0:00

Hey guys,

0:02

Hide and Seek is now on Patreon. If

0:04

you'd like to learn how to support the work we do, please

0:07

visit www.patreon.com

0:11

backslash Hide and Seek podcast.

0:14

For as little as $5 a month, you

0:16

can get access to exclusive rewards. Rewards

0:19

include live events, early access

0:22

to video trailers, ad-free episodes,

0:25

never before seen videos, behind

0:27

the scenes video and photo content, along

0:30

with extended and never before heard interviews.

0:33

My team and I would be honored to have you. Again,

0:37

visit www.patreon.com backslash

0:40

Hide and Seek podcast.

0:42

Thanks guys. Hey

0:48

guys, it's James here. I want to take

0:50

a moment to talk about why I love creating podcasts

0:53

with Spotify for Podcasters. As

0:55

someone deeply invested in unraveling the

0:57

mysteries of true crime, I know the

1:00

importance of a platform that's both reliable

1:02

and versatile. Spotify for Podcasters

1:04

offers incredible analytics so I can see how you,

1:07

my audience, engage with each episode. It's

1:09

got an intuitive dashboard that simplifies the process,

1:12

making more time for my in-depth investigations.

1:15

But hey, you don't have to take my word

1:17

for

1:17

it. Try Spotify for Podcasters

1:20

and make your voice heard. Go to Spotify.com

1:23

slash Podcasters to

1:25

start your own show today.

1:30

The views and opinions expressed by guests

1:32

on the Hide and Seek podcast are their own

1:35

and do not necessarily reflect the views,

1:37

opinions, or positions of the host

1:40

or contributors.

1:44

Hey everyone, this is Sarah. Would

1:47

you like to take a more active role in the Hide

1:49

and Seek community? Would

1:51

you like to share your thoughts with other listeners? Join

1:54

us in the Hide and Seek Podcast discussion

1:56

group on Facebook. You can

1:58

find us by searching

1:59

Hide and Seek Podcast Discussion Group

2:02

on Facebook. This

2:05

podcast deals with mature topics that

2:07

may not be suitable for all listeners. Material

2:11

heard on the Hide and Seek Podcast is intended

2:13

for adult listeners. Listener

2:15

discretion is advised. committees

2:24

cg-78

2:32

i

2:43

hadn't seen anybody that i felt comfortable

2:45

saying anything to you until

2:47

today the stories

2:49

they tell are pretty sick they're pretty freaking

2:52

gruesome

2:54

i kept all the text messages

2:56

facebook messages the messages

2:58

between me and brightening i have all of them

3:01

i have everything i told him i

3:03

said i'll kill all them motherfuckers yeah

3:06

i was gonna have my people you can take

3:08

care of it i'll

3:11

just pay for his name i didn't know where to keep

3:14

it from but he said is this a little too

3:16

rude? it would

3:16

be hard to hide so much because

3:19

eventually everything turned out he

3:23

is the only believe in him and correct

3:25

him as well this is

3:27

hiding space isn't free i

3:32

don't know if i'm in

3:34

the house i'm

3:36

doing this basically

4:00

Hey guys, in last week's episode

4:03

you heard more about the voicemail messages left

4:05

for Jessica on the night Brittany disappeared.

4:10

These messages made their way to Facebook after Ashley

4:12

took over Jessica's email account and shared

4:15

these voice messages with other people, including

4:17

Brittany's uncle. Initially,

4:21

when I asked Jessica about these voice messages,

4:24

she thought they were from Leonard, a

4:26

man that worked for Jessica, with

4:28

whom she had a strong relationship. In

4:32

an earlier interview with Ashley, she

4:34

suggested these messages may have come

4:36

from a man named Daniel Walters. To

4:39

avoid further confusion, I want to clarify

4:42

that Daniel Walters is not Cage. After

4:45

doing further digging, it was revealed

4:48

that the man who left these messages was a man

4:50

Jessica was doing some work for, named

4:52

Bill. I had two calls

4:54

with Bill. In the first call,

4:58

Bill tells me the voice messages were left by him

5:00

out of aggravation that Jessica didn't

5:02

show up for the job he hired her to do. Following

5:06

this call, I spoke with Jessica and she

5:08

seemed surprised. She told me that Bill's

5:10

story wasn't accurate and explained

5:13

to me that she felt Bill didn't tell the truth because

5:15

he was worried about the ramifications of admitting

5:18

to purchase of narcotics. Jessica

5:21

urged me to reach back out to Bill and

5:24

get a more accurate recanting of the night. Right

5:29

before the airing of last week's episode, I

5:31

was able to get a hold of Bill. We realized

5:34

that there was some confusion after hearing this last week,

5:36

so we hope the recap can clarify some details.

5:40

In speaking to Bill this time, I get

5:42

a story that I believe is much closer to the truth.

5:47

In this follow-up call, Bill

5:49

told me he hired Jessica to do some painting in his

5:51

home. While Jessica was there

5:53

to work, she also hooked Bill up with

5:55

a friend of hers who could supply him with narcotics.

6:00

Bill reports it was just weed, and I think

6:02

we can all agree that was not likely the case. In

6:05

the evening Brittany disappeared, Bill rented

6:07

Jessica money to give to her friend for

6:09

him to obtain narcotics for Bill. When

6:12

Jessica didn't come back with the narcotics in a period

6:14

of time Bill felt was reasonable, he

6:17

became upset and feared he was being

6:19

picked over.

6:22

So the three voicemail messages you heard are

6:24

prompted by his impatience. Jessica

6:26

returns within an hour or so after Bill's last call

6:29

to her and the deal for the narcotics

6:31

is wrapped up. Jessica

6:34

stays at Bill's to complete the painting he

6:36

hired her to do. During

6:38

her stay she receives a call about Brittany. Realizing

6:42

that something is amiss, Jessica leaves

6:44

Bill's to find out what's happening. Is

6:48

this a bit of a messy story? Sure. In

6:51

this instance though, let's look at the big

6:53

picture. The question

6:55

requiring an answer was

6:58

whether that message came from Daniel

7:00

Walters to Leonard Ledford and

7:03

whether or not it had to do with Brittany's disappearance.

7:07

As a result, we can remove Daniel Walters

7:10

and Leonard Ledford from the suspect board because

7:13

this was the only piece of information that could potentially

7:16

tie them to Brittany's disappearance. Bill

7:19

can also be removed for various reasons.

7:22

Bill was 90 minutes away from Sturgis that night,

7:25

at his home where he hired Jessica

7:27

for work. He

7:29

doesn't meet the description of the mystery man. The

7:32

mystery man is described as being mid-twenties.

7:36

Bill is an older man around 60. In

7:41

episode 40, we mentioned that one

7:43

of the things that we look at when we are determining

7:45

if someone should be added or removed from the suspect

7:48

board is their relationship to Brittany.

7:50

Have they met before? Did

7:52

they run in the same circles? Is

7:55

there a history of friendship or even

7:57

a history of being in the Queens? None

8:00

of these things apply in this situation.

8:03

As a side note,

8:05

if Jessica was somehow involved in Brittany's

8:07

disappearance with some assistance from Bill,

8:10

why would she be so adamant that I call him back

8:12

and do more digging? Wouldn't

8:14

you just let it be? Putting

8:19

together a mystery typically involves a combination

8:22

of gathering clues, analyzing

8:24

evidence and solving puzzles. The

8:27

process usually starts when identifying

8:30

a problem or crime that needs to be solved.

8:34

It also involves collecting any available evidence,

8:37

such as witness statements, physical evidence,

8:39

and documents. Using deductive

8:42

reasoning skills to analyze the evidence and

8:44

try to identify potential suspects is

8:46

arguably the most important part of investigating

8:49

a crime. Once a suspect

8:51

or suspects have been identified, continuing

8:54

to gather more evidence is a must. This

8:57

is how a case is built against them. Last

9:00

episode, we heard a demonstration of these steps

9:03

and a conversation between Ashley and Shasta

9:05

that seemed to provide more insight into Brittany's guest

9:07

receipt. During that

9:10

conversation, Ashley and Shasta gather

9:12

clues. Shasta analyzes

9:14

the evidence Ashley provides to determine

9:16

if the piece of evidence they're looking at did

9:18

indeed belong to Brittany. Shasta

9:21

determined the answer was yes. It

9:23

was Brittany's guest receipt. Ashley

9:26

goes on to analyze the situation in effort

9:28

to figure out how the receipt may have ended

9:30

up in her vehicle. Ashley

9:33

concluded that only one man, Eric

9:37

S, could have left the receipt behind. During

9:40

their discussion, Ashley mentioned finding

9:43

additional items in the bag of garbage, including

9:45

a woman's wallet, a bra belonging

9:47

to a small chested woman, a student

9:49

ID, and a credit card. When

9:52

referring to the credit card, Ashley

9:54

stated that it belonged to her dad.

9:57

Since she doesn't apply ownership to this item with

9:59

an name, does this suggest

10:02

she was referring to Brittany's father? So,

10:05

would this imply that the additional items

10:08

also belong to the same person the receipt

10:10

belongs to? Avoidance

10:15

is a strange concept if you really think about it. In

10:19

my mind when I think of avoidance, I

10:21

conjure up a short scene that starts in a dark

10:23

alley, with a man in a brown transcoat

10:26

tied around his waist. Oh,

10:28

and a hat. Every

10:31

man in a trench coat needs a hat. I

10:33

picture him slipping behind dumpsters, hiding

10:36

behind stacked crates and tightly parked cars.

10:39

And while he makes his way down the alley, avoiding

10:42

being seen. But

10:45

eventually that dark alley comes to an end, and

10:48

the man in the trench coat is left with no place

10:50

to hide, no place to avoid

10:53

the faces passing him on the street. Right

10:56

now, Skylar is the man in

10:58

the trench coat. To

11:01

be fair, I don't know that he's avoiding

11:03

me, but he's no longer

11:05

taking my calls, so that seems like avoidance.

11:09

But why go ghost? There

11:12

could be extenuating circumstances, but

11:14

if that were the case, Link, Sera, or

11:16

I would have heard about it by now. We're

11:19

not entirely convinced that we need to speak to him again,

11:21

and you're probably wondering why

11:23

we feel that way. While

11:26

I won't get into specifics, what I will do

11:28

is say that Sera and I know that

11:30

law enforcement didn't ignore the sleeve. And

11:38

in fact, we know that they took the sleeve very

11:40

seriously. At this

11:43

point, there hasn't been an arrest.

11:46

So, what's your takeaway?

11:50

Why do you think Skylar has chosen to dip into the dark

11:52

alley? In Episode 39,

11:55

I pressed for answers from JJ. You

11:57

heard Kim, JJ's girlfriend, and I discussed Brittany's gas

11:59

for the first time in the show. and accusations

12:01

actually made against him.

12:06

You and I were talking while you were in jail. We

12:10

talked a couple times. You didn't get really

12:12

far. What? You

12:15

know what I'm saying? I'm fucking here to be the best

12:17

way. He just wants

12:19

to know your side, that's all he wants.

12:23

That's okay. There you go.

12:26

Actually, it ain't right. How did he know that?

12:28

Got it. Don't get it.

12:32

What do you say? No,

12:35

no, no, go back to that.

12:40

Tell me you're being perfect. Tell my family you're being perfect.

12:45

He said we don't want to be perfect. He'll talk.

12:49

Whether you thought or that you know that

12:51

they did it. I

12:53

think they did. Oh shit, I know.

12:56

I know they did it. I didn't answer that

12:58

question. She's

13:01

putting JJ on the... No, you found

13:03

it and asked me to trust. Ask me if she's better. No, actually

13:05

told him that... Okay,

13:11

that's a... ...five days past. I

13:14

don't know about it. I'm not

13:17

talking to this fucking funny. What

13:20

the fuck? She's getting charged up. He

13:23

doesn't trust the phone. That's

13:25

why you're going to do it in person.

13:29

During that conversation, JJ

13:31

abruptly interrupts her conversation and shouts, Eric

13:34

and Ashley did it. There you go. He reels

13:37

himself in before sharing any more details. He

13:40

says this is because he doesn't want to share anything over the

13:43

phone. Tell me you're being

13:44

perfect. Tell me you're being perfect. I

13:50

got your name on my list, JJ. On

13:57

his... This

14:00

thing may be painful in a lot of ways,

14:02

but it's a far better choice than the suffocating grip

14:04

of a secret. When the secret is shared,

14:07

it's no longer a secret. A

14:09

shared secret becomes a burden or

14:12

a weapon. It may be time

14:14

to de-weaponize the secrets JJ

14:16

may be holding. Now

14:18

that I have a formal invitation back to Sturgis from

14:20

him, it might be time to make a decision

14:23

about going back. In

14:28

just a few moments of sitting down together, as

14:31

I begin to utter the words, so I'm

14:33

contemplating, Sarah's intuition

14:35

kicks in and she quickly interrupts,

14:38

accurately anticipating my thoughts. Are

14:42

you considering returning to Sturgis? Okay,

14:46

so maybe I'm a little predictable. Yeah,

14:49

we're going back to Sturgis. After

14:52

a short discussion, we decide on June 2023.

14:57

Now that the possibility of returning to Sturgis

14:59

is on the horizon, Sarah and I recognize

15:02

it as an opportunity to make the most of our time

15:04

in Michigan. To kickstart

15:06

our preparations for the trip, our

15:09

top priority is to arrange a meeting with Detective

15:11

Otten and under Sheriff Bingaman. There's

15:14

an abundance of crystal information we wish to convey,

15:17

and we firmly believe that it deserves

15:19

the personal touch of an in-person presentation. After

15:22

all, complex matters often become

15:25

clearer and more comprehensible

15:26

when discussed face to face.

15:29

Shortly after my conversation with Skyler, I made

15:32

contact with the owner of one of the properties

15:34

Skyler claims Brittany was taken to. I

15:37

was granted full access to the property, so

15:40

I add this to the agenda and

15:42

ask for Skyler. If

15:45

he won't pick up the phone, I'm happy to meet

15:47

him in person. I'm happy

15:49

to meet CND in person too. The

15:52

agenda for the next trip is to fill up

15:54

quickly. Hell,

15:58

the more the merrier. right?

16:11

Ashley

16:23

is the first to reveal that Eric has discovered the

16:25

back of Brittany's phone. The

16:27

elderly guy gets his landline.

16:44

That 86

16:57

relationships

17:02

have

17:56

Jessica had her phone and

17:58

her wallet. I

18:00

said then

18:02

explain Brittany's type card in her fucking

18:05

Google photos.

18:09

Following this, Jessica shares her account

18:11

of the incident that day.

18:13

Okay, so if you're at, if you leave

18:15

the old man's house and you're going towards the workman,

18:20

okay, and the road he's

18:22

off, it goes to the left and then goes to the right, right

18:25

there in front, and

18:27

that's he right in that cornfield right there, that's

18:30

where he found something.

18:32

I know he did because I remember, I just

18:34

remember he was just like off

18:37

on his own, wouldn't come with us, you know, he wanted

18:39

to do his own little thing. And

18:42

I started looking weird and I kept watching him. And

18:45

then all of a sudden he picked up something out of that cornfield

18:47

right there. And

18:50

then he just kind of bolted.

18:52

He just, he didn't associate

18:54

with us out there.

18:55

Yeah, I always found that weird. Like why didn't he

18:58

search with you guys? Like why was he so adamant

19:00

about searching on his own?

19:03

Another time he did that too. The other time when

19:05

we went out searching, he, him

19:07

and JJ went off. Where

19:10

was that at? Okay, so down the road from that

19:12

man's house that we went to when

19:14

you were here last time?

19:16

So down the road towards

19:18

Font River. On the right

19:20

hand side, there's a bunch of

19:22

pine trees and JJ and

19:25

Eric went out there too and was looking pretty heavily.

19:28

But I backtrack them. Brenda and I did after

19:30

they, after they left, after they left, we

19:32

went back there and like really looked around

19:34

a lot so that more

19:37

thoroughly because it felt like I thought it was really

19:39

weird that they were just out there by themselves. Like why wouldn't you come with us? You

19:42

know, like what the fuck?

19:44

So this is the December 23rd search. One

19:47

of them.

19:48

I've always assumed that the search that you guys went

19:50

on was on December 23rd because that's when him

19:52

and JJ get pulled over and that's when

19:54

JJ is like, that's the first time I met dude

19:57

or I met Ashley. So I've

19:59

always assumed it was the

22:00

He just takes off? He just

22:03

takes off, it was weird. He was weird the whole time.

22:06

Where'd

22:07

he go?

22:08

He just took off running. I have no problem.

22:12

He just took us to the left. He

22:14

was not social with us

22:17

either time. He didn't

22:19

talk to us nothing.

22:21

Do you watch him leave?

22:25

I mean...

22:26

I guess I feel like with it being like,

22:29

boom, there's his back of his phone, I feel like it would have been

22:31

a big deal. Like for everybody who was there searching?

22:34

No, like I'm just saying, it was

22:36

not everybody, it was only a few of us out there.

22:39

So it was just like, Brendan and I,

22:41

Chris and all of a sudden,

22:43

like, and I just remember Eric, like, he's

22:46

saying in the back of his phone, I found, the

22:48

only time he could have found that phone, the back of that phone,

22:51

that I remember is right then and there because he...

22:54

how weird he acted afterwards, you

22:56

know, like he was right there in the... like,

22:59

sitting around the ground, like, messing around with the ground. And

23:01

the next time I look up, he's just like, Eric's just like, gone.

23:04

And I was like, we all

23:06

had talked about how Bizar

23:08

Eric was acting that night, that day,

23:11

and the next time they went out to him

23:13

and JJ both. And he just jetted, he

23:15

didn't even say nothing to

23:16

him, but he just left. I didn't even

23:18

see him leave. JJ mentioned also

23:20

him finding a back of a phone, but

23:22

he was with Eric when Eric found it, but JJ

23:25

remembers being present for that as well.

23:33

Let

23:39

me ask you another question. Have you ever seen... Have

23:41

you ever seen...

23:42

What the fuck, we're in!

23:44

Did he leave? No,

23:46

he's still here. Yeah,

23:51

has he ever seen Brittany's phone?

23:54

Have you ever seen Brittany's phone? No. He just

23:57

asked me a question. It isn't that.

23:59

I guess the air phone in

24:02

the bank of the zone, like 60

24:05

yards from the wreck.

24:17

That's the one that's in the bank

24:20

of the house.

24:21

The long driveway house?

24:24

The short driveway house? The

24:26

big beautiful house. The big two-story house? With

24:28

all the fine areas.

24:32

I don't remember JJ being there the first time,

24:34

but the second time JJ was with us.

24:37

Additionally, Eric

24:40

captured an image of the back plate, which

24:42

he promptly sent to Ashley with the message, Do

24:44

whatever you do. This image

24:46

contains a description of the back plate of

24:48

the phone, including a QR code that

24:51

matches the one on Brittany's J337P model.

24:57

With these significant revelations, it

24:59

begs the question of what actions were taken as

25:01

a result. Did Eric or Ashley contact

25:04

law enforcement authorities or share

25:06

this information with them? While

25:09

we're on the subject of Brittany's phone, we

25:11

think it's important to mention that

25:14

on November 16, 2018, Brittany

25:18

added Eric to her Boost Mobile plan.

25:22

This means it's possible

25:24

he had access to the account.

25:31

On October 20, Brittany writes, She's

25:35

apologizing for not answering. I called

25:37

the previous day. She said, Eric and

25:40

I swapped because we needed a working

25:42

phone and a way to contact his mom while

25:44

he was gone. So I let him use mine.

25:47

Apparently Eric's phone was down. Do

25:51

you know if they shared phones very often back then? I

25:53

was going to say that swapping phone,

25:55

that's true, but not... I

25:58

don't think it was the reason that was true.

25:59

But she was over at my house when

26:02

they floss went thin. And

26:05

Eric had actually given me, when

26:07

she first went missing, I said, do you have any of her old phones?

26:09

And he said, just the one that she gave me.

26:11

And I had that phone for a while. And

26:14

that was the one

26:15

that she had right before she told me to switch

26:17

my number, to change my number.

26:19

And it was in the middle of the conversation. She

26:22

was like, Daniel has some kind of

26:24

stalker thing on my phone. He gets every text I

26:26

send or receive. He

26:27

knows all my calls, like, just change

26:29

your number right now. Just trust me. So I went

26:32

down to AT&T and changed. And over conversation,

26:35

she'd come over. And she swapped

26:37

out sends with him. So that way, if Daniel

26:39

wanted to keep stalking it, it would go to Eric

26:42

instead of her.

26:43

And then Eric would have dealt with it.

26:46

If he did, he had the ability to

26:48

see all her phone activity. Numbers

26:50

called, numbers texted, and how

26:53

often Brittany corresponded with those numbers via call

26:55

or text. And all the

26:57

chaos that has surrounded this case, there's

27:00

been one person who has remained consistent. He's

27:03

shown up when we've asked. He's answered

27:05

his phone when called. And he's answered

27:07

every question we've ever asked, to the best of

27:09

his ability. And we believe he's

27:11

one of the few people who truly loved Brittany and

27:14

would have done anything for her. Over

27:17

the past two and a half years, our communication has increased.

27:20

And I have come to rely on his consistency.

27:26

What's up, bud? My

27:28

gosh. Yeah,

27:30

I'm back in the well shop, man, getting filthy.

27:33

It's Sheldon. Geez,

27:36

buddy, you got that's quite the deer, man. Yeah.

27:40

Man, you're going to suck it back out. I got to go get

27:42

it trimmed up. During

27:44

one of our many late nights, we decided

27:46

to make an effort to figure out why Brittany's profile

27:49

still appears in Facebook Messenger. To

27:52

clarify, you can have Facebook Messenger

27:54

and not have a Facebook profile.

27:57

If her Facebook Messenger was deleted.

27:59

There would be no picture and the

28:02

name and messenger would say Facebook

28:04

user. Did

28:06

someone delete her Facebook profile and

28:08

keep messenger? Sorry,

28:11

we sat to Sheldon hoping he could be of some

28:13

help. April

28:15

18th, 2023. All

28:18

right. Hey, bub. I

28:20

got a question for you. Brits Facebook

28:22

account, BB guys plan has gone,

28:25

but her messenger appears to still be active. We're

28:27

confident that the account is still active in messenger,

28:29

but we want to test it by sending Britney a message from messenger,

28:33

but we're only able to do that by sending it from

28:35

someone who's had a conversation with her in the past.

28:39

That's you. Is it okay

28:41

to send her a thumbs up?

28:43

Sheldon writes. Yeah,

28:46

go for it.

28:48

I hit send. I

28:52

informed Sheldon it's gone,

28:55

but now we know and that helps. I think

28:57

that Facebook may still have it because of preservation

28:59

request. Fingers crossed that they do

29:02

preservation request is something law enforcement

29:04

does when trying to preserve a Facebook profile.

29:08

No way. Who had that one? Ashley

29:11

or was it the Kelner one? Or did she

29:13

have both? Ashley had access

29:15

to both. The Kelner one

29:17

is the one that said that them got delivered on

29:20

the third of December two. Huh? Do

29:22

you think she had access all the way back then? Yeah,

29:27

she did. But when

29:29

she read it is most important.

29:33

Took that screenshot a long time ago. Don't

29:36

know if you already had a pick of it.

29:37

Just thought I'd send it in case you didn't. Sheldon

29:42

sends me a screenshot. The

29:45

infamous thumbs up stamp Sheldon would randomly

29:47

send Britney

29:49

sent

29:50

December 1st, 2018 at two 27 PM

29:55

within seconds. Someone

29:58

opens Britney's message.

30:01

We have to assume that it wasn't

30:03

Britney. Get

30:11

back in touch with you about that text message we

30:13

were talking about. You had sent it

30:15

to me. It was coming from

30:17

the Britney Keltner account. There was a

30:20

screenshot of the message

30:22

you had sent her back on

30:24

December 1st at 2 27 PM

30:27

and you send a thumbs up. It

30:30

shows underneath that screenshot that it was seen

30:32

on December 1st, 2018 at 2 27 PM.

30:37

Yeah.

30:39

Do you remember how you got that picture?

30:42

Um, I just clicked on the message

30:45

and a message that I had sent and

30:47

it popped up a status underneath it.

30:51

Do you recall at the time on December

30:54

1st, when you sent this, like seeing that she

30:56

had actually opened the message? No,

30:59

no, I, I didn't even think that it was delivered

31:01

then.

31:03

No, I don't think that it showed delivered after I'd

31:05

sent it.

31:07

Do you feel like you recall

31:09

going back to check? Cause obviously you

31:11

would have at that time seen.

31:13

Yeah, I feel like I would have,

31:15

you know, that's why it was,

31:17

it felt weird to me when I did screenshot

31:19

it, that it said that it was seen

31:22

all the way back on the 6th. Cause I

31:25

feel like I had been checking

31:27

it for months and I don't really,

31:30

I mean, I think that I would have been a pretty,

31:33

it's something that I would have remembered that it was

31:35

seen, you know, that

31:38

close to the date. Was this

31:40

screenshot taken the one that you had sent me, how

31:43

long ago was it taken? Feel

31:45

like it was taken right when I sent it to you, like

31:48

not too long beforehand. Would

31:51

you be able to actually do you still have access to the account

31:53

to be able to go like take another one and send it?

31:57

Uh, yeah, you probably could. I won't be able

31:59

to do it while we're on the phone. phone though. Yeah. You're

32:01

good. I'd have to sign out of this account

32:03

to go over the other one. Yeah. December

32:07

23rd actually is when I took the

32:09

screenshot. Okay. 2022. I

32:15

feel like if it got delivered at that point

32:17

in time, I probably would have started blowing

32:19

up that Facebook though. I mean,

32:21

I don't really see how I

32:24

could have not noticed I was delivered. I mean, that was

32:26

the whole point. Or not

32:28

delivered, but opened. So, I mean,

32:30

I don't see how. Let

32:33

me ask you that question.

32:36

If you see that message, what are

32:38

your next action? What's your next move?

32:40

I probably, at that

32:42

point in time, I would

32:45

have just blown it up like, hey, where the heck you at?

32:47

What the heck did you

32:48

pitch my car?

32:50

Yeah. Yeah. I would

32:54

have just started blowing up that Facebook. I

32:56

probably, as soon as I seen that it was opened,

32:59

I would have hit, that would have just called by

33:01

that second. Yeah.

33:04

If I seen that it was seen, I'd right

33:06

then and there, I would have started blowing

33:09

it up and trying to call it and whatnot.

33:11

If I would have seen that it was seen.

33:14

I figured that would have naturally sparked you

33:16

to focus your attentions and interests to this one.

33:18

So, knowing that this show or

33:20

seeing that this show is seen on December 1st, 2018,

33:22

why didn't you be like, yo,

33:24

I see that you saw this. Where the fuck's

33:28

my car at? Like what the fuck happened

33:30

type of thing?

33:31

I definitely would have been hitting

33:33

up that Facebook for sure. That

33:35

would be why I would say that

33:37

day, if

33:40

it wasn't that day.

33:41

I mean, I guess I'll ask the other obvious question

33:43

is you didn't fabricate anything on it, right?

33:46

No.

33:47

But you feel like, yo, if I would have seen it,

33:50

I would have. Yeah, if I would have seen

33:52

that it got,

33:53

there's no way that I wouldn't have seen that

33:55

it got seen because I

33:57

was checking that.

34:00

For like months afterwards I

34:02

was checking all the Facebooks that I sent messages to

34:04

to see if they were seen or not or delivered.

34:07

I mean that one I didn't I don't think I

34:10

sent another message to that one for a couple

34:12

months later or quite a while later.

34:15

But yeah I know for a fact I was checking them

34:17

all every single one that I...

34:19

I actually have some pictures though I was actually gonna send

34:22

you. I'll

34:23

drop these in your folder.

34:27

There you go. But the other ones when

34:29

she's... I...

34:31

...he's orange tank top. The one I heard

34:33

in these, Porgsboro tank top,

34:35

yeah, it's my house.

34:38

And yeah, that's my place too.

34:43

Do you remember her getting like dressed

34:45

up extra? You know what I'm saying? Like you

34:47

know makeup on, you're doing your thing. You know what I'm saying? Like

34:50

do you remember her leaving like that? She

34:52

was in like regular basic

34:55

clothes. She wasn't

34:57

all bit up too fancy. Like

35:00

just like her normal look. She never

35:02

really did a whole lot when she

35:04

did get ready and whatnot. She had

35:06

a natural beauty thing going. She didn't really

35:08

have to get herself

35:11

done up.

35:12

Let me show you one of the last pictures she

35:15

actually took. Think of this as in your car

35:17

I think. So give me one second.

35:20

Yeah, that's the last picture she

35:22

took.

35:23

That's the last picture she took?

35:27

Yeah.

35:31

And I could be wrong but that to me looks like her

35:33

getting ready.

35:36

Lips and slash. She's

35:39

definitely in the mirror. Got makeup

35:41

on. Lips too. I

35:43

don't remember her leaving the house like that. So

35:46

in your opinion that doesn't look like what you were picturing

35:48

when you said she didn't

35:50

leave. When I said dolled up kind of like makeup

35:53

on and whatnot. Yeah, no she didn't

35:56

leave on camera.

35:59

stamp of that phone or that

36:01

picture says it's Friday November 30th 2018 at 3 36 p.m.

36:06

I believe taken with her saying

36:09

some SMJ 337 does

36:11

that look like your car

36:14

yeah that's my favorite yeah

36:16

that pack of cigarettes that's hers

36:18

last time

36:20

you

36:23

sent me this picture I went back and I looked through

36:25

just see what my seats

36:27

you don't remember Brittany leaving like that

36:36

before we addressed that surprising discovery

36:39

I want to clarify that up until this point in our

36:41

investigation all of our work regarding

36:43

Facebook we want the distinction

36:45

to be as clear as class that

36:48

what we're about to discuss is in relation

36:50

to the Brittany Keltner account having

36:53

made that clear is there a logical

36:55

reason why someone would read Brittany's Facebook

36:57

message on her Brittany Keltner account less

37:00

than 24 hours after her last contact

37:02

with anyone the only

37:04

scenario that it makes sense to us is if

37:07

the person reading Sheldon's message accessed

37:09

it through Brittany's phone there

37:11

is one crucial question which

37:14

phone was it that accessed the message was

37:17

it her Samsung Galaxy

37:19

J337 that Brittany was using the night she disappeared

37:23

or wonder for previous devices the

37:25

LG Dynasty SP 200 or a Samsung

37:30

s327 if it turns out

37:32

to be Brittany's J337 then it's highly likely that

37:36

the person who accessed that message was involved

37:39

in her disappearance

37:40

however if

37:42

it was one of the other two devices we

37:44

need to know how this person gained access to Brittany's

37:47

Facebook account and if you had no

37:49

involvement in her disappearance I'm

37:51

sure you can provide a completely reasonable explanation

37:55

along with the help of an IT professional we

37:58

have extensively analyzed Brittany's Facebook data

38:00

download and have become familiar

38:02

with how to determine the type of device used

38:04

to access the account and

38:07

IP address that opened her Facebook message from

38:09

Sheldon on December 1st at 2

38:12

27 p.m. If

38:14

our investigation leads us back to the Samsung

38:17

S337 someone

38:19

is going to need a very compelling reason for

38:22

being in this account at this time

38:25

with that phone. On

38:30

the topic of knowledge and its impact on our lives

38:33

it is not the lack of awareness that possesses a

38:35

significant threat but rather it is

38:38

the knowledge we possess but choose to ignore

38:40

that can have the most debilitating consequences

38:44

not only for ourselves but for those

38:46

around us and those who are

38:48

desperate for the answers we hold. In

38:51

this regard power lies not in our ignorance

38:53

but in our refusal to acknowledge and confront

38:56

uncomfortable truths. This

38:59

crucial clarification sheds light on the fact that

39:01

our journey towards the truth is contingent upon

39:03

our willingness to do things that may be uncomfortable

39:07

even if only because we

39:10

know it's the right thing to do.

39:31

Would you like to show your support

39:33

for the hide and seek podcast? Find

39:35

our Instagram and Facebook page by searching

39:38

hide and seek

39:38

podcast. They can follow

39:41

to hear updates on past seasons as to become

39:43

available and stay up to date on

39:45

season 3. Find our discussion

39:47

group by searching hide and seek discussion

39:50

group on Facebook.

39:54

The hide and seek podcast is hosted,

39:57

directed, edited and

39:59

produced. by James Basinger.

40:03

Written,

40:03

edited, and produced

40:06

by Sarah

40:06

Zhou. Engineered,

40:08

mixed, and mastered by

40:10

Newdon's Audio Engineering. Director

40:14

of Photography is Ethan Schatz.

40:17

Our graphic design is created by Jordan

40:19

Robinson.

40:23

Special thanks to all those involved in

40:25

our ground team, to our Patreon

40:27

supporters. Thank you for helping

40:29

make our investigations possible.