 the cases are connected somehow. After Taylor Barksdale's body was found, 0:19:28.565 --> 0:19:31.245 the Madison County Sheriff's Department started to put two and 0:19:31.245 --> 0:19:34.125 two together. They figured out that the remains that they 0:19:34.165 --> 0:19:36.125 found may have been linked to that nine to one 0:19:36.165 --> 0:19:39.245 one call on August fifth, the one that reported a 0:19:39.325 --> 0:19:41.365 woman screaming and being tortured. 0:19:42.805 --> 0:19:45.965 So the sheriff asked the deputy Blake Castle. 0:19:46.325 --> 0:19:49.005 The only one who was on duty that night, if 0:19:49.005 --> 0:19:50.765 he had responded to that nine to one one call. 0:19:51.325 --> 0:19:55.445 Deputy Hassle said that he had, but later the sheriff 0:19:55.485 --> 0:20:06.165 admitted that this was a lie. So let's go back 0:20:06.205 --> 0:20:09.085 and take a detailed look at the timeline. On August 0:20:09.085 --> 0:20:11.085 fifth and the early morning hours, a nine to one 0:20:11.125 --> 0:20:14.485 to one caller contacted the Madison County Sheriff's Department and 0:20:14.565 --> 0:20:18.965 reported that they heard a woman screaming. This person contacted 0:20:18.965 --> 0:20:23.845 Taylor's aunt. Taylor was reported missing then on September ninth. 0:20:24.165 --> 0:20:28.805 Police found Taylor's remains on September eleventh, two days after 0:20:28.965 --> 0:20:33.605 the remains were found, the deputy Blake Castle resigned, and 0:20:33.685 --> 0:20:37.845 still nothing had been made public at all. Nothing was 0:20:37.885 --> 0:20:40.565 released to the media or the public, saying that there 0:20:40.645 --> 0:20:45.045 could be a serial killer out there. On September twelfth 0:20:45.125 --> 0:20:48.605 or the thirteenth, depending on who you ask, Taylor's remains 0:20:48.605 --> 0:20:51.405 were sent to the Arkansas Crime Lab for analysis. The 0:20:51.485 --> 0:20:54.805 local newspaper, the Madison County Record, has been covering this 0:20:54.885 --> 0:20:58.365 case since the beginning. They asked the Madison County Sheriff's 0:20:58.365 --> 0:21:03.285 office for comment. They filed a foyer request on September seventeenth, 0:21:03.685 --> 0:21:07.565 so then on September eighteenth, Sheriff Boyd released a statement 0:21:07.605 --> 0:21:11.205 to them. So it certainly seemed as though they were 0:21:11.205 --> 0:21:14.085 just reacting to getting called out by the newspaper rather 0:21:14.125 --> 0:21:18.045 than proactively releasing information to the public. In the statement, 0:21:18.765 --> 0:21:22.445 Sheriff Boyd explained that the delay in public communication was 0:21:22.485 --> 0:21:26.765 intended to protect the integrity of investigation. In that statement, 0:21:27.285 --> 0:21:31.125 Sheriff Boyd said there are rumors around Madison County that 0:21:31.165 --> 0:21:36.045 are impeding the ongoing homicide investigation. He also said that 0:21:36.205 --> 0:21:40.285 Taylor was rumored to be missing at the end of July. However, 0:21:40.365 --> 0:21:43.805 according to police, she was last seen alive on July 0:21:43.925 --> 0:21:47.445 twentieth by the Huntsville Police Department. But we know that's 0:21:47.485 --> 0:21:50.485 not true because we know we have someone who saw 0:21:50.565 --> 0:21:54.725 Taylor alive on August fourth. That release was posted on 0:21:54.765 --> 0:21:58.005 the Madison County Sheriff's office Facebook page on September twentieth. 0:21:59.125 --> 0:22:01.645 It seems like the police have been trying to shut 0:22:01.685 --> 0:22:04.525 down people in Madison County, people who were asking some 0:22:04.645 --> 0:22:07.965 very legitimate question questions, and they haven't been forthcoming with 0:22:08.005 --> 0:22:12.725 Taylor's family either. Sheriff Boyd did not even tell Taylor's 0:22:12.725 --> 0:22:16.005 family anything about the condition of her body. 0:22:17.165 --> 0:22:19.725 There were local rumors. 0:22:18.925 --> 0:22:22.325 Being posted on social media that Taylor's head had been 0:22:22.365 --> 0:22:26.525 found in a coyote den and her torso was separate 0:22:26.645 --> 0:22:30.005 from her body. The police did not tell Taylor's family 0:22:30.045 --> 0:22:31.725 anything about the condition of her body. 0:22:32.885 --> 0:22:34.805 That job was left. 0:22:35.565 --> 0:22:37.405 I think it was his place to have to tell 0:22:37.445 --> 0:22:40.525 the family, not mine, not mine, to have to make 0:22:40.565 --> 0:22:42.765 them face the reality that their loved one is coming 0:22:42.805 --> 0:22:47.245 back in pieces. So, yeah, oh, it's just horrible. It is, 0:22:47.445 --> 0:22:51.405 it is. It's ridiculous as what it is. So this 0:22:51.605 --> 0:22:54.045 friend of mine is the nine one one caller. She 0:22:54.125 --> 0:22:57.845 told me. She said they told me that they would 0:22:57.845 --> 0:23:02.005 file charges against me for hindering an open investigation if 0:23:02.045 --> 0:23:04.725 I talked. She said, I'm sorry, I'm not going to 0:23:04.805 --> 0:23:08.485 stop talking because she deserves justice. It's time for her 0:23:08.525 --> 0:23:13.885 family to know. And so I got the other sister 0:23:14.005 --> 0:23:17.605 and got with the dad and we talked, and of 0:23:17.605 --> 0:23:20.405 course the dad is not getting up bas like I 0:23:20.445 --> 0:23:23.325 feel like you should. I think it's your obligation to 0:23:23.365 --> 0:23:26.005 call him every day. I really do. 0:23:27.725 --> 0:23:30.965 At some point, admitt she and her husband and the 0:23:30.965 --> 0:23:33.765 rest of their family started feeling like the police just 0:23:33.765 --> 0:23:37.445 weren't interested in investigating this case, so they started asking 0:23:37.525 --> 0:23:41.965 questions themselves. They asked the nine to one one caller 0:23:42.205 --> 0:23:45.965 to keep an eye on that property, and they learned 0:23:46.125 --> 0:23:48.965 that there was a camper on that property, a camper 0:23:49.525 --> 0:23:53.325 that a few days after Taylor's murder was very abruptly 0:23:53.445 --> 0:23:56.285 moved in the middle of the night. They were worried 0:23:56.285 --> 0:23:59.325 that crucial evidence could get lost, so they decided to 0:23:59.365 --> 0:24:01.125 find that trailer themselves. 0:24:01.725 --> 0:24:06.285 It was moved on August the sixteenth, Yes, at like 0:24:06.325 --> 0:24:08.925 one point thirty in the morning. Yeah, that's very sustained. 0:24:09.845 --> 0:24:12.645 They exactly who moves to camper in the middle. 0:24:12.405 --> 0:24:16.325 Of the night when and her family asked the police 0:24:16.445 --> 0:24:19.805 about that trailer, they say they were dismissed by the 0:24:19.805 --> 0:24:22.845 sheriff's department. They were told that the sheriff's department had 0:24:22.845 --> 0:24:27.325 been out there and investigated. They don't believe this because's 0:24:27.405 --> 0:24:28.885 husband is adamant. 0:24:28.645 --> 0:24:30.645 That he never saw crime scene tape. 0:24:30.685 --> 0:24:33.205 He never saw the scene being secured, and if there 0:24:33.245 --> 0:24:37.285 is investigating going on, it's being done in secret. Not 0:24:37.365 --> 0:24:41.205 only are the police not being forthcoming with information, but 0:24:41.245 --> 0:24:44.245 the family says they have reason to question whether what 0:24:44.325 --> 0:24:47.445 police are saying is true at all, because again, the 0:24:47.485 --> 0:24:51.925