WEBVTT - Betrayal Weekly: EP 3 - Ashley 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.360 They call it from an eight hundred number. I didn't 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:08.600 know who it was, but I answered the phone and 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:12.600 I heard you were getting a collect call from an 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:18.279 Innate County jail. That wave of dread came over me. 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:23.200 You have that decision to accept the call or not 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:29.160 accept the call. My heart sank, my stomach went into 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:29.800 my throat. 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:46.080 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.400 the people we trust the most and the deceptions that 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:55.040 change everything. A few months ago, we heard from a 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.560 woman named Ashley. When our team first met Ashley, she 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.640 was working as a correction caseworker in a prison and 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.680 was pursuing her master's degree in forensic psychology. 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:09.320 I'm very in tune with people's emotions and how people 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:13.480 are feeling. I love people. I will go above and 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:15.760 beyond to help somebody in need. 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:20.640 Ashley's a sensitive person and the betrayal she experienced was 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:25.120 so intense it nearly broke her. It's a twisted story 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:30.080 of theft, deception, and even threats from a Mexican drug cartel. 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:35.840 I was sitting there thinking, who did I marry? Am 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:39.440 I sleeping next to somebody who would murder people? For 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:40.200 a cartel. 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.640 When we first spoke with her, I was surprised how 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.440 flatly she describes what she went through. It was almost 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.480 like she was divorced from emotion. So we asked her 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:53.560 about that directly. 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:58.840 If I let myself get emotional about it, I am 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.560 in danger of getting back to that dark place that 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.640 I don't want to find myself in. I know it's 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.880 not a healthy coping mechanism, but like I disassociate from it. 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:12.080 When Ashley was twenty six, she was working as a 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:16.000 mental health case manager. It's her passion. Her life was 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.040 on track. She was proud to be living alone in 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.080 her first apartment. She even worked a second job as 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.000 a swim coach to make extra money. But there was 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.600 one big thing she still wanted in her life. Love. 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.480 She'd had a string of bad boyfriends and was looking 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.839 for someone stable, someone she could build a life with. 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:41.560 I was using all the dating apps like Tinder, all 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:42.760 that fun stuff. 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:47.200 That's when a new guy started at Ashley's job, Jake. 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:52.760 He was confident and smart. She was immediately drawn to him, 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.160 not necessarily romantically, but just as a person. 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:03.000 Jake had really loved black hair down to the middle 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:07.640 of his back and kind of looked like somebody that 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.080 was like in a band or something, not the type 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:12.239 of guy I would date. 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.880 The two shared the same work schedule and soon became 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:20.720 fast friends. Jake even teased her about being on dating apps. 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:25.440 I'd come into work and share my dating experiences on 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:29.400 these apps. It started off by him kind of joking 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.639 about the types of guys that I would go out 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.440 on dates with, what they did as a profession, or 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.360 like their screen names or whatever on the dating apps. 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.600 One day, Jake came into the office with bad news. 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:45.240 He told Ashley that over the weekend he found out 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:47.600 that his wife, Amber was cheating on him. 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:53.400 He wasn't going to tolerate cheating, and so he kicked 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:56.440 her out of the house, changed all the locks, and 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:57.960 they were going to get a divorce. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:05.120 Ashley was sympathetic, especially because the couple had a three 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:06.320 year old daughter together. 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.160 One day, he left from work early because he had 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.320 this lawyer appointment and he was going to go file 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:19.880 for divorce. He thought it was best to separate and 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:22.839 raise their child together, but separate. 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:27.080 A few weeks later, Jake asked Ashley to hang out 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:31.840 after work. She expected something casual like beer and wings, 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:33.880 but Jake had other plans. 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.000 He showed up at my apartment and he bought me 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.400 this huge bouquet of flowers and they were just gorgeous 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.279 pinks and orange and just really pretty flowers. 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:49.720 To Ashley's surprise, it was a date. When they went 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.400 to dinner that night, Jake showed her a different side 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:54.280 of him. He was a gentleman. 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:59.640 He was such an upgrade to what I was used to. 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.320 He just seemed very honest, which was a breath of 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.000 fresh air to me because I came from relationships where 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.800 there was a lot of lying and hiding in secrets, 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:14.400 and he seemed to be upfront and honest about everything, 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.719 and I was like, this is a nice change of pace. 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:24.600 Jake was also thoughtful. He would walk into work in 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:28.240 the morning with her favorite coffee in his hand. That 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.520 was just the beginning of Jake's generosity. 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:35.320 He would randomly buy me like designer purses or jewelry, 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:39.320 just because he was just like, I saw this and 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:41.080 I thought of you, and I thought you'd like it, 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:43.880 so I bought it for you, which you know, I've 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.720 never had someone do that for me before. 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.720 It was romantic. They started having date nights every Thursday 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:57.880 and Saturday. They were the highlights of her week. Around 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:01.880 that same time, Jake was settling his divorce and finalizing 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:03.039 the sale of his house. 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:07.640 He was like, I sold the house, but I have 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.720 to be out in a week. I don't have anywhere 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:15.560 to go. And I'm like, well, you can move in 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:16.000 with me. 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.840 Even though Ashley and Jake had only been dating a 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:24.000 few months, she didn't want someone she cared about to struggle. Plus, 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.560 she saw a future with this guy, so Jake moved in. 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.359 Ashley's only concern was how his three year old daughter 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:35.000 would handle the change. She knew how much his only 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:36.039 child meant to him. 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.080 I love kids. I'm good with kids, but I don't 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.920 have any children. I didn't know how that was going 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.480 to work, or how he was going to explain to her. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:50.000 You know that, Oh, I'm living with her now. 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.719 Ashley knew she wanted kids of her own one day 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:57.559 and was willing to make room for Jake and his daughter. 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.680 She offered to set up a bed for her living room, 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.320 but his daughter never came to stay. His ex wife, 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:08.000 Amber wasn't happy about Jake's new relationship. 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.720 Amber did not trust me. Amber did not want me 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:17.720 around their daughter, and he said that she was keeping 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:21.080 her and breaking the custody order that they had. 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.360 Ashley didn't want to get involved in the custody battle. 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:30.920 Despite the stress of the divorce, living together was surprisingly easy. 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.040 The couple would go to work together, come home at 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:36.480 night to make dinner, and then snuggle on the couch 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:40.520 to watch movies. It was simple. He made her happy. 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:45.320 I could have the worst day ever, and he always 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:46.520 found a way to make me laugh. 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.320 After about a year together, Jake took her on a 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.840 trip to visit Kentucky, where Ashley used to live. She 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:55.920 was delighted by the gesture. She took him around to 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:59.040 all of her old haunts and he was genuinely interested 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:02.560 in getting to know the place, says she loved. That night, 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.040 he gave her another gift. 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:09.040 We were getting ready to go to sleep, and he 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:14.720 slid over a box and just tapped me on the 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:21.560 shoulder and made that little like noise. I was like, 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.120 what is this and he was like, well, open it 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:30.000 and it was a ring. And I was like, are 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.120 you asking me to marry you? And he was like, 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:34.800 well duh. 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:41.040 Ashley admitced the proposal was underwhelming, but she didn't care. 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:47.080 I loved him and I wanted to marry him, so 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:50.880 the proposal and how it was done at that point 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:55.800 didn't matter. I just wanted to move forward and start 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:57.240 building a life with this person. 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.720 Jake found an elopement package a weekend getaway at a 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.160 bed and breakfast. Most of the day was a blur 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:08.880 for Ashley, except for the vowels the couple had written 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.640 for each other. She remembers that moment clearly. 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:16.120 Mine were all about how I promised to love him 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.680 and be the best wife I could be, and his 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.600 were joking about how we met at work and how 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:27.840 this friendship ended up becoming what it is today. The 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.240 very last line of his vows, he used the song 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:36.080 Africa by Toto about how it's going to take a 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:39.520 lot to drag me away from you. At the time, 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:43.360 I was like, oh, that's sweep, But looking back now, 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:47.720 I'm like, it's an interesting way to end your vows. 0:09:49.400 --> 0:10:09.200 Interesting, perhaps more like foreshadowing. After a year of dating, 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.840 Ashley and Jake had tied the knot in his simple 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.960 elopement ceremony. As she said in her vows, she promised 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.319 to be the best wife she could be. That meant 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:23.160 making the marriage work even in the hard times, just 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:24.200 like her parents had. 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.680 My parents were never divorced. I grew up with my 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:33.199 parents together, and I wanted to have one and only 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.640 one marriage, just like my parents. 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:40.120 But early on the couple had a few fights, fights 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.960 where she saw a new side of Jake. There's one 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:48.559 specific night that Ashley says she'll never forget. She'd been 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.200 working her second job as a swim coach that night, 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.520 she stayed a half hour late to hang out with 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.840 the other coaches. When she got back to the apartment 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:02.319 and unlocked the door, sitting there glaring at. 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:07.000 Her, and he was like, where were you? And I 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:11.719 was like, I was talking to the coaches. We were 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:15.280 having a good time. And he was like, that is 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:17.760 not okay for you to be coming home half an 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:22.240 hour late and not be notifying me of this, and 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:25.160 I'm like, I'm sorry, it's only a half an hour. 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.439 Ashley didn't like the behavior and knew he was overreacting, 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:32.679 but at the same time, she thought. 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.840 Well, maybe that's just a way that he is trying 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.280 to be protective of me and like showing me that 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.720 he cares where I'm at and he's worried about me. 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:47.079 Jake was always a bit worried about Ashley. She struggled 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:51.240 with depression and anxiety, and Jake fixated on that. 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:57.160 I've had bouts of depression and anxiety throughout my whole life. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:03.120 He kept telling me over and over and over, I 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.559 need to not work, that I need to focus on 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:11.600 getting better with my mental health. He told me that 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:18.000 he thought I should pursue social Security disability. And how 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.079 can you expect to go to work and handle all 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.760 the stress when you can't handle stressors in our marriage 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.199 and in our life. You take naps and you rest, 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:30.840 and you go to therapy and work on your mental health, 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:36.000 and I'll do everything else in life for you. It 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:42.960 just made me become more and more dependent on him. 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:48.640 Ashley eventually stopped working and started collecting disability. With less income, 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.760 the couple moved into Ashley's mom's house to save money, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.959 but during the move, Ashley realized she couldn't find one 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.080 of her most treasured possessions. 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:03.760 My dad gave me his military cult forty five gun 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:07.320 before he died. That was one of my dad's favorite 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:11.240 things he had. You know, I was crying and I 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:12.839 was like, I don't know where it is. 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.119 She started to worry that one of her ex boyfriends 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:19.199 could have stolen the gun. Jake was trying to calm 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.320 her down. He said if any of her exes had 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.000 stolen the gun, he could get it back for her. 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:31.360 He took a deep breath and confessed that he had connections. 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:35.400 And I'm like, what do you mean you have connections? 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:42.520 And then he told me that for several years he 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:47.720 has been involved with a local gang that worked for 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:56.320 one of the Mexican cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel cartel. 0:13:56.679 --> 0:14:00.880 Her husband involved in a Mexican drug cartel. This was 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:06.720 news to Ashley, shocking and terrifying information. Even though Ashley 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.400 is now detached from what happened to her, she was 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:13.520 certainly not so calm about it in that moment. This 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:17.600 was a huge deal. She couldn't believe this revelation was 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:22.800 just coming out now after they were married. She asked 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:26.880 how exactly he was connected to the cartel. He said 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:30.200 that his job was to be quote a problem solver. 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.440 And of course I had to ask what that meant. 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:38.280 And then he told me how he would murder people 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:46.200 for whoever told him to. I asked him how many 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.520 people he had quote taken care of, and he told 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:54.560 me he was like at nineteen and it's not personal, 0:14:54.640 --> 0:15:03.880 it's business. I was sitting there thinking, who did I marry? 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.400 Am I sleeping next to somebody who would murder people 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:08.520 for a cartel? 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.920 Ashley stayed awake that night, trying to understand what this 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.360 meant for her and Jake's future. Could he really be 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:17.880 a hit man for the cartel? 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:21.280 Every question that I had, he had reasons for it, 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:25.440 or he connected the dots for me that weren't making sense. 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.320 He backed up a lot of stuff. He would show 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:36.400 me emails, he'd show me text messages with conversations with people. 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.720 But was even more disturbing was that he was simply 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:44.040 unfazed by the gravity of this. Jake acted as if 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:45.920 it were just a simple little secret. 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:50.680 You should feel privileged that I even let you in 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.480 on this part of my life. I've never told anybody 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.880 else that I was involved in this stuff, and you 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.240 know more about this than anybody else. 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.840 Ashley was scared and felt completely trapped. Jake expressed that 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:06.600 he was too. 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:10.080 He explained to me how he was trying to get 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.560 out and they weren't going to let him out. 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.920 These guys were serious, and they weren't afraid to hurt families. 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.960 Some of the stories about how people ended up missing 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.440 were scary because he would explain that they will make 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.240 it look like an accident, or you will just disappear 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:34.960 and never be heard from again. By him telling me 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:40.240 about the cartels, was that putting me in danger by 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:41.520 knowing that information? 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:47.280 In fact, Jake said they were both in danger. Shortly 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.160 after that night, he told Ashley he broke ties with 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:54.240 the cartel, making the two of them a target. Now 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.760 they needed to go on the run and hide out. 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.440 The higher ups in the cartel told him if you 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.320 come back to the area, you're going to be dead. 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:04.280 We're going to get you. 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.879 The impact of the stress and terror began taking a 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:10.920 toll on Ashley. 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:15.200 I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I lost quite a 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:19.080 bit of weight. I was not able to sleep unless 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:20.200 I was medicated. 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.919 They hit out in hotels for a few weeks. Eventually 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:27.959 Jake demed it safe enough to return. Ashley felt safer 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:31.359 with him than without him, so they moved back in 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:36.600 with Ashley's family. It wasn't long until another issue surfaced. 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:42.280 Ashley's mother and grandfather apparently had their identity stolen. Their 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.400 bank accounts were being hacked. 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.680 My mother would literally get a paycheck deposited on Friday 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:52.399 and then on Saturday go to buy something and her 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:56.520 bank account was overdrawn because someone hacked your bank account. 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:00.600 Every few weeks, her mother and grandfather and notice a 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:05.040 security breach. Just when it was solved, another one would arise. 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.760 Both Ashley and Jake threw themselves into helping her family 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:11.760 triage the problem. 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:16.399 Jake was really attentive to my mom and my grandpa, 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:20.480 always sitting down with them at the kitchen table calling 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:23.800 the banks. That became his sole focus was helping my 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:27.560 mom and my grandpa fix their bank accounts. 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:31.840 It went on like this for six overwhelming months. In 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.679 the back of her mind, Ashley feared that the missing 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.199 money could have something to do with the cartel, but 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.560 she didn't want to burden her mom with the truth 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:45.359 about Jake, so she kept it all inside. One day, 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:50.600 her grandpa got his bank statement and noticed something particularly concerning. 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:54.439 Twenty thousand dollars was missing from his savings account. He 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.760 called the banks, you know, they said for them to 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:01.760 have it insured and cut and put back into his account. 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:05.159 That he has to do a police report. So my 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:09.000 grandpa went and did a police report, and our local 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:13.040 police said, it looks like the money was being taken 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:17.000 out of an ATM, so we'll pull the footage from 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:18.480 that and see what's going on. 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:23.240 The family didn't hear anything from the police for a 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:25.720 few weeks until one night. 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:32.600 Our bedroom door gets busted down. Police are pointing guns 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:36.360 at both me and him, telling us put our hands up. 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.920 They asked if his name was Jacob Levin and he 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:46.520 said yes. They told him, like, stand up and face 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:50.960 the wall and put your hands behind your head. I'm 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:53.200 trying to talk to the cop and I go, what's 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:57.840 going on? What happened? And he said, well, ma'am, I'm 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.080 gonna let you know, we have evidence that Jake was 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:08.399 the one feeling the money from your grandfather's bank account. 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:13.640 It didn't add up. Jake had been the one going 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.040 out of his way to help her grandfather sort through 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:21.600 this whole financial mess. The only explanation she could think 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.000 of is that this was all happening because Jake had 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:29.000 left the cartel in order to steal from her grandfather. 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:31.760 He had to be desperate to come up with cash 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:34.720 quickly and that meant she and her family could be 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:38.640 in danger, so she pawned her valuables and paid his bail. 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:41.680 She took him straight to a hotel where they could 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:44.159 talk in private, and he confessed. 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.320 He explained to me that he had received a message 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.640 from one of these people in the cartel and they 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:57.600 were threatening me and my mom and my grandfather, and 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.600 if he didn't come up with some form a payment, 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:06.240 they were going to harm us. They knew where we 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:10.000 were living and they were driving past our house. So 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:15.640 he said that he was concerned for our safety and 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:16.880 my family's safety. 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:21.080 He also explained what he'd kept the whole scheme a secret. 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:24.400 He told me that he didn't want to add more 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:29.359 stress and worry to me because I was always kind 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:32.800 of worried and stressed out about things going on in 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:37.240 our marriage, our finances. People in the cartel after us, 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:40.360 and he told me he didn't want to add more 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:41.040 to my plate. 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.800 Right then, she wanted to walk out. The fear for 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:51.000 her safety and her family's safety was overwhelming, But more 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:54.080 powerful than fear was a deep insecurity. 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:58.000 I was brought up with the like, never give up 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:05.040 on something, try your hardest to make anything work attitude. 0:22:05.240 --> 0:22:08.040 I just didn't want to fail, and I thought that 0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:14.359 if I washed my hands of him in the whole marriage, 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:16.240 I was failing. 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:23.200 Their relationship was hanging on by a thread. Things were 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:26.400 so tumultuous that Ashley picked up and left the hotel 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:29.639 to spend the night at her mom's house. When she 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:32.640 went back to the hotel the next morning, she found 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:36.919 Jake missing, along with a few other important things. 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:40.720 He had cleared out all of his things in the hotel, 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:45.320 including a lot of my things that he took. Three 0:22:45.359 --> 0:22:48.080 of those things were three of my guns that I 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:51.200 had in the hotel, and they were registered to me. 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:56.320 The guns were gone, and so was Jake. He wasn't 0:22:56.359 --> 0:23:01.000 answering her phone calls. The hours turned into date. That's 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.000 when she and her family started looking for their valuables 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:07.359 and they found even more things missing. 0:23:09.760 --> 0:23:14.520 The weapons missing kind of prompted everybody in the house 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:19.359 to start looking at our valuables. That is when my 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:24.440 mother noticed that her wedding band and engagement ring set 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:28.639 when missing, as well as my grandmother's wedding ring and 0:23:28.720 --> 0:23:35.760 engagement band. I was upset about the weapons, but the 0:23:35.760 --> 0:23:39.560 wedding ring sets from both my mom and my grandmother's 0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:46.000 was the ultimate betrayal to me. Those did mean so 0:23:46.160 --> 0:23:53.920 much to me and my family, especially because my father 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:59.960 meant the world to me, and my dad has said 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:05.200 it's passed and those things are things that can't be replaced, 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:08.720 so it hurt real bad. 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:15.280 The wedding rings were the final straw for Ashley. She 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:18.720 knew immediately that her husband had stolen them. 0:24:19.840 --> 0:24:26.600 At that point, I knew I meant nothing to him. 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:30.040 I could not fathom how somebody could take something that 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:33.800 meant so much to somebody and take it to a 0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:37.960 pawn shop and pawn it for however much money he 0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:43.119 got for it. To him, it was just things. But 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:48.359 to me and my family, those things are priceless, and at. 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:53.960 That point I knew that I was just a thing 0:24:54.280 --> 0:24:58.320 to him. 0:24:58.480 --> 0:25:00.920 She and her family made a list of missing items 0:25:00.960 --> 0:25:05.280 and took it to the police. At that breaking point, 0:25:05.440 --> 0:25:09.879 Ashley decided to start researching her husband's legal record. She 0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:14.880 saw the recent theft charges, some small claimsport records, and 0:25:14.920 --> 0:25:18.040 then she clicked on a document about his divorce from 0:25:18.040 --> 0:25:19.200 his first wife. 0:25:19.800 --> 0:25:22.920 And one thing I noticed was the timeframe of it. 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:26.840 Jake had told me that he filed for divorce in 0:25:26.920 --> 0:25:36.080 twenty seventeen. This wasn't filed until twenty twenty one. Jake 0:25:36.119 --> 0:25:39.040 had told me that he was the one that filed 0:25:39.080 --> 0:25:44.560 for divorce. This was showing that Amber was the petitioner 0:25:44.680 --> 0:25:51.040 and Jake was the respondent. So I read more and 0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:53.680 then I read that the case was dismissed. 0:25:55.320 --> 0:25:58.840 Ashley needed answers, so she decided to go to the 0:25:58.880 --> 0:26:05.520 one person who have them, Jake's ex wife Amber. A 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:10.479 few years ago, Amber had messaged Ashley on Facebook. Instead 0:26:10.480 --> 0:26:13.920 of reading the message, Ashley had just deleted it and 0:26:13.960 --> 0:26:15.000 blocked his ex. 0:26:15.320 --> 0:26:22.040 I went back on Facebook. I unblocked her, and I 0:26:22.080 --> 0:26:25.760 asked her if she would be willing to talk to 0:26:25.800 --> 0:26:30.760 me because I have some questions about her in Jake's marriage. 0:26:31.160 --> 0:26:34.200 Amber replied a few days later, and what she said 0:26:34.760 --> 0:26:35.920 changed everything. 0:26:36.920 --> 0:26:39.880 As far as I knew, Jake and her only had 0:26:39.920 --> 0:26:43.520 one child together, and one of the first things she 0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:48.760 said to me was, you do realize that Jake has 0:26:48.880 --> 0:27:08.119 five kids. 0:27:10.240 --> 0:27:13.960 Ashley learned that her husband didn't just have one daughter 0:27:14.040 --> 0:27:18.640