WEBVTT - Introducing Valley of Shadows: Corruption in California’s Mojave Desert

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<v Speaker 1>On June eleventh, nineteen ninety eight, the deputy from the

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<v Speaker 1>Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.

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<v Speaker 2>It's an all out manhunt for John Auj. Every search

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<v Speaker 2>and rescue team in La County has been called in

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<v Speaker 2>to help.

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<v Speaker 1>Deputy Jonathan a J spin his day off jogging in

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<v Speaker 1>a rugged section of the Mojave Desert known as the

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<v Speaker 1>Devil's Punch Bowl, but he never returned home to his

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<v Speaker 1>wife and young daughter.

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<v Speaker 2>Friends say Auj is a highly trained survivalist in hiker

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<v Speaker 2>and fear his disappearance may mean he's in serious trouble.

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<v Speaker 3>Within days, tips started flooding into the Sheriff's department that

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<v Speaker 3>their deputy was the victim of foul play.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm here, it's shit out of the street man Auj

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<v Speaker 1>was murdered.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm hearing from a one more in person.

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<v Speaker 2>A ruler around the drug scene was that a deputy

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<v Speaker 2>stumbled onto something he's shouldn't of and he was taken

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<v Speaker 2>care of.

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<v Speaker 3>But the Sheriff's department dismissed the tips suddenly called off

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<v Speaker 3>the search for Auja.

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<v Speaker 1>His death certificate says cause a death unknown manner, a

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<v Speaker 1>death unknown no body.

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<v Speaker 3>And thirty years later, the La County Sheriff's Apartment still

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<v Speaker 3>hasn't found him.

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<v Speaker 1>The only law enforcement agency in this country that I

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<v Speaker 1>know of who has a missing deputy sheriff and doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>seem to care.

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<v Speaker 3>What the hell happened?

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<v Speaker 1>What's the answer? Who's motivated to find the answer. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's where we come in. I'm Betsy Shepherd and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Haley Fox. We're investigative journalists, and for the past year

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<v Speaker 1>we've been retracing Auj's steps in the devil's punch bowl,

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<v Speaker 1>trying to separate fact from fiction. How hot do you

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<v Speaker 1>think it is right now?

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know.

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<v Speaker 3>It's pushing one hundred.

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<v Speaker 1>For sure. Your brain does some wonky stuff when you're dehydrated.

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<v Speaker 2>And they thought maybe he got on the trail and

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<v Speaker 2>keeps doing the forest going, just kept roaming.

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<v Speaker 3>But out here it's not just heat stroke you have

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<v Speaker 3>to worry about. It's meth labs hidden in canyons, outlaw

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<v Speaker 3>bikers running drugs, and deputies who operate on both sides

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<v Speaker 3>of the law. I think a lot of people picture

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<v Speaker 3>breaking bad whatever you're talking about, making meth in the desert.

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<v Speaker 3>Can you give us a reality check?

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<v Speaker 1>If you change the names. It's the same exact thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Is this the story of a man who just got

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<v Speaker 1>lost in the desert? Or of a cover up inside

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's largest sheriff's department?

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<v Speaker 2>A homicide captain saying, detective, do not find out if

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<v Speaker 2>this guy's guilty or innocent? Who does that?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, I don't fucking kill a Coffinberry? What are you

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<v Speaker 1>gonna do to me?

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<v Speaker 2>As my father would say, God bless him, there's something

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<v Speaker 2>rotten in the woodpile, and it stinks and I can

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<v Speaker 2>smell it.

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<v Speaker 3>What really happened to the missing deputy.

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<v Speaker 1>Which is Perry Mason? This shit?

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<v Speaker 3>This changes my whole way of gin him about theory.

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<v Speaker 3>Valley of Shadows a new series from Pushkin Industries about

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<v Speaker 3>crime and corruption in California's High Desert.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you have any advice for us while looking into

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<v Speaker 1>this disappearance? I wouldn't do it alone. In the event

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<v Speaker 1>somebody did decide that you were getting too close to something,

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<v Speaker 1>you will not be found killed. You will simply disappear.

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<v Speaker 3>Subscribe to Pushkin Plus to hear the entire season of

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<v Speaker 3>Valley of Shadows ad free starting January twelfth. You'll also

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<v Speaker 3>get bonus episodes, full audiobooks, and early ad free listening

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<v Speaker 3>from your favorite Pushkin hosts and authors. Find Pushkin Plus

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<v Speaker 3>on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple podcast

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<v Speaker 3>or at pushkin dot fm, slash plus, and thanks for

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<v Speaker 3>your support.