0:00

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0:03

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Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple

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podcasts.

0:09

Some

0:20

people were unsure of

0:23

one thing from one day to the next, and their

0:25

stories changed, not a lot, but a little

0:27

bit. And I found that really weird, but

0:30

something so important. There's somebody missing.

0:32

Why they wouldn't just open up and just put

0:34

it all on the table and things, and it is

0:37

what it is. It never changes. The story never

0:39

changes. You tell the truth. Why

0:41

all these secrets? To me, if

0:43

my best friend left my house

0:45

and went missing, and somebody was out there actively

0:47

searching for him, I would go to them and say, hey,

0:49

is there anything I can do to help? This guy was my best

0:52

friend. He was at my house when he first

0:54

left, and this is what happened. But nobody

0:56

never offered that. I would probably have to go

0:58

get some kind of counseling if he would have left my house

1:00

and disappeared, because you couldn't have stopped me. I

1:02

would have lost my home and everything going

1:04

out searching for this guy. I would have felt obligated

1:07

to go searching for him, you know?

1:11

29-year-old Kevin Bass disappeared

1:13

from Milledgeville, Georgia, in the early morning

1:16

hours of May 27, 2020. Kevin

1:19

last spoke to a friend around 5 a.m.

1:22

and then disappeared. Someone thought

1:24

they may have seen Kevin walking on foot

1:26

around 5.30 a.m., but they couldn't

1:28

be certain that it was actually him. A

1:31

couple of friends said that Kevin had been at their

1:33

house the night before, and left early that

1:35

morning. Stories would later change,

1:38

and rumors of an affair surfaced, which

1:40

divided those who knew

1:41

Kevin into two camps, murder

1:43

and suicide. I'm Marissa, and

1:45

for MWNDERY, this is episode 416 of The Vanished.

1:50

Kevin Bass' Story.

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3:32

At 29 years old, Kevin

3:35

Bass didn't have much going on in his life.

3:38

He struggled with crippling anxiety

3:40

and some health issues.

3:41

Kevin lived in a building on his mom's property

3:44

where he spent many nights up late playing video

3:46

games and often went to hang out with some friends

3:49

who lived nearby. When we spoke

3:51

with Kevin's mom, Dana, she told us

3:53

about Kevin's early life. Dana

3:55

had Kevin after she had tragically lost

3:57

her firstborn son. Dana and

3:59

Kevin

3:59

developed a close bond and she always

4:02

watched over Kevin so closely because

4:04

after losing one child, she couldn't bear

4:07

the thought of losing another.

4:09

My first child, I lost

4:11

him at 27 weeks. Then

4:14

I had Kevin and then my

4:16

daughter, Tiffany.

4:17

So all I have right now is

4:20

my daughter, Tiffany. Kevin

4:22

was born really

4:24

sickly. His first year of

4:26

life, he probably spent more time

4:29

in the hospital than out, but

4:32

he was just the most sweetest

4:34

child. Kevin has always

4:38

been to his cell. Even

4:41

family get togethers

4:43

for holidays and stuff. And

4:46

was that way all the way until

4:48

he disappeared. He had four

4:50

or five close friends that lived

4:53

across the street from us. But

4:56

other than that,

4:57

he homeschooled.

5:00

When Kevin was a child, they could see

5:02

that he was shy and preferred to spend time

5:04

by himself over time spent with peers.

5:07

But as he grew older, this developed into

5:09

more of an issue in his life.

5:11

Kevin's dad and I got divorced

5:14

when he was like 10.

5:16

So it's been more me

5:18

and Kevin and Kevin's dad and

5:20

his sister.

5:21

It's

5:24

just the way that it's always

5:26

been.

5:27

But I mean, he told me

5:29

everything. Kevin and I,

5:31

we were best friends. I

5:33

mean, best friends.

5:35

We told

5:36

each other everything. He

5:38

never kept anything

5:40

from me. Even if he knew he was going

5:42

to get

5:43

in trouble, he still

5:45

told me.

5:46

We never could understand why

5:48

he was to his cell.

5:51

He did not do good

5:53

around a lot of people. You know, like

5:56

I said, even when he was young, six,

5:58

seven, he didn't.

5:59

didn't even want to go to restaurants

6:02

and eat Christmas dinner

6:04

or Thanksgiving or whatever with family.

6:06

He always had mama to take care of him.

6:09

When he first started kindergarten,

6:12

he was in a Christian

6:15

private school. He did okay

6:17

when his dad and I got divorced

6:20

and I moved an hour and a half

6:22

away. We couldn't afford it

6:24

and they had to go to public school. He

6:27

was so uptight about it. His

6:29

dad would, because he was staying with his dad

6:32

till the end of the school year, his dad

6:34

would wake him up and get him ready for

6:36

school and then go on to work. Kevin

6:38

would get underneath his bed and

6:40

go back to sleep. That's

6:42

when we got notified

6:45

that Kevin was not going to school.

6:48

He was probably about

6:51

middle school age. I

6:53

brought him to where I was at.

6:55

He was home schooled. He

6:57

did not graduate. With his

7:00

anxiety issues and stuff,

7:03

he worked on and off. He

7:05

might work seven, eight months

7:08

and then he wouldn't work for two years.

7:11

We also spoke with Kevin's father, David,

7:13

and he explained Kevin's anxiety from

7:16

his point of view and how it hampered Kevin's

7:18

ability to work and attend social functions.

7:21

When he was probably

7:24

around 10, we

7:25

had taken him to a

7:27

six-leg court and he

7:30

could not stand the crowd. We

7:32

found out when he got around, probably

7:35

around 10, was one of the last times

7:37

he went to a park with us. Then

7:40

as he got older, of course, he didn't want

7:42

to go or leave him home, but if

7:44

there's going to be a crowd

7:46

of people, he didn't want to do it. Even

7:49

going to a restaurant, we would have problems.

7:51

He would get upset, his stomach

7:53

was bothering and everything. It was

7:55

hard to get him away from home when we got

7:57

him to go away from home.

8:00

actually see a doctor. They

8:02

had to put him on medication. They could calm his nerves

8:05

and Dana and I both had worked

8:07

in the grocery business for years. For a period

8:10

of time, she was a customer service manager

8:12

working for Kroger and she

8:14

actually got him to work at

8:17

her store for a period of time as a bagger.

8:19

And he did real good, especially when

8:21

he was in the store, but of course the outside

8:23

heat would bother him. When he was

8:26

born, he was early too. They

8:28

all started out with issues when they were born

8:30

that early and we found out early on

8:32

that

8:33

he would stop breathing and so

8:35

we had to have him on a heart monitor to keep

8:37

up with whenever he would stop.

8:40

And we found out on the process he

8:42

had asthma so naturally

8:44

the heat would bother him. We had

8:46

to go through tooth and nail to get him to the

8:48

doctor to begin with and then

8:51

he told us not to

8:53

be able to keep a job or anything

8:56

very much because of his anxiety

8:58

being so bad.

8:59

Of course he grew up during that

9:01

time when the gaming started

9:04

out so he was a huge gaming

9:06

enthusiast and he also

9:09

enjoyed playing basketball. He actually

9:12

played the Little League Baseball one

9:14

season. He enjoyed fishing

9:16

when he got older.

9:18

Kevin's aunt Debbie, Dana's sister,

9:20

has fond memories from Kevin's childhood

9:23

but also recalls how much he struggled

9:25

with his anxiety. He

9:27

was a character. He was mischief

9:30

and he was a good kid.

9:32

He worshiped his mama, you know, of

9:34

course. He was the kind of person...he

9:37

grew into a great man. I mean he

9:39

would do anything for you. He was

9:41

awesome in that respect. He

9:43

was a homebody. I wish there could

9:46

have been

9:46

more that could have helped him.

9:48

His mom, my sister, you know, she has

9:50

tough problems and stuff. So he

9:53

was a homebody but he made friends.

9:55

I mean there was friends and everything

9:57

and then my two boys, they spent

9:59

time together. attitude. He loved to

10:01

fish or they would

10:23

do okay for a while and then situations

10:25

would arise that caused his anxiety to be

10:28

unbearable.

10:30

He was a cashier and a bagger

10:32

at Kroger at a grocery store. If

10:35

they wanted him to go and

10:36

work in the back

10:38

room, put stuff of it

10:41

in the back room, he had no problem at

10:43

all. But if it was

10:45

the day before Christmas or something

10:48

like that where the stores were just

10:50

jam-packed, he had to

10:52

be working off by himself.

10:55

He could not be

10:57

around a whole lot of people.

10:59

The last job he had, he operated

11:03

a machinery where he was

11:06

by himself. That was the last job

11:08

that he quit. He's like, Mama I can't.

11:10

He said, my anxiety is

11:13

just off the roof. I can't. And

11:15

I said, Son, if you don't go to work, they're

11:17

gonna let you go. He just said, Mama

11:20

I can't. He said, I just can't.

11:23

As far as relationships go, David

11:25

told us that Kevin had a couple of long-term relationships

11:28

that didn't end up panning out for him, which

11:30

only added to his loneliness.

11:33

He had two relationships that

11:36

was lasting. One

11:38

was his first girlfriend

11:41

and they stayed together for

11:43

quite a while. Well, her

11:45

grandfather worked at Lowe's and

11:48

there was a storage building that

11:50

sits behind our house.

11:52

Her grandparents converted into

11:54

a studio appointment for them. So

11:56

he had his own little domain

11:59

where he could stay.

11:59

As a matter of fact, I'm sitting there right

12:02

now so I can be away from the TVs and the dogs

12:04

inside the house.

12:06

It's pretty much, it's still everything

12:08

his is still in here.

12:11

This building that David says he was speaking to

12:13

us from was the building that Kevin's

12:15

former girlfriend's grandparents had converted

12:17

into a home for them. This is where

12:20

Kevin was living when he disappeared.

12:22

After that relationship had ended, he was

12:24

with another woman named Ashton who

12:27

was a teen mother when they decided to start dating.

12:30

And then he had another girlfriend

12:33

Ashton who had a son.

12:36

They would gather for a long, long,

12:39

long time. Her son was

12:41

really young when they met and so Kevin

12:44

raised him so they broke up and all.

12:47

But after that he didn't

12:49

have any

12:51

relationships. He just

12:53

had friends. And of

12:54

course he spent a lot of time with his

12:56

games and online gaming

12:59

and I'm sure he had friends from there.

13:02

But with the things I did, that was his

13:04

way of getting out

13:06

as far as

13:08

socializing with without having

13:10

to get out of the house.

13:12

We also spoke to Ashton and though

13:14

their relationship had ended years before Kevin

13:17

went missing, they remained friends. They

13:19

actually spoke to Kevin on the morning of his

13:22

disappearance which we will get to later.

13:24

Ashton was able to tell us more about

13:26

Kevin from her perspective as a friend

13:29

and former partner.

13:31

I actually went to school with Kevin. I didn't

13:33

really start talking to Kevin. I

13:35

actually knew the girl he was dating at the time.

13:38

And he was homeschooled because of his kidney issues

13:40

so he'd only come and turn in his work all Friday.

13:43

And then me and Kevin actually started

13:45

talking after I had my first

13:47

child. I was 16 so I actually

13:50

started talking to Kevin after Landon was born.

13:52

We had some of the same friend group

13:55

though but we didn't actually hang

13:57

out a lot. I was in a few grades

13:59

below him.

14:00

He was very sweet.

14:01

Like when you first met him, he was

14:03

very sweet. He was very caring. He

14:06

tried to help everybody and He

14:08

would try to make you laugh. But again, it comes

14:10

with anxiety and depression You feel

14:12

really crappy and you know how bad it feels so

14:15

you don't want anybody else to feel that way He

14:17

was also really good with my son. He

14:19

really liked cars any reptile

14:22

honestly

14:23

He really had this whole thing where

14:25

he wanted to be a YouTube creator

14:28

too since he played video games a lot He

14:30

wanted a live stream on YouTube and

14:32

he really didn't hurt anybody Mine

14:34

and Kevin's problem the whole time

14:37

we were dating is

14:38

they didn't want me to work because I was still in high

14:40

school I was still trying to get my high school diploma

14:43

Dana wanted me to stay home with

14:45

Landon and do school Kevin

14:47

was supposed to be the one going and working

14:49

Kevin would maybe have a job for like three

14:51

or four days and then he'd come home saying

14:54

his anxiety was too bad and that He couldn't

14:56

go back to work. So there's a lot of trauma

14:58

behind Kevin And I loved

15:01

Kevin to death. I really tried

15:03

we would fight and he had a

15:05

little bit of a Abandonment

15:07

issue and I don't really know where that comes

15:09

from exactly when we'd fight He

15:12

would never try to put his hands on me. He would never throw

15:14

anything at me or anything like that

15:16

And the bad thing is this exactly really was

15:19

that bad We went to go see Deadpool

15:21

on Valentine's Day because we were still together And

15:24

he kept having to get up and leave in

15:26

the middle of the movie because he would

15:28

start shaking

15:30

By May of 2020 Kevin

15:32

was single again and living in his own little

15:34

abode on his mother's property Kevin's

15:37

aunt Debbie told us what his days were like around

15:39

this time in his life

15:41

He stayed around the house pretty much But

15:43

he had a

15:44

couple of friends that were down the street that he

15:46

would go to but

15:46

he wouldn't go into town I couldn't

15:49

get him to come see me or anything like that

15:51

Dana and I are

15:53

close so, you know I would go to her

15:55

house and we'll go, you know on

15:57

vacation

15:58

together and everything We just couldn't get

18:00

And this was like about seven

18:02

o'clock that night. And

18:05

I said, something is not right

18:07

because he would have

18:10

got up and went to the bathroom sometime during

18:12

the day and reached out to me. So

18:16

I called one of his friends

18:18

that lives maybe about six houses

18:21

down. And I said, hey, can you go down to the

18:23

house and wake Kevin up, tell him to

18:25

call me so I can talk to

18:27

him for a minute. And he was

18:29

like, sure, no problem. So then

18:32

I get a phone

18:34

call back. He says,

18:37

Miss Dana, Kevin's not here. And

18:39

I said, what do you mean? And he said, he's

18:42

not here. He's not in the house. He's not

18:44

in the cabin. And I said,

18:46

is this car there? And he said, yeah,

18:49

his car is here. He said, in

18:51

fact, his

18:52

keys to the cabin

18:55

are on the picnic table right

18:57

outside his door, and the cabin

18:59

door, which we could only lock

19:01

the cabin from the outside. If

19:04

we were inside, we could lock it. And

19:06

I don't know how in the world I didn't see

19:09

those keys on the table. And

19:11

I was like, are you positive? Are

19:13

you positive? And he said, Yes, ma'am. He

19:15

said, I am. He said, I went through

19:17

the cabin. I went through the house. He said,

19:19

the keys are on the table. The car

19:22

is where it's supposed to be. And

19:24

Kevin is not here. So he

19:27

said, do you want me to go

19:29

ahead and call the police

19:31

department? And

19:33

I said, please do that. I'm on

19:36

my way back now. Kevin's car

19:39

was left in the driveway. His

19:41

wallet, I mean, everything.

19:43

There was nothing went with Kevin except

19:46

for the clothes on his back.

19:49

After this call with Kevin's friend, Dana

19:51

decided to cancel her surgery and rush

19:53

home to Millageville to search for Kevin.

19:56

So I came back, which

19:59

was like the 30 minutes and when I got back,

20:02

I mean, it was like

20:04

the biggest party around. There

20:06

were cars everywhere. The

20:09

police department was here. So

20:11

I can't close my surgery and

20:14

we started going from there. And

20:16

that's where they decided

20:19

that his phone was missing.

20:22

The guy Jason that lived

20:25

six houses down, I sent up here. He

20:28

started calling everybody at the tail apart

20:30

saying, have y'all seen Kevin? Have y'all

20:32

seen Kevin? Do

20:44

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26:00

and this is information that was shared with police

26:02

on day one. The report states

26:05

the following,

26:06

in 5-27-2020 I

26:09

was dispatched to Colony Farm Road

26:11

in reference to a missing person.

26:13

I made contact with Dana Bass who

26:15

stated her son, Kevin, hasn't

26:18

been seen or heard from since 5-30 am on 5-27-2020.

26:23

Dana stated it was very unlike Kevin

26:26

to not answer her phone calls. Dana

26:28

stated Kevin was last seen with Melissa. Dana

26:31

stated Kevin has a history of depression

26:33

and takes Xanax.

26:34

We will discuss in further detail who Melissa

26:37

is in a moment and we have chosen not

26:39

to include her last name for her privacy.

26:41

But as a brief explanation, Melissa

26:44

was a friend of Kevin's who lived nearby. He

26:46

would often spend time with Melissa and her partner

26:49

TJ. It wasn't unusual for

26:51

Kevin to spend the evenings over at their home.

26:54

The report goes on to state the following, I

26:56

made contact with Melissa. Melissa

26:59

stated Kevin was at her house drinking late

27:01

into the

27:01

morning of 5-27-2020.

27:04

Melissa stated Kevin left her

27:06

residence around 4-30 am. Melissa

27:09

stated Kevin called her at 5-30 am

27:11

and reminded her to wake her husband up for work.

27:14

Melissa stated she also got a text

27:16

from Kevin thanking her for hanging

27:18

out with him. Melissa stated

27:20

she received a few texts from Kevin

27:23

that appeared to be meant for someone else. Melissa

27:26

stated the texts seemed like Kevin was talking

27:28

to someone else about her. Melissa

27:30

stated Kevin was telling someone to just let

27:33

it happen. Melissa believes Kevin

27:35

may have been referring to suicide. Verizon

27:38

was able to ping Kevin's phone. The

27:40

phone was pinging near the Oconee River Bridge

27:43

on the outbound side of the Fall Line Freeway.

27:46

Sergeant Roberts and I searched the area

27:48

and had negative results. Kevin

27:50

was last seen wearing a red slash maroon

27:52

Deadpool shirt with an old camo hat

27:55

and possibly shorts. Kevin Bess

27:57

was entered into GCIC as

27:59

missing. Dana explained what she

28:01

was told by police about the story Melissa

28:04

had told them initially when they spoke

28:06

with her after Kevin had disappeared. The

28:09

girl

28:10

told the sheriff's department

28:13

that Kevin was telling her

28:15

that night Kevin and her

28:17

talked about would you

28:19

still go to heaven if you committed

28:22

suicide and stuff like this.

28:24

The night he disappeared

28:26

evidently he was last seen at 5.30 that morning.

28:30

He supposedly called

28:33

them to wake the boyfriend

28:35

up to get ready for work because

28:38

they stayed they hung out evidently

28:40

at the trailer all night and that's

28:43

when she was telling the detectives

28:46

that he was talking about suicide.

28:49

She was at work at

28:51

that time. She left work.

28:53

She was here when I got here and

28:56

she had talked to the sheriff's

28:58

department and I

29:00

guess that's where she was telling

29:03

them that he was at her house

29:05

the night before. He left at 4.30. She

29:08

was going to bed and he was

29:10

gonna call at 5.30 and make sure that her

29:13

boyfriend was up so he could get ready

29:16

to go to work. So I guess that's

29:18

where it was found

29:20

out that she was the person that

29:22

had the last contact with

29:25

him.

29:26

With the concern that Kevin had left on foot

29:28

and was possibly suicidal, they immediately

29:31

began searching the area surrounding his home.

29:35

We had Georgia State Patrol

29:38

helicopter flying over.

29:40

We had the dogs come from

29:42

Augusta, Georgia. We had divers.

29:46

We had boats. We had a sonar

29:49

at Kevin's favorite place

29:52

at Lake that he liked to fish

29:54

and stuff like that. They pinged

29:56

his phone they said

29:59

within a

29:59

a five to 10 mile

30:03

it pinged from that morning

30:05

that he disappeared. It

30:07

did not quit pinging until

30:10

that evening. I guess when the battery

30:12

went dead,

30:13

we have

30:15

searched the sheriff here.

30:17

He is so wonderful.

30:20

I mean, he knew Kevin and

30:22

he told me, Ms. Bass,

30:25

he said anything, anything you

30:27

need at all. All you do is

30:29

you let me know and I'll make sure I give

30:32

it to you.

30:33

David told us about a tip that came in early

30:36

on. Someone thought they had seen Kevin

30:38

walking on a road nearby on the morning

30:40

that he vanished.

30:42

Very early, like within a

30:44

day, as low as up Kevin,

30:46

there's a highway not too far

30:49

from the house, less than five minutes

30:51

drive time. Of

30:52

course, if he was on foot, it would take longer. But

30:55

there

30:55

was a record driver driving across

30:58

that highway one morning. I think

31:00

it was my daughter and her husband

31:02

went down to his house because

31:05

he said he thought he saw somebody

31:07

that looked like Kevin on the side

31:10

of the road that morning. It would have been the

31:12

morning that he supposedly went

31:14

and missed, but he

31:16

wasn't positive it was Kevin

31:19

because I think he said that

31:21

he had a camouflage or

31:23

something I had or whatever. But

31:25

we also found out

31:27

that Kevin had supposedly had on

31:30

a certain t-shirt when he went missing.

31:32

And then later I found the t-shirt on the

31:34

floor in his apartment. So we knew

31:36

he didn't have on the clothes that we were out originally

31:39

looking for him in.

31:41

This sighting is unconfirmed and

31:43

Dana believes it may have been someone else that

31:45

the person saw because Kevin had

31:47

distinctive tattoos and the witness

31:50

didn't recall the man having tattoos.

31:52

And it also would have been out of character for Kevin

31:55

to be out walking

31:56

because he wasn't known

31:57

to walk anywhere due to his health issues.

31:59

Veena said that he

32:00

even opted to drive a short distance

32:02

to the mailbox because of this.

32:05

We searched

32:07

a 10 mile radius all

32:10

the way in a circle around

32:12

the house. We never

32:14

found anything. He

32:16

would have had to have walked, took

32:19

off on foot to wherever

32:22

he was going. With his asthma,

32:25

I don't see it. Now I'm not saying it can't

32:27

be done, but I just, I don't see it. Like

32:29

I said, his cabin was right in the

32:32

back of the house. I could say, son,

32:34

will you go to the mailbox and get the

32:36

mail? The mail wouldn't even

32:38

be maybe 20 steps. And

32:42

he'd say, I got to go get my car.

32:45

It's too hot. I had to be walking out there.

32:48

As the days were on with no trace of

32:50

Kevin popping up at any of the searches,

32:52

Dana began to think about conversations

32:55

she recently had with her son. And she

32:57

remembered something he had said that struck

32:58

her as odd.

33:00

Maybe three, four weeks before

33:04

he disappeared, we were just talking

33:06

about, I don't know, I guess everything

33:08

and anything.

33:10

And he made the mention to

33:12

me. He said, mama, if

33:15

anybody ever tells you I committed

33:17

suicide, you better check

33:20

into it because I'm too chicken

33:22

to do anything like that. And

33:25

then four weeks later, here

33:27

we go. And the

33:30

people he was last seen with are

33:32

the people that they called

33:34

them and had them come to the station

33:37

for interview. Those were the ones

33:39

that said

33:40

he was last seen at 5 30 that morning.

33:43

And they

33:45

told the detectives that

33:48

he talked all night about committing

33:51

suicide.

33:52

He didn't want to be alive anymore.

33:55

It just went against everything

33:57

that Kevin and I had talked about.

34:01

Dana also remembered something that was

34:04

happening. He said, I need to tell you something.

34:08

And

34:15

I said, okay, what is it? And

34:18

he said, I have been sleeping

34:21

with Melissa, which is the

34:23

best friend that live across

34:25

the street. And I said, son,

34:28

I said, you have really got

34:30

to stop. Remember this is

34:32

you got to stop. And needless

34:35

to say, that's the last place

34:38

he was seen that

34:40

night from what I was told.

34:43

Now this is told to me by Kevin. So

34:45

I don't know. But Kevin told

34:47

me that she was putting

34:50

Xanax in his teeth at

34:52

the time

34:53

her boyfriend's teeth before

34:55

he went to bed. And then

34:57

he slept all night. And then her and

34:59

Kevin hung out all night.

35:02

And then he got up in the morning and

35:04

went to work. From what I'm told, they

35:06

were having an affair. And that's

35:09

what they were doing. I was thinking,

35:12

okay, the Xanax didn't

35:14

work. The guy woke up, walked

35:16

in the living room, caught him in the act.

35:19

Things went too far. This is

35:21

my opinion. After Kevin

35:24

disappeared, they moved out of

35:26

the trailer park, got married,

35:28

bought a house. So they're

35:30

not even around anymore.

35:33

Every year on the anniversary

35:36

of his disappearance, we

35:38

have the TV station, one

35:40

of the news stations come and

35:42

do interviews with me. And

35:46

what was so weird

35:48

this last time, because this was the third

35:51

year when they came and interviewed

35:54

me, and it's the first

35:56

time that I said, did

35:59

not mention. names. I said

36:02

Kevin was having an affair. I

36:04

think it went too far and that sat,

36:06

you know, no names or nothing. The

36:09

very next day, I

36:11

got a private message

36:13

from the boyfriend slash

36:16

husband telling me how

36:19

him and Kevin were best friends

36:22

and you know, and he loved me and

36:25

he would never do anything to hurt

36:27

him or anything. And I'm sitting there thinking to myself,

36:30

nobody said anything about you. We

36:33

have no idea if Kevin and Melissa were

36:35

actually having an affair. We only

36:37

know what others have told us that Kevin said to

36:39

them. Several people that we spoke

36:41

to expressed that Kevin's friend group had

36:44

been tightlipped about his disappearance and

36:46

they can't understand why. If they

36:48

believe Kevin ended his life back in May

36:51

of 2020, why so much silence?

36:54

Dana said one of Kevin's other friends made

36:56

a strange statement to police without much

36:58

context or explanation. The

37:01

other person that

37:03

was real good friends with them,

37:06

they were all, you know, in this friends

37:08

in this trailer park but when the

37:10

detective went and talked to her,

37:13

he actually went to her house and talked

37:15

to her and she told him

37:18

she did not know anything and

37:21

basically her and her husband

37:23

went to work early in the morning. So

37:26

they, you know, were already in

37:28

bed. But the detective told me

37:30

he turned around and was walking

37:33

back to his vehicle. She called

37:36

his name and when he turned around,

37:38

she said to him, Kevin did

37:41

not commit suicide. That's

37:43

all she would say. She would not say anything

37:45

else. There's like five of

37:47

them that were just so close together.

37:50

I think, again,

37:53

my opinion, but my thing is,

37:55

I think if she does know something that

37:58

she found out after

37:59

the fact

38:01

and she doesn't know what to

38:03

do with it. He said that

38:05

he asked her what does she mean by

38:07

that and she said that's all I'm saying.

38:09

I do not know what happened to

38:12

Kevin. He said it just

38:14

sent shivers down his spine

38:16

because she was so adamant

38:19

to the whole time they talked

38:21

and then when he's leaving she's gonna

38:24

call his name and say Kevin

38:26

did not commit suicide and then that

38:28

was it. When

38:29

we spoke with Kevin's ex Ashton

38:32

she told us that she had actually spoken to Kevin

38:35

around the time that he disappeared.

38:37

She believes that she's the last person to speak

38:39

to Kevin and he did seem down that

38:41

morning. I

38:43

tried to give Kevin somebody to talk to

38:45

if he didn't have anybody. I was the last

38:47

person he talked to so I had to take my phone

38:49

to the sheriff's department and the whole nine yards

38:52

and they went through my phone. I talked to them

38:54

and then they let me leave and all that.

38:56

I had to send screenshots. I was sitting

38:58

there with him and he was like why don't

39:01

you think he killed himself? He made plans

39:03

with me and Landon that morning.

39:06

That's the only reason I didn't fully believe

39:08

any of it because he broke

39:10

down to me that night and was crying telling

39:12

me he couldn't have kids and that he was sorry

39:14

he was so mean to me and he felt

39:17

like he fucked up his chance of having

39:19

a family because he felt like he ran me and

39:21

Landon off. So I honestly told him I

39:23

would bring Landon over the next morning no

39:26

matter the outcome of what happens I was like we're

39:28

probably not gonna get back together. If

39:30

you want something to do with Landon, because

39:32

Landon at one point did call him daddy, dude

39:35

if you want something to do with Landon I was like I'll bring

39:37

him over there tomorrow we can go fishing

39:39

because he was talking about how he missed going fishing

39:41

with Landon. That's why I tried to get them to

39:43

keep going to that one pond because in the

39:45

conversation he brought up well

39:48

he was like you want to go to that one spot

39:50

that we normally go to and it was only a

39:52

spot that he and him would go and then I was

39:54

trying to show these people on Google Maps.

39:57

This is where y'all need to go look this is the pond

39:59

he brought up.

39:59

up when he was talking to me.

40:01

He was like crying to me on the phone.

40:03

Okay, and Kevin don't cry. Apparently,

40:06

according to him, nobody was even showing

40:08

him any attention before he disappeared. You

40:11

can honestly go look at his Facebook. You

40:13

can see how many people have told him happy

40:15

birthday. He honestly, this is what

40:17

got me that night. It upset me so much. And

40:19

he said, Ashton, I give it six months,

40:22

and nobody's gonna remember anymore. And

40:24

then he said Tiffany got caught up with

40:27

her kids, which is a normal mom

40:29

thing to do. But I get him having depression.

40:31

So it triggered it. Because him and Tiffany

40:34

were really close. Tiffany didn't have time for him anymore.

40:36

She's trying to raise babies. And it could honestly

40:39

went either way. I took my

40:41

phone up to the sheriff's department. They checked

40:43

everything they possibly could in my phone. They

40:46

know exactly where I was at all point in

40:48

times of that night. When he got off the phone

40:50

with me, he did say he was going back over to

40:52

Melissa's and TJ.

40:54

Ashton had spoken with Kevin early on

40:56

the morning of his disappearance. And she

40:58

recalls him saying that he planned to go back to Melissa's.

41:01

Could Kevin have returned there that morning? Or

41:04

was he so distraught that he ended his life shortly

41:06

after the call with Ashton? Ashton

41:08

remembers that day when she had made plans to

41:10

meet up with Kevin, but she couldn't find him.

41:13

She wasn't living in Millitrill at the time,

41:15

but she was in town that day.

41:18

I called him that morning because

41:21

like I said, we were supposed to, I was supposed to hang

41:23

out with him that day. So I went to Millitrill.

41:26

I waited all day. I called him like two or three

41:28

times. I figured he had been sleeping

41:30

because he had been up all depressed. I did

41:32

not get off the phone with him till like five o'clock that morning and

41:35

I went to sleep. So that's why I figured he was sleeping

41:37

honestly. So I called him that morning

41:39

when he told me to his phone

41:41

ring, went to voicemail. I think

41:44

I left him a voicemail. I can't remember.

41:46

That was a little far back and I was

41:48

on the way back to Macon, which is where I

41:50

lived at the time. And Jason calls

41:52

me and I was honestly on the fall

41:54

line, freeway headed back to Macon already. And

41:57

he was like, Hey, I can't find Kevin.

42:00

kid over here looks a little suchy. Have

42:02

you heard from Kevin?" And I was like, no, I haven't heard from

42:04

Kevin. I was like, what do you mean? I was

42:06

supposed to have plans with him. I was like, dude, I'm in the military

42:09

right now. And he was like, oh, for real? Why

42:11

did you tell anybody you were here? And blah, blah, blah. I was

42:13

like, because I didn't want anybody knowing I was here. And

42:16

then he was like, well, Kevin's missing, blah, blah, blah,

42:18

blah, blah. And I was like, dude, I'm literally

42:20

about to hit the exit to come to

42:22

Colony Farm Road, the road they live on

42:24

off the fall line. I was like, I'll

42:26

be there in like maybe five, six minutes. As soon as I

42:28

got there, the sheriff's officer

42:31

was there. I tried to show him the text

42:33

messages. He didn't pay me any attention.

42:35

He didn't care.

42:36

I really wanted to believe that

42:38

he didn't kill himself, honestly, because

42:40

of the fact that he was supposed to spend time with

42:42

Landon. He honestly missed Landon

42:44

and whatnot. And honestly,

42:46

he was really, really, really, really drunk. So

42:49

there's no telling what happened. He'd

42:51

have to be in a really good mindset

42:54

for him to be a happy drunk. And

42:56

he was also easier to trigger when

42:59

he was drinking, as long as your

43:01

bud stayed good his would. But

43:03

if you got upset about something, he'd

43:06

get upset about something. You got

43:08

pissed off about something. He was getting pissed

43:10

off about it too. When they were like,

43:12

Oh, I don't think Kevin killed himself. I was like,

43:14

you know, he did have that long drawn

43:17

out conversation with me about how he was

43:19

still in love with me. And I was like, and then

43:21

he wanted to see Landon. And I was going to let

43:23

him see Landon the next day. We were going to talk about

43:25

everything and everything. Maybe they're right. Maybe

43:27

he didn't kill himself. Maybe somebody killed

43:30

him. They could honestly go either way.

43:32

And that's because I know, I know him as

43:34

a person. I know him as a

43:36

person. I know his situation. And

43:39

I was also with him for like, almost

43:42

four years. By that point in time, you do

43:44

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43:44

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45:34

We also spoke to a man who had helped with

45:36

the search efforts for Kevin. He doesn't

45:38

want any recognition and frankly

45:40

didn't even want us to use his real name. So

45:42

we're going to call him Brad. He said

45:45

that he and his son stepped up to help after

45:47

hearing of Kevin's disappearance.

45:50

My wife was on Facebook one

45:52

day and she saw Dana

45:54

on there begging for someone you know, for

45:56

people to come try to help find her son.

45:59

I've never done anything.

45:59

before my wife was telling

46:02

me about it that night. The night it went missing,

46:04

I said, I'll go, it's local to

46:06

me, and I'll walk and look to whatever I

46:08

could do. Me and my son both got involved in

46:10

it, and we got into the drone

46:12

deals and doing a lot of searching with drones and stuff.

46:15

We looked pretty steadily, probably

46:18

six to eight months. Probably after about

46:20

a year,

46:21

we finally just pretty much just

46:23

gave up. We were on a fairly strong

46:25

for several months straight,

46:27

but it was like we were the only ones out,

46:30

looking for them, or trying to find

46:32

any answers. Nobody came forward

46:34

from anything, anything we found out. We had

46:36

to dig and prod again. It was kind of strange,

46:39

the whole deal.

46:40

As far as with different people involved and things

46:42

like that, like his friends and stuff,

46:44

but I never, none of them never

46:46

came to me and talked to me, none

46:48

of them never helped us search or anything

46:51

like that.

46:51

They were all real standoffish. All

46:54

of his friends knew that me and my son

46:56

were actively out there searching.

46:58

They wouldn't even come around me. I went over to

47:00

Dana's house one time. They were having

47:02

like

47:03

a green for Kevin, a search, where

47:06

a lot of people were supposed to be coming to volunteer,

47:08

and as soon as I get there,

47:10

people start leaving, and it was really weird.

47:13

Brad explained that at first, they

47:15

were going off of that sighting of Kevin, and

47:18

then later, phone pings that the police department

47:20

had shown them.

47:22

Somebody said that they had saw him early

47:24

that morning, walking.

47:26

They saw him on a road off of Following Freeway

47:28

that morning, walking, and we searched

47:31

all up and down that road also,

47:32

on foot and with drones, nothing.

47:35

We never knew nothing about the phone

47:37

pings until months later. The phone

47:39

pings that I saw,

47:41

nothing went up that road. It went straight from

47:43

their road to the Following Freeway, and

47:46

it looked like it kind of went right a little bit,

47:48

but then it went straight towards the Oconee River,

47:50

and I only saw four pings. The

47:52

way it is where Dana lives at, you

47:55

can come to the end of that road, and

47:57

you take a right, and I think you take another

47:59

right, and you end it. up on the Fall Line Freeway. The

48:02

road he said he saw him on is like straight

48:04

across. When you get to the highway, the

48:06

phone ping that I saw, there was nothing on that road.

48:08

We got off to a late start with it

48:10

because we were looking in one place and the phone

48:13

had last pinged 10 miles away from

48:15

there. It stopped pinging at

48:17

the Oconee River and Fall Line Freeway

48:19

in some woods. It came out of

48:22

the road they live on, onto the Fall Line

48:24

Freeway, and then it kind

48:26

of went to the right and it looks

48:28

like it kind of turned around, but they said he

48:30

walked, but it was like 10 miles away.

48:33

Then it pinged every so often

48:36

up until you got to the Oconee River, and in the

48:38

woods, just before the river, it pinged there.

48:40

That's where the phone went dead at. So

48:43

the Sheriff's Department said. I

48:45

had a K-9 search happen

48:48

at the forest. I got in touch

48:50

with some people and had them bring cadaver

48:52

dogs out and search the National

48:54

Forest where they were thinking he was at. Because

48:56

what happened with the phone pings, they

48:59

said it could be within like a five mile radius

49:01

of where the phone pinged at, that it was

49:03

not an exact location. So

49:06

they were all leaning towards a place called

49:08

Barstrom Forest. When

49:10

I first saw it, that's where the news and all it was.

49:13

People were out there searching for him there. It's

49:15

on the other side of the Fall Line

49:17

Freeway Highway, before

49:19

you get to the river, which would have

49:21

put it in a five mile radius of

49:24

the last ping. So it would have been a possibility

49:26

at the five mile radius, if that's correct. It

49:29

was not definitely at that exact point.

49:31

It could be within a five mile radius from the

49:33

tower that it last pinged off of, is

49:35

what he told me. It's a good way from

49:37

his home. It would be a really good

49:40

walk. I would say it probably would

49:42

have been in a car if I had to guess, but I don't

49:44

know. I think it was 7.30 that evening

49:47

that he went missing that night. I think it

49:49

went dead at 7.30. It didn't communicate

49:51

back with Google or whatever. And I think

49:53

up until that point, it was doing it every 30 minutes

49:55

or every hour. It also showed

49:58

it across the highway. way one

50:01

time. When it stayed there, it

50:03

was at the location it was when I saw it. And

50:05

then he said the next one was across

50:07

the road and then it was back at that same location.

50:10

The location that it showed, I can assure

50:12

you 110% I stood right there. Me

50:15

and my son both, we stood exactly where it

50:17

was on the map. And we searched that whole

50:19

area. We didn't find no glasses, no

50:21

boots, no phone, no clothes. But

50:24

the area where the phone pinged

50:26

shows where it quit communicating, a

50:29

big flood came through there before

50:31

we were able to get there. And so

50:34

it had washed away big stuff.

50:36

If his body was there, where that phone

50:39

quit communicating that, you know, everybody lives

50:41

around and I said that it washes everything to

50:43

those Coney Rivers from there. And we

50:45

went through the whole deal. But there was

50:47

waterline on the trees, probably seven foot

50:50

tall. So if his body

50:52

would have been there, it wouldn't have been there

50:54

when we got there. I got these cadaver

50:56

dogs to go search the barking floor for him. They

50:59

put them dogs in a John boat in a lake.

51:01

And the dogs kept trying to jump out of the boat. And

51:03

this is a real deal outfit. We

51:06

got divers and all that come back out there. See all these

51:08

plums and all that alligators and stuff. But we were

51:11

able to get a diver to come out there and where

51:13

the dogs were hitting on it and all the dogs

51:15

hit on the same area, not just one or two,

51:17

all of them.

51:19

The topic of Kevin's phone pings has

51:21

caused a lot of frustration and confusion.

51:24

They seem to point to Kevin's phone being miles

51:26

away from his home. But since they lived

51:28

in such a rural area, the pings

51:30

aren't very accurate. Brad said that

51:33

he and Dana sat down one day and

51:35

went over Kevin's call log from his phone

51:37

and he couldn't make sense of it.

51:40

They told me it was that night that

51:42

he went missing that he was at her house, that

51:44

he left from her house and disappeared. But on

51:46

the phone records, she was calling

51:49

him on the phone, texting him on the phone.

51:51

And if he was at her house, why would she have been doing

51:53

that? That doesn't make sense. I got

51:55

the call logs. And that's how

51:57

I'm telling you that Melissa was on

52:00

his phone and her husband called his phone. And

52:02

that was really, really strange. I

52:04

sat on the front porch over at Dana's house

52:07

and Dana knows all these people and all their phone

52:10

numbers, all his friends. I went over to call

52:12

with Dana and she wrote down the terms

52:15

and who it was that was actually calling his phone

52:17

or who called from his phone to them and

52:19

how long they talked. This was weeks

52:22

afterwards when I got the phone

52:24

records. And I was told that

52:27

her and him had had an affair before. Supposedly

52:30

Kevin and her was over there drinking that night. It

52:32

doesn't make sense to me why Dana told me

52:34

that Kevin was too lazy to walk through the mailbox

52:37

of why he would have pulled his car in the driveway

52:40

and threw the keys on the table outside

52:42

of his front door and walked away.

52:45

It was said when I first got involved

52:47

that he went over there, I think he

52:50

went over there around nine or something that

52:52

they said, I do know that when

52:54

this first happened, Melissa said, she didn't

52:56

say anything to me because I've never spoken to her. But

52:59

she told Dana on a text message that Dana

53:01

screenshot and sent to me that

53:03

Kevin was really drunk when

53:06

he was at her house. She had only

53:08

drunk a little bit, if anything, because

53:10

she had to be at work the next morning. Well then

53:12

about a month or two later, I got

53:15

Dana to ask that question again,

53:17

and what time he left

53:19

for sure. And she told Dana that she

53:21

had been drinking a lot and that she

53:23

didn't go to work the next day. So I don't know

53:26

who knows. That's what I'm saying. It's just little things

53:28

like that. I found little discrepancies

53:30

all along the way. It didn't make sense. They

53:33

said that he was supposed to call Melissa's

53:36

boyfriend TJ to wake him

53:38

up to go to work at like six o'clock that morning.

53:41

But that guy, TJ called his phone. It

53:43

was little things back and forth. Him

53:45

calling them, them calling him all night long. And

53:47

he's supposed to be at their house. That don't make sense. It's

53:50

really weird. While

53:51

speaking with Brad, he also mentioned

53:54

something strange that he found with Kevin's laptop

53:56

that was left behind. I'll

53:58

tell you something else that was really odd. Kevin

54:01

had a laptop at his house and that

54:03

he played like games on and stuff like that and my

54:05

son is very computer savvy. That

54:07

laptop had been wiped clean

54:10

that night at like 10 o'clock, 10 30 that

54:13

night and went in and deleted everything

54:15

off of the laptop which didn't make no sense.

54:18

He was on that computer. It

54:20

was wiped clean. There was even an SD

54:22

card in the side of that computer

54:24

and my son didn't take it out and look at it when we

54:26

were over there and I called Dana when I got

54:28

home and I said hey take that SD card out

54:31

and put it in and see if there's anything that comes

54:33

up on it and it didn't. That was another

54:35

problem I had was what it showed on

54:37

that laptop versus the time she said

54:39

he was at her house because somebody

54:42

somebody was at his house on that laptop

54:44

and deleted everything off that

54:46

laptop during the time that

54:48

it was said he was at her house. Whenever

54:51

my son went through it and saw the

54:53

time that somebody deleted everything off

54:55

through all the profiles off computer and everything

54:57

they even deleted the games off of that he used to play.

55:00

That during that time Melissa said he was at

55:02

her house. He never left and went back

55:04

home and then another time I think she said

55:06

he could have left and went back home she didn't remember.

55:08

So he would have had to left her house and come

55:10

back home and delete everything off his computer and

55:12

then go back to her house to leave and cop

55:15

up missing. You see what I'm saying?

55:17

Brad accompanied Dana to the sheriff's office

55:19

on several occasions

55:21

and he said that the investigator

55:22

is convinced that Kevin took his own life

55:25

and they simply haven't found him. I

55:28

went down to the sheriff's department several times with

55:30

Dana and talked to him with her and

55:32

they told me everything that I asked him that

55:34

I wanted just like nobody just didn't know anything

55:37

you know that's what it was like. He's convinced

55:39

me on the shadow of a doubt that Kevin committed

55:41

suicide and he doesn't want to be found

55:43

and he may have I don't know

55:46

but if that's the case why all this

55:48

secrecy and why this standoff

55:51

is for me because I was only trying to help. If

55:53

someone went out to commit suicide

55:55

while they went through such a big ordeal

55:57

you know to make sure nobody found them I don't understand it.

56:00

And none of it made sense. He said, I didn't

56:02

start doing this just now. I've been doing this for years

56:05

and years. And I know what I'm talking

56:07

about. I've seen similar situations before.

56:09

This guy didn't wanna be found and he didn't wanna

56:11

live anymore. I mean, that's just the way it is. He's

56:14

convinced of that. He is 110% convinced

56:17

this guy took his own life.

56:19

Kevin's father, David, expressed a lot

56:21

of confusion over the timeline of events

56:24

because the stories have changed and didn't

56:26

seem to add up about where Kevin was that

56:28

night and into the early morning.

56:31

We were told that

56:33

he was last seen at Melissa

56:35

and TJ's that he had been there the whole

56:38

night. So that's all we had to go

56:40

on to start with.

56:42

Of course, we found out different.

56:44

I mean, there was all kinds of rumors going

56:46

on around. It came out after

56:49

the fact. One of the things

56:51

that we found out that Ashton,

56:55

he was supposedly at TJ and Melissa's

56:57

until like 5.30 that

56:59

morning. And that was what

57:02

we were going on. Then that

57:04

story changed. That we found

57:06

out Kevin was actually in his apartment

57:09

at that time that he

57:12

was on the phone. Well,

57:15

Melissa was supposedly the last ones that had

57:17

talked to him. And then we found

57:19

out later that he had actually talked to Ashton

57:22

after he had talked to Melissa. Ashton

57:24

told us he was at home when

57:27

he was on the phone, but he had told

57:29

her whatever time around 5.30, whatever,

57:32

that he was getting ready to go to Melissa

57:35

and TJ's.

57:36

But we were told in the beginning

57:38

that he was at their house during the night.

57:41

And later on, we found out going

57:43

to his computer, the

57:45

computer showed us that

57:47

he was actually in his apartment during

57:50

the time that he was supposedly at their house. They

57:52

were able to get Verizon to start

57:55

being in his phone so

57:57

they could already start searching for

57:59

his.

57:59

We live outside

58:02

the city and there's

58:04

only three cell towers

58:06

close by the home and so they

58:09

kept telling us that it was hard to pinpoint

58:11

locations because of

58:13

the fewer number of cell

58:15

towers. To me when

58:17

they're telling me it's teen in different

58:19

areas would make me think that he

58:22

was mobile.

58:23

But we knew he didn't have

58:25

a bed.

58:26

That's the only thing that he is personal

58:28

property that we know he had with

58:31

the spirit of this way. He had it

58:33

with him when he made his last phone

58:35

call now what happened to it after

58:38

that we have no idea what happened

58:40

to it if someone did kill

58:42

him. Are you a big commit suicide

58:45

he could've left the phone somewhere and went

58:47

away from the phone and did when

58:49

the sheriff's department was telling the phone

58:51

was being in different areas

58:53

i'm sitting there well. How can you

58:56

be in different areas unless kevin

58:58

was in motion or if

59:01

the phone was in love but

59:03

then again within telling us

59:06

the hours to pick it up within

59:08

a certain radius of the tower. Which

59:10

would make it possible and

59:13

my thought for the pain in different areas.

59:16

Everyone that we spoke to mentioned melissa

59:18

and tj the couple that kevin hung out

59:21

with in the neighborhood and we were told that

59:23

he had spent time with them the evening before

59:25

his disappearance. We reached out

59:27

to melissa to get her take on all of this

59:29

and she did agree to speak with us we

59:32

asked melissa to explain her relationship

59:34

with kevin.

59:35

I think her friends have known each other

59:38

for a long time we

59:39

live close by to be

59:41

with like a brother to us

59:42

really close to him we did

59:44

care about him like family and.

59:46

I don't know what it's down from but yeah he

59:49

did have severe anxiety disorder.

59:50

I want to do and simple

59:53

things like you can even do is that he prevent

59:55

from just going grocery shopping would

59:58

take a huge toll on him. especially

1:00:00

doing anything new. And he did

1:00:02

something as usually repetition because

1:00:04

he was comfortable with

1:00:05

it. He was definitely a creature

1:00:07

of habit. He was a very caring person.

1:00:10

He helped me out a lot and turned to help

1:00:12

them out. I was like a big sister to him.

1:00:14

I don't really know what to say. I mean,

1:00:16

he's a good person. He's never the type to try to

1:00:19

screw you over for a personal gain that

1:00:22

he didn't really like to get out and do very much like certain

1:00:24

amount of people he'd hang out with. I was one

1:00:26

of them. I wasn't really comfortable

1:00:28

about being around new people. He liked

1:00:30

to joke around a lot. He played video games,

1:00:33

drinking, taking care of his mother. That

1:00:35

pretty much sums it up. My

1:00:38

husband got him a job one time and it didn't

1:00:40

last long because he just couldn't handle it. He

1:00:43

did want more independence

1:00:44

from his mother,

1:00:46

but it was hard for

1:00:47

him to go out of his comfort zone. So it's

1:00:49

just hard for him to gain the independence he wanted

1:00:51

without having to, you know, without stressing

1:00:54

him out too bad. He loves

1:00:56

to hurt. He definitely loved her. There's no doubt about that, but

1:00:58

I do think he got tired of being in that caregiving

1:01:00

role all the time. He kind of wanted

1:01:02

to do what he wanted. You know, he had to

1:01:04

always take care of consideration and, you know,

1:01:07

Kevin was pretty much, you know, alone and kidless.

1:01:09

So he took on the responsibility of caring

1:01:11

for his mom. In order to get more independence,

1:01:13

he'd have to hold down a steady

1:01:15

job. He'd have to break away from his mother and

1:01:18

he couldn't see himself doing all that. Being on

1:01:20

his own, I think once or twice

1:01:22

he'd try to move in and live with us because he

1:01:25

just wouldn't get away, but he couldn't

1:01:27

even do that because his mom, I

1:01:29

guess, needed so much that he just

1:01:31

felt like he always ended up having to go back home.

1:01:33

And he didn't want to be a burden to

1:01:36

anybody else either. Or that's

1:01:38

what he felt like. He felt like he would be

1:01:40

a burden. I mean, if nothing else, he

1:01:42

was a pretty dutiful son.

1:01:45

Melissa described Kevin as like a

1:01:47

brother, not a romantic partner.

1:01:50

While Melissa did speak with us, she didn't

1:01:52

seem very comfortable during the call, but

1:01:54

she did tell us her thoughts on Kevin's disappearance.

1:01:57

And she said that she did help search for him despite

1:01:59

what others have said about her. I

1:02:02

was actually at work. I got a call

1:02:04

from work. I can't remember if it's my husband or if it's one

1:02:06

of them and they want to know if I

1:02:08

knew where Kevin was at or had heard from him. I

1:02:10

told him I hadn't heard from since the previous

1:02:13

night, the night before he went missing. After

1:02:15

I got off work, I went over there. They said they couldn't find him

1:02:17

anywhere. I went over there and the police were over there

1:02:19

and everything. You know, it was like a pretty big deal.

1:02:21

He had been missing all day and nobody

1:02:24

knew where he was at. My first thought

1:02:26

was that he ran

1:02:28

away, but then none of it made sense

1:02:30

because he wouldn't leave. He

1:02:33

wouldn't want to be dead. He wouldn't leave his wallet

1:02:35

and all that in his license and then his car,

1:02:37

not a transportation. Then

1:02:40

as it progressed and nobody

1:02:43

could find him, my second thought was

1:02:45

that he committed suicide

1:02:47

because he was really depressed. Then

1:02:50

we kind of, we live in a small town. Then

1:02:52

after a while, the rumors started

1:02:55

to spread and you

1:02:57

don't know what peak heat of and whatnot because people

1:02:59

talk and they'll just make shit up

1:03:02

out of anywhere. You don't know if

1:03:04

it's credible or not, but when you start hearing more

1:03:06

things, the longer he went missing, I've

1:03:09

heard that he owed some people money and

1:03:11

got murdered and they hid his body. He either

1:03:15

owed some money or pissed them off and they

1:03:18

killed him and hid his body. I

1:03:20

heard he had a drug problem. I didn't know about

1:03:22

that,

1:03:23

but I mean, there's some things he probably wouldn't

1:03:25

tell me because he'd be, he wouldn't

1:03:27

want me to chastise him or

1:03:30

think less of him. My opinion always mattered

1:03:33

to him. I mean, I personally

1:03:35

would not think he was doing anything that hard

1:03:38

and he didn't look like he was under the influence of

1:03:40

something like that. The only thing Kevin's ever

1:03:42

done around me is he liked

1:03:44

to drink beer. Drinking helped him relax.

1:03:47

He was never angry, but he could fluctuate

1:03:50

from happy joking to sad

1:03:52

and depressed. I don't know. It

1:03:55

was a thing like there was probably a whole other

1:03:57

side to Kevin that I didn't even know. We all

1:04:00

helped people from around the town help. We

1:04:03

looked for a long time, we trudged through woods.

1:04:05

Most of it was woods you can hardly even get

1:04:07

through

1:04:08

scratches and numerous ticks

1:04:10

and everything else. But

1:04:12

I mean, even to this day, I'm still kind of

1:04:15

baffled about what happened to him.

1:04:17

I mean, I really don't believe that he ran

1:04:20

away because none of it would make sense for him

1:04:22

to do that. And that would take

1:04:24

him way out of his comfort zone. And of course he

1:04:26

left his car and all that. The

1:04:28

two conclusions that I'm left with

1:04:30

is that he either did

1:04:33

go commit suicide and his

1:04:35

body was not able to be recovered because

1:04:38

something ate it. Does that make

1:04:40

sense? Cause we live near ponds and

1:04:42

crocodiles and stuff. Or he

1:04:45

did get wrapped up with the wrong people

1:04:47

somehow. And somebody did hurt

1:04:49

him and kill him. Cause

1:04:52

I think they said that the way that he was left, his

1:04:54

vehicle was there and his house

1:04:56

keys. And I

1:04:57

think car keys or something were beside

1:05:00

the house, like by the door. I think

1:05:02

they said his car door was left open. So

1:05:05

just the way that things were left, it kind

1:05:07

of, you know, like something happened suddenly. Someone

1:05:10

could have taken his phone and chunked

1:05:13

it into the woods or something. It's

1:05:15

been so long now, we kind of just, you

1:05:17

know, in our mind, whatever happened

1:05:20

to him, he's gone. He's

1:05:22

not on this earth anymore. So

1:05:24

we've had to kind of just get closure that way without,

1:05:26

you know, ever knowing for sure what happened

1:05:29

to him.

1:05:29

And it hurts. I know it hurts his mother, his birthday

1:05:32

just passed not that long ago.

1:05:34

We asked Melissa directly when she last

1:05:36

saw or spoke to Kevin. And she said

1:05:38

to us that she talked to him the day before

1:05:40

he went missing.

1:05:42

But one thing we would like to point out here is

1:05:44

that in Melissa's initial statement to the police,

1:05:47

which is mentioned in the incident

1:05:48

report that we read earlier, it

1:05:51

states

1:05:51

that on the day that Kevin went missing, Melissa

1:05:54

told them that Kevin was at her house drinking

1:05:56

late into the morning of 5-27-2020.

1:05:58

She said that

1:05:59

But he left her residence around 4.30am

1:06:02

and that he called her around 5.30 to remind

1:06:04

her to wake up TJ.

1:06:07

So we aren't sure why there is a discrepancy

1:06:09

there. We also asked her about

1:06:11

the alleged affair and she said that

1:06:13

Kevin was like her brother. She had no

1:06:15

attraction to him whatsoever. She

1:06:18

said their relationship was like a bestie

1:06:20

or brother and sister. She also mentioned

1:06:22

something that no one else had told us. She

1:06:24

claims that Kevin was expecting a child

1:06:26

with a woman he had slept with and she

1:06:29

believes that this had Kevin worried and scared.

1:06:31

Melissa went on to say that now, several

1:06:34

years later, this woman's child is

1:06:36

the spitting image of Kevin. But at

1:06:38

the time, Kevin had doubts about this

1:06:40

child being his. Melissa

1:06:42

said that this woman knows that Kevin is the father

1:06:45

and always has. She also mentioned

1:06:47

that Kevin always wanted a child, someone

1:06:49

to pass his name and legacy onto but

1:06:51

he believed that he was unable to have children.

1:06:54

After hearing this from Melissa, we followed

1:06:56

up with Ashton who told us that she

1:06:59

too believes that Kevin was not able to have

1:07:01

children and she doesn't believe that the child

1:07:03

in question is Kevin's. It was

1:07:05

her belief that Kevin did have a relationship

1:07:07

with this woman before the alleged affair with

1:07:09

Melissa which Melissa denies and

1:07:12

that the father of the child is another local

1:07:14

man. We have no knowledge of paternity

1:07:17

being established for the child in question.

1:07:20

Ashton explained that the entire situation

1:07:22

has been a lot of small town drama and

1:07:24

she believes this one aspect of the case that

1:07:27

has driven the police away from really seeking

1:07:28

answers.

1:07:30

While we have no idea what the truth is

1:07:32

when it comes to all of this, it certainly

1:07:34

has muddied the waters. Some have

1:07:36

claimed that Melissa didn't help with the search efforts

1:07:39

for Kevin but we wanted to share some

1:07:41

clips from a June 3, 2020 Facebook

1:07:43

video that Melissa made of a candlelight

1:07:46

vigil for Kevin that she appears to

1:07:48

have put together for him.

1:07:59

Please come home. We all miss you.

1:08:02

We love you. We don't know that's

1:08:04

killing us though and Everyone

1:08:06

cares and you'll see that

1:08:08

if you're out there Kevin, please come home So

1:08:11

many people are so worried if

1:08:13

anyone has any information of his whereabouts,

1:08:16

please. Let us know We just want him home

1:08:18

dead or alive His

1:08:21

mother needs closure. We all need closure We're

1:08:24

doing this in your honor Kevin for hope

1:08:27

to bring you back home People who

1:08:29

love you and care about you We're

1:08:31

here to show you that we've pulling

1:08:34

up any time now

1:08:39

After this time a large procession

1:08:41

of motorcycles and vehicles pull up

1:08:44

this video is over 13 minutes long So

1:08:46

we'll skip to near the end to hear more of

1:08:48

what was said at the vigil

1:08:51

We

1:08:51

all want you back home Kevin.

1:08:53

We don't know if you're dead or alive. We just want

1:08:55

you back home Your mother needs you back home. Your

1:08:58

family needs you back home

1:09:00

Your sister's a wreck if nothing

1:09:02

else at least all of us love you Hopefully

1:09:04

these lit candles will light your way back home

1:09:06

back to us And we won't

1:09:09

give up until you're found one

1:09:11

way or another

1:09:13

Jason talk Go

1:09:16

home, bro

1:09:21

We'll keep it this as long as we have to and

1:09:23

there's even more people who cannot be here

1:09:26

tonight due to Circumstances,

1:09:28

but they wish that they could be

1:09:30

you have a community of people who love you Kevin and

1:09:32

miss you And please if anyone

1:09:34

knows of his whereabouts, let us know something.

1:09:37

Let the Baldwin County Sheriff's Department know something

1:09:40

Let his family know something. His mother is Dana

1:09:42

Bass. I was one of his best friends Jason

1:09:45

Hughes was one of his best friends

1:09:49

We just want you home in one

1:09:51

way or another. We're gonna find a way to bring you home You

1:09:54

always thought that no one cared about you and loved you Well,

1:09:56

we care and we love you and so

1:09:58

many of us have taken so much time out of

1:10:00

our day, every day, for the past

1:10:03

week you have been gone now, searching

1:10:05

tirelessly for you, going through

1:10:07

anything we have to to find you. So

1:10:10

you are loved and you are cared about. And

1:10:12

I hope one way or another you'll come back to us.

1:10:15

We love you, Kevin.

1:10:15

We love you, Kevin. Come home.

1:10:18

Thank you. I

1:10:20

love you, Kevin.

1:10:22

We have no proof to share with you of an affair

1:10:24

or that Kevin had fathered a child that would later

1:10:27

be born and the months following his disappearance.

1:10:29

But we wanted to share all of this with

1:10:31

you so that you can come to your own conclusions

1:10:34

and also see how this has become such a tangled

1:10:37

mess of small-town gossip and war. It's

1:10:39

understandable why this has disrupted

1:10:41

the lives and

1:10:42

relationships of so many,

1:10:44

whether the stories being told are true

1:10:46

or simply rumors. When you begin to peel

1:10:49

back the layers of this story, you

1:10:51

begin trudging through territory that many people

1:10:53

don't want to speak of. It can be hurtful

1:10:55

and even harmful. But is the truth

1:10:57

of Kevin's disappearance hidden in there somewhere?

1:11:00

Was he scared or upset enough to end his life?

1:11:03

Or was this motive to kill Kevin and hide

1:11:05

his body? Some have pointed the

1:11:07

finger at Melissa's partner. The two

1:11:09

later went on to marry.

1:11:11

Earlier this year, just days before

1:11:13

the

1:11:13

anniversary of Kevin's disappearance,

1:11:16

he posted a meme that said the following,

1:11:19

if your absence doesn't bother them, your

1:11:21

presence never meant anything to them.

1:11:23

Some people pointed us to this post, thinking

1:11:26

that it had something to do with Kevin, but

1:11:28

we can't be certain. Another

1:11:30

person we spoke to was Dana's boyfriend,

1:11:33

Roland. He told us that for many years

1:11:35

he was a family friend and was close with

1:11:37

Kevin. He spoke with Kevin not long

1:11:39

before he disappeared and he has a difficult

1:11:42

time reconciling

1:11:42

all of this.

1:11:45

When I met Kevin, he was I

1:11:47

think 13. I used

1:11:49

to play paintball with him. He

1:11:51

enjoyed paintball. He enjoyed

1:11:54

his nation's nephew. He enjoyed

1:11:57

working on cars. Corey

1:12:00

had, it was automatic. He wanted

1:12:02

to turn into a straight guy, so he come to

1:12:04

my shop and I showed him how to do it.

1:12:07

Kevin was just one of, he was a mama's boy.

1:12:09

I mean, he was always with mama. I

1:12:11

always talk to his mama every day.

1:12:13

He used it three or four times a day. Like

1:12:15

I said, he touched my heart when he was younger. Kids

1:12:18

just loved him.

1:12:19

Matter of fact, his niece still

1:12:22

ask all the time, why

1:12:24

ain't I gonna tell him here? Where's I gonna

1:12:26

tell him? I just talked to him

1:12:29

two nights before then. A friend

1:12:31

of mine was looking for a job and he not

1:12:33

related to work at one of the local

1:12:36

park stores here. And he

1:12:38

called me and said, hey, that guy still

1:12:40

want a job.

1:12:41

And I was with the guy that

1:12:44

night. I said, yeah, sure. So I gave

1:12:46

him the phone and they were setting up job

1:12:48

management stuff. It was just a

1:12:50

normal conversation between me and him, like

1:12:52

it always been. That's what

1:12:54

freaked me out when I just talked to him.

1:12:57

And he was fine. They got back

1:12:59

off and he said, I told you I'd be looking for

1:13:01

you, man. I'm like, yeah, man, I appreciate

1:13:03

it. You know, I love you. I'll talk to

1:13:05

you later. And that's pretty well that

1:13:07

conversation. Just as happy

1:13:09

as he could be.

1:13:10

You know, all of us have got our suspicions

1:13:13

about what happened. But I can

1:13:15

tell you this, I am almost 100%

1:13:18

sure it was not suicide.

1:13:21

Somebody was logged in

1:13:22

this. It's one

1:13:25

of them. You basically know sort

1:13:27

of what happened, but you can't prove

1:13:29

it.

1:13:29

But we've got our suspicions.

1:13:32

The people he hung around with, the

1:13:35

way everything went down,

1:13:37

the way he never left his car,

1:13:40

nowhere his car was left. His

1:13:42

wallet was left. His keys was

1:13:44

left. He did only lock his

1:13:46

cabin from the outside. And

1:13:49

the cabin was locked with the keys sitting

1:13:51

on the table. It was like he was

1:13:53

fixing to go somewhere. It

1:13:55

just don't add up why he would

1:13:58

leave all this day, you know what I'm saying?

1:14:00

I mean, it's been over three years, nobody,

1:14:03

no nothing. If that would have happened, he'd

1:14:05

been walking. And I'm

1:14:07

telling you, it has been searched everywhere

1:14:10

within

1:14:11

probably 40 miles around

1:14:14

circle of where they lived at.

1:14:16

And he wouldn't even be able to walk that far.

1:14:19

So now

1:14:20

I am very good friends

1:14:22

with the sheriff here in Baldwin County.

1:14:25

Any searches I wanna do, I can

1:14:27

set it up for him when he gives

1:14:29

me officers.

1:14:30

Our detective will go with us. As

1:14:33

far as that part, we've

1:14:35

got under control.

1:14:37

I said, we still think of places

1:14:39

that he might be and get

1:14:42

permission and go search them

1:14:44

and we search ponds, places

1:14:46

that we know to use to fish. And

1:14:49

it's been covered to my

1:14:51

opinion.

1:14:52

Don't know what happened. His phone

1:14:54

pings was getting around too quick for

1:14:56

him to be on foot. So

1:14:59

somebody was with him.

1:15:01

Kevin's aunt Debbie is convinced that he didn't

1:15:03

end his life

1:15:04

in May of 2020. And

1:15:06

that the people he hung out with at night know

1:15:08

more than what they have said.

1:15:10

The last people that Kay saw

1:15:13

that night

1:15:14

was a girlfriend that

1:15:16

was seeing a guy that

1:15:18

they lived together. I think they

1:15:20

got into a fight and went too far. And

1:15:23

there was another thing that happened was the

1:15:26

guy

1:15:26

came over to Dana's house in

1:15:29

a long trench coat, asked

1:15:31

her if he can go up into the

1:15:33

attic. So he went up there

1:15:35

and

1:15:36

then came back down and left.

1:15:39

So I go Dana, why was he up

1:15:41

there? What do you think he was doing? Dana

1:15:43

did tell me that Kevin did tell

1:15:45

her that he slept with her.

1:15:48

It's kinda like the pieces fall in place. I

1:15:50

mean, he was down there last night.

1:15:53

They have phone conversations that that T.J.

1:15:56

Kay Kevin got into over

1:15:58

the phone and she was. and Kevin.

1:16:01

Dana got all this from the last

1:16:05

course or whatever. He was at

1:16:07

the cabin when he was talking to TJ.

1:16:10

It's just little things like his

1:16:12

keys being left on that table, you

1:16:14

know, his ID, his medicine and everything

1:16:16

in the car and that he was down

1:16:19

there the last night.

1:16:21

Kevin's father told us that he can't rule out

1:16:23

the possibility that Kevin took his own life

1:16:25

but that theory doesn't add up completely for

1:16:27

him. In

1:16:29

the very beginning they told us,

1:16:31

well what if Kevin just left because he wanted

1:16:33

to get away and not tell

1:16:35

anybody. Yeah, it could happen. I

1:16:38

know it has happened but not from Kevin.

1:16:40

Originally our glorious

1:16:43

chief of detectives told everybody that

1:16:45

Kevin committed suicide and he got that

1:16:47

stuck in his head and that's pretty much

1:16:49

as far as the investigations

1:16:52

went. Because of a song

1:16:55

that was, I think, his

1:16:57

Facebook messenger. We

1:16:59

didn't know his password so we

1:17:02

couldn't get on his Facebook messenger.

1:17:04

But there was a song by, I

1:17:06

think, the group called Skill it and it was supposedly

1:17:10

about suicide and that's

1:17:13

the only thing that I know

1:17:16

that he used his opinion to

1:17:18

take that. But he also told

1:17:20

his mother that if something

1:17:23

happened to him that she

1:17:26

better look into it. There is

1:17:28

no way I can possibly know whether Kevin

1:17:30

committed suicide. I don't feel

1:17:32

like he did. I don't feel like he would

1:17:34

have went through it. But as far as him doing it, I

1:17:36

can't prove that at all. There's no way

1:17:39

I would possibly know. He could have broke. He could

1:17:42

have did it. But probably 95%

1:17:44

of the time when you

1:17:46

commit suicide you cannot dispose

1:17:48

of your body. And some of the areas

1:17:51

that he pitched that which that

1:17:53

was supposed to be

1:17:55

in the beginning and then we had search things

1:17:57

that actually went out with

1:17:59

dogs. and everything and

1:18:02

diaper and eventually radar,

1:18:04

underground radar

1:18:06

all in that same area.

1:18:08

The Ponson area has got

1:18:10

gators in it just like most water

1:18:12

areas in the south have gators.

1:18:15

I can understand if he committed suicide

1:18:17

was close to the lake, pond when he did

1:18:20

it or even fell into the water, the

1:18:22

gators could have got him. When they went out to

1:18:24

the lake, they actually brought cadaver

1:18:26

dogs to that area. The

1:18:29

dogs actually hit on things

1:18:31

that the sheriff's department, Daniel, our

1:18:33

detective, and all were there with

1:18:36

them. The dogs was actually

1:18:38

hitting on stuff in

1:18:40

the area where he

1:18:43

fished at,

1:18:44

but the sheriff's department stopped the

1:18:46

dogs because they were trying to go into the lake

1:18:48

and the sheriff's department

1:18:51

didn't want the dogs in the lake with the gators.

1:18:53

Now another thing

1:18:55

with him being in these areas,

1:18:57

there's also wildlife. You

1:19:00

got coyotes all over the place and

1:19:02

everything. That's why they were doing all these

1:19:04

searches with the four-wheelers

1:19:06

and everything in the areas that he came because

1:19:09

if an animal, wild animal got hooked to

1:19:11

it, they could have ate his body, but

1:19:13

they still would have been remains of some

1:19:16

sort. They would have been closed and bombed. A

1:19:18

diver went into the lake

1:19:20

because he said he wasn't scared. Two days

1:19:23

in and they brought in all kinds of equipment

1:19:25

and they didn't find anything.

1:19:28

Basically we don't know a single thing

1:19:30

as far as what happened to Kevin from

1:19:32

day one and now. I

1:19:34

think due to the affair with

1:19:36

Kevin and Melissa, I think TJ

1:19:39

found out about it. When I found

1:19:41

out, since Ashton was the last

1:19:43

person Kevin talked to, Ashton

1:19:46

also told the sheriff's department several

1:19:48

things about the situation that we

1:19:50

found out later on. She did

1:19:53

talk to Kevin that morning. Kevin told her

1:19:55

that he was facing to leave and go to Melissa and

1:19:57

TJ, which would have been the last.

1:19:59

thing that anybody talked

1:20:02

to Kevin

1:20:03

period. Melissa was going to

1:20:05

tell us he was at their house during

1:20:07

the night. Detective later

1:20:09

told Dana that Melissa changed her story

1:20:12

three times within that time frame after

1:20:15

the fact as to what what actually

1:20:17

was going on and where Kevin was at during

1:20:20

that time.

1:20:21

The only thing I'm going on is what I've

1:20:23

heard which a lot of the story

1:20:26

everything rumor changes from one

1:20:28

mouth to the other because

1:20:30

of the affair. I believe that TJ found

1:20:33

out about it and something

1:20:35

happened. It could have been accidental you

1:20:38

know Dana's not going to be I'm not going

1:20:40

to be in peace until we know

1:20:43

for sure

1:20:44

that we have his remains.

1:20:47

For Roland he sees how difficult this

1:20:50

has been for Dana over the past several years

1:20:52

and really hopes the answers will come

1:20:54

for her. I

1:20:56

would love to have closure with

1:20:58

his mama because you know he's always

1:21:01

wanted to be buried by his brother so if we

1:21:03

could get anything you know any part

1:21:05

any thing like that so we could put

1:21:08

his remains or something beside

1:21:10

of his brother. He's lost

1:21:12

two. She's got one daughter left,

1:21:15

two grandchildren. It just it

1:21:17

kills me because I was always close

1:21:20

to him and I've

1:21:21

always thought of him as like one of mine.

1:21:24

I always treat him like he's one of mine

1:21:26

you know. So

1:21:28

I just want just to get out everywhere

1:21:30

that it can just to see

1:21:32

if we can bring some closure if somebody

1:21:34

heard something. You

1:21:36

know we get that every once in a while somebody will tell

1:21:39

us something. We got our detective right to check

1:21:41

it checks it out. We

1:21:42

got a good detective right

1:21:44

now.

1:21:45

They're doing a fine job checking

1:21:48

into anything we want to do so

1:21:51

but hopefully if we can just

1:21:53

find something it's just it's killing

1:21:55

everybody because we don't know nothing.

1:21:58

Dana says that today

1:21:59

Not much is going on with her son's case.

1:22:02

It's become stagnant and she just desperately

1:22:04

wants to know what happened to her son.

1:22:07

All they're saying today is it's an open

1:22:10

case that they have worked, you

1:22:12

know, like I said, the dogs and all that

1:22:14

stuff, they don't know where to look

1:22:16

next is what they're saying.

1:22:19

And they're telling me, you know,

1:22:21

if I have any knowledge

1:22:24

or anything that I need them to,

1:22:27

or want them to check into

1:22:29

to let them know that they will,

1:22:31

but they don't know. I want

1:22:33

to get it out there. I want to find

1:22:35

him. I want to bring him home.

1:22:38

So what happened to Kevin Bass in May

1:22:40

of 2020? Is it as law

1:22:42

enforcement believes that he left on foot

1:22:44

early that morning with the intent to self

1:22:47

harm. And he simply hasn't been found

1:22:49

because the surrounding areas are rural and

1:22:52

densely wooded.

1:22:53

Or is it as many of Kevin's loved ones believe

1:22:56

that he was harmed by someone close to him that

1:22:58

morning because of an affair that was

1:23:00

allegedly going on.

1:23:01

The search efforts for Kevin never turned up

1:23:04

a single trace of him, but the phone ping

1:23:06

data has been a source of frustration because

1:23:08

of the low level of accuracy due

1:23:10

to it being a rural area. Whatever

1:23:13

happened to Kevin, he could be out there and

1:23:15

they just simply haven't stumbled across

1:23:17

him. There isn't enough evidence

1:23:19

to point in any one direction at this time,

1:23:22

but everyone who knew and loved Kevin remain

1:23:24

hopeful that by telling this story, someone

1:23:27

will come forward with answers. If

1:23:29

you have any information about the disappearance

1:23:31

of Kevin Bass, please contact the

1:23:33

Baldwin County Sheriff's

1:23:34

office at 478-445-4891. If

1:23:40

you or someone you love is struggling with thoughts

1:23:42

of self harm, please contact the

1:23:44

suicide and crisis hotline by calling

1:23:47

or texting 988.

1:23:49

That case was doomed from the whole start.

1:23:52

I just hope for Dana that we

1:23:54

can find him.

1:23:56

With all the discrepancies and everything, it

1:23:58

just, it makes her.

1:23:59

think a different way and that nobody could, we never

1:24:02

found a body, you know. I think at the end of the

1:24:04

day, whatever it is, Dana just wants to be able to

1:24:06

bury her son where he said he wanted to be

1:24:08

buried next to his brother. That's what

1:24:10

I've heard through the whole thing from start. I'm

1:24:13

sure we may never find out what happened, but I

1:24:15

would like to have his body back, his

1:24:17

remains back to where we could

1:24:19

actually bury his remains.

1:24:21

That's all I could ask for. I may

1:24:24

never have that, but

1:24:26

it would give the family some kind of peace of mind,

1:24:29

but you know, that's all I can ask

1:24:31

for. Other than that, there's not

1:24:33

really nothing to make

1:24:36

the situation any better.

1:25:14

That brings us to the

1:25:15

end of episode 416. I'd

1:25:18

like to thank everyone who spoke with us for this

1:25:20

story. If you have a missing loved

1:25:22

one that you'd like to have featured on the show, there's

1:25:24

a case submission form at thevanishedpodcast.com.

1:25:28

If you'd like to join in on the discussion, there's a page

1:25:30

and discussion group on Facebook. You can

1:25:32

find us on Twitter at The Vanished Pod and

1:25:34

also on Instagram. If you like

1:25:36

our show, please give us a five star rating and

1:25:38

review. You can also support the show by

1:25:40

contributing on Patreon. Be

1:25:43

sure to tune in next week. We'll be bringing

1:25:45

you a case from Texas. Thanks

1:25:47

for listening. Transcribed

1:25:57

by https://otter.ai

1:26:25

Hey Prime members, you can listen to The Vanished

1:26:27

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1:26:35

Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing

1:26:38

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1:26:40

slash

1:26:41

survey.

1:26:43

Pretty much everyone wants one thing, more

1:26:45

money. And you can't blame them. I mean, having

1:26:48

unimaginable wealth unlocks a world of privilege

1:26:50

most people can only dream of. Yeah,

1:26:53

but it also introduces an entirely

1:26:55

different set of problems. That's right. Fame

1:26:57

and fortune, they've got a dark side. I'm

1:27:00

Brooke. And I'm Aresha. And we're

1:27:02

the hosts of Wondery's podcast, Even the Rich, where

1:27:04

we've loved bringing you jaw-dropping stories

1:27:06

of the world's elite, from dynasties to

1:27:09

pop culture legends and all the icons in

1:27:11

between.