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S4E4: Fact or Rumor?

S4E4: Fact or Rumor?

Released Friday, 1st March 2024
 2 people rated this episode
S4E4: Fact or Rumor?

S4E4: Fact or Rumor?

S4E4: Fact or Rumor?

S4E4: Fact or Rumor?

Friday, 1st March 2024
 2 people rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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Podcasts. You're

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Sun, a production

1:57

of Tenderfoot TV in association with... Odyssey.

2:01

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast

2:04

are solely those of the individuals participating.

2:07

This podcast also contains subject matter which

2:09

may not be suitable for everyone. Listener

2:12

discretion is advised. You

2:36

are not going to believe what the known city hall just

2:38

sent back to us. You are not going

2:40

to believe it. Take

2:42

Davis a report on Oregon

2:44

Jones. Age 52. Wait 270. Additional remarks

2:53

from the known PD. John

2:55

has made threats to the known police department.

2:57

If any law enforcement approaches his tent on

3:00

West Beach. But

3:02

this is just the tip of

3:04

the iceberg. In this report there

3:06

are 93 incidents. Disorderly

3:10

conduct. Vehicle theft. Assault

3:12

third degree. Cruelty to animals.

3:15

Parasmin. Probation violation.

3:18

Theft second degree. Property

3:20

theft. Parasmin. Second

3:23

degree. Assault third degree.

3:25

Assault fourth degree. Assault third

3:27

degree. Cruelty to animals. Sexual

3:29

assault. First degree. Probation

3:32

violation. Criminal trespass. Assault

3:34

fourth degree. Sexual

3:36

assault. First degree. Known

3:39

aliases. Oregon

3:42

John. From

4:05

Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta, I'm your

4:08

host, Payne Lindsey, and this is

4:10

Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun. Welcome

4:24

to Vancouver.

4:27

Safety first. So

4:30

far, it seemed like everything in the universe

4:32

was pointing us towards Oregon John. The

4:36

circumstantial evidence, all the different

4:38

stories about him, and not to mention

4:40

the massive list of criminal offenses. It

4:43

all seemed pretty undeniable. But

4:46

things were about to take a turn after

4:49

receiving a text from Sue Steinecker, the long

4:51

time local here in Nome. She

5:02

told me she has what she feels is some

5:04

very strong evidence of what may have happened to

5:06

Flo that night. The

5:09

pieces that I keep putting together, I

5:12

put a lot of value in

5:14

these texts. A

5:17

series of text message screenshots. They

5:20

make a lot of sense to

5:22

me. Many

5:24

of these messages contained graphic details of

5:26

what allegedly may have happened to Flo

5:28

that night. There's

5:31

enough information in there about

5:33

what happened. These

5:35

text messages were sent out to different

5:38

people here in Nome, but

5:40

they all came from the same person. For

5:48

the time being, I'm going to censor

5:50

her name in the podcast, and

5:52

I'm going to refer to her as Kelly. She

5:56

seems to be really troubled

5:58

by this. This

6:01

isn't the only text. This

6:04

woman, Kelly, described in great

6:06

detail on multiple occasions to

6:08

different people in Nome the

6:10

circumstances of Florence Ocpealek's murder

6:12

that night. I

6:14

have since verified that these texts are in

6:16

fact real. As a

6:18

warning, the following statements are very graphic

6:21

in nature. To avoid

6:23

confusion and to protect myself, all

6:26

the names that Kelly mentions in her text messages

6:28

are going to be censored for the time being.

6:31

But don't worry, we know exactly who they are.

6:34

The first text message sent from Kelly

6:37

states the following. I

6:40

went to the lead FBI investigator

6:42

last year and they

6:44

recorded me and took my statement.

6:47

My ex-boyfriend is named... He

6:52

was very gone in his mind during

6:54

the time Flo first went missing. He

6:57

said things to me which is a long

6:59

story, but anyway, him

7:01

and me are

7:04

the ones that are highly involved with

7:06

Flo's disappearance. Was

7:09

telling people that they killed Flo and

7:12

chopped her up and put her in

7:14

the water. In

7:16

his own ways, always confessed

7:18

to me with his involvement. The

7:22

police know all about this and it's a

7:24

long story. But

7:26

they need to put pressure on them because one

7:29

of them will crack and tell what they did.

7:32

There is a lot more to this story though. These

7:37

messages from a woman I'm calling Kelly,

7:40

paint a graphic tale of Flo's murder on

7:42

the night she went missing. She

7:46

implicates three individuals, two

7:48

men and one woman.

7:51

One of the men being her ex-boyfriend who she

7:53

claims confessed all of this to her. And

7:56

before you ask, Oregon John is not

7:59

one of these... names. This

8:01

whole new theory seemed to come out of nowhere,

8:04

lots of details and different names, but it's

8:06

worth noting that it's only coming from one

8:08

person, at least that we know of

8:10

now. Then

8:13

there was another one where she apparently

8:15

sent this text to a friend who

8:17

then sent it to Flo's brother

8:20

and they shared it with me. They

8:23

cut her up after getting

8:25

her high. They said

8:27

she was screaming too much and

8:30

freaking out. So they

8:32

did that to her. I

8:37

told her they should have recorded

8:39

or reported him. Don't know if it's

8:41

true. I don't

8:43

know. Fucking freaked me out. They

8:48

said they cut her up and hid

8:50

her by Solomon or something. And

8:55

not all of the stories jived. So

8:59

that's a little confusing. These

9:03

messages were horrific and they introduced

9:05

three new players into the mix,

9:08

none of whom are Oregon John. Is

9:11

all this true? And

9:13

it's hard to imagine why somebody would make this up unless

9:16

we don't have the full picture here. One

9:19

step at a time. Remember

9:21

how Oregon John told the bartender Naomi

9:24

about having Flo's cell phone that night?

9:27

Her cell phone is shoes being found outside of a

9:29

tent. A pretty big deal

9:31

if it's true. Sue, through

9:34

her own sleuthing, heard a very strange story

9:36

about that cell phone from a source inside

9:38

the search and rescue team. Upon

9:41

examination of Flo's cell phone after she

9:43

went missing, they discovered one last

9:45

phone call she made that night and

9:48

it paints an eerie picture. Right

9:51

before Flo's phone died, she

9:54

said, I'm in the bushes with some

9:56

people and they're passing something around and

9:58

I don't feel safe. That's

10:01

pretty telling if that is true. Yeah.

10:06

That's hearsay for me. Whereas

10:09

these I've seen, I can

10:11

read them. Just

10:17

when it felt like things were starting to make a little sense,

10:20

all of a sudden they don't anymore. I've

10:23

experienced this before and it can be maddening.

10:26

So what really happened that night? Is

10:32

Oregon John the world's unluckiest man? Who

10:35

is also a violent quillable? Maybe.

10:38

And who is this other group of people that Kelly

10:40

is talking about? Who is Kelly

10:42

in the first place? Why is she

10:44

saying this at all? And

10:46

why is no one else saying it? I

10:49

had to take a minute to wreck my brain. In

10:52

a way it feels like I'm starting over. The

10:54

whole scope of my investigation just got a lot

10:56

wider. The

10:59

one thing that did stand out to me can

11:01

only be traced back to one person, Kelly

11:04

herself. I've heard

11:06

a lot of wild, wacky theories investigating

11:08

cold cases. And to be honest, it

11:10

just comes with the territory. And

11:13

you really have to be careful. You can't

11:15

be too quick to throw something out. But

11:17

you have to try your best to stick to the

11:19

cold hard facts. What are the facts

11:21

and what are the rumors? And those

11:23

things can change and evolve throughout your investigation.

11:26

The bottom line is that right now, there

11:29

are no facts to back up Kelly's claims.

11:32

I need to find the real Kelly and

11:34

talk to her myself. I

11:40

had to take a break from my investigation

11:42

and head to Orlando for a conference. I

11:46

had a speaking engagement at an event

11:48

called CrimeCon. It's a

11:50

bizarre thing. Every year,

11:52

thousands of true crime listeners meet up

11:54

in one place. Experts,

11:57

creators, podcasters, and artists.

12:00

former law enforcement, advocates, and even

12:02

the families of victims. It's

12:04

definitely a one-of-a-kind event, but at its

12:07

core, the biggest value that it brings

12:09

is to the victims' families, a safe place

12:11

to connect with others and actually attempt to

12:13

solve the cases. I'm

12:17

Betty Pollahan, welcome to Closing Arguments.

12:20

Great to have you with us

12:22

tonight. We are live in Orlando,

12:24

Florida. It is CrimeCon 2023. True

12:28

crime really lives through these stories

12:30

that take us to places that

12:32

we haven't been and uncovering

12:35

things we haven't seen. Joining

12:37

me right now, Payne Lindsey.

12:39

Great to see you, Payne.

12:42

What's your obsession right now? I've

12:45

been going back and forth to Alaska all summer. I'm

12:48

at the point now where I'm kind of

12:51

closing on the circle of suspects that I

12:53

think may be involved. I

12:57

was on a panel and other members of the

12:59

Tenderfoot team were running a podcast booth in the

13:01

lobby. During my

13:03

presentation, one of our producers, Jamie,

13:06

was given a random pamphlet from a

13:08

complete stranger. I

13:10

love it. I love it. And

13:13

before Jamie really had a chance to look at it, the

13:16

lady who gave it to her was gone in the

13:18

crowd. Inside this paper

13:21

brochure that was randomly given to one of

13:23

our producers at CrimeCon was

13:25

the missing poster for Florence

13:27

Ocpeolic and

13:30

a written summary of details on her

13:32

disappearance. But

13:36

here's the thing. At this point in

13:38

time, nobody, and

13:40

I mean pretty much nobody,

13:43

besides a few of our producers, knew

13:45

that I was investigating Flo's disappearance. By

13:49

design, I was keeping it a secret. Nobody

13:52

could have known about this. So

13:55

what on earth? How? Who

13:57

left that? It

14:00

kind of still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. It's

14:03

one of those weird moments that

14:06

just feels too uncanny. What

14:09

are the odds? Nome

14:11

is so incredibly far away from here.

14:13

And this isn't a popular case on the internet. I've

14:16

read everything there is. The

14:19

woman who left the brochure wrote down her

14:21

cell phone number and Alaska area

14:23

code. Right

14:26

away I called her. I

14:28

didn't know you were working on a podcast

14:30

for Flo. I

14:32

wanted to reach out to you because

14:34

all of the news coverage that I've

14:37

read was very lacking in detail. Her

14:41

name is Rachel Ventress. She

14:43

lives in Nome and she came

14:45

all the way to Orlando in hopes of

14:47

spreading the word about Flo's disappearance. Not

14:50

knowing at all that we were actively

14:52

investigating her case. I've

14:56

been in communication with a

14:58

detective from Homer who

15:00

has decades of experience solving cold

15:02

cases. Flo's

15:05

mom actually met him, Flo's mom

15:08

and Blair. They

15:10

wanted him to come up and look for a case. We

15:14

had a meeting with the city manager

15:18

and with the new chief of police. A

15:21

very weird meeting. She

15:25

had met with the city manager and the Nome

15:27

police chief, Investigator Crockett.

15:30

The guy I was never able to get ahold

15:32

of passed our brief exchange in the precinct's lobby.

15:35

As a concerned citizen, she wanted an

15:37

update on where the investigation stands. And

15:41

according to Rachel, during this meeting,

15:44

it took a weird turn. It

15:46

was revealed to her that the Nome Police

15:48

Department has no case

15:50

file on Florence Ocpeolic in

15:52

their possession at all. The

16:00

known police department has not kept the K-file on

16:03

close. But the FBI

16:05

took it over. I

16:08

emailed the FBI and they just deferred

16:10

me back to the known PD. So

16:12

what's going on here? I

16:17

asked a bunch of questions like, when

16:19

did the FBI take over this case? They

16:22

said just as the FBI landed in

16:25

known. So all these years that close

16:27

family has been calling for an update.

16:29

So they have been directed to the

16:31

FBI. The

16:35

new chief was extremely uncomfortable and

16:37

just not wanting to answer questions.

16:40

It was just very weird that

16:42

information wasn't matching up. Years

16:46

ago, the FBI came in to help search for

16:48

a couple of days. But

16:50

that was almost four years ago now. And

16:53

I hope this doesn't mean that there's

16:55

literally been no investigation since then. So

16:59

it's all very shady and suspicious. How

17:04

does that guy have jurisdiction if it's not on

17:06

federal, it wasn't the crime on federal land and the

17:08

suspect that we know of, none of them are

17:10

natives. And they said, well,

17:12

we asked the FBI to

17:14

come up here so we gave them the case. I was

17:16

like, so can you just ask for it back? And

17:19

they're like, well, like, it's just

17:22

they're just telling me bullshit. They're

17:24

just telling me bullshit. That isn't true. What

17:28

a mess. Rachel

17:30

had an idea to bring up another

17:33

retired officer from home or Alaska to

17:35

personally investigate Flo's case. And

17:37

he wants to do it. And

17:39

apparently, despite all the chaos in the known

17:42

police department, there's money in their

17:44

budget to hire him. In

17:46

Rachel's meeting, this was one of their primary

17:48

topics. fall

18:00

out there is, like you guys

18:02

already humbled this so badly. Let's

18:04

just quit messing around. Yeah. It

18:06

felt like for three years, there's

18:08

absolutely nothing done on this case. So

18:13

if all this is true, excluding

18:15

random tips from the community, it

18:18

could mean that literally since September of 2020, law

18:21

enforcement has not been investigating this

18:23

case, or at least

18:25

that there's no case file to show they have, or

18:28

they conduct interviews and just don't write it

18:30

down. I really don't know

18:32

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20:52

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questions to that one perfect coworker of

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21:17

and family of Florence have been hard

21:19

at work for almost four years now,

21:21

doing their own investigation. We've

21:23

heard from Diyala, Sue, Wendy,

21:26

her sister Blair, Rachel,

21:28

the local journalists. They've all collectively

21:30

taken matters into their own hands and

21:33

frankly because they had to. Those

21:37

first 48 hours after someone goes

21:39

missing are incredibly crucial. The

21:42

more we can know about that time

21:44

period, the closer we can get to

21:46

fitting any of these pieces together. Who

21:48

was around back then? What

21:51

were they saying? What

21:53

was it really like on West Beach? And

21:56

what can we possibly learn from that all these years

21:59

later? I

22:02

spoke to another friend of Flo's who

22:04

wishes to keep her name anonymous. From

22:08

day one in this case, she has undoubtedly

22:10

been a leader in the

22:12

community's search efforts. No

22:15

NPD in day four. I

22:17

didn't do the community wide sweep until

22:19

day six. It's

22:22

when we called them asking if they

22:25

had any active strategies for Florence Oculcpeolic.

22:29

They laughed at me. The

22:33

day after Flo went missing, she was searching up

22:35

and down the beaches, interviewing people

22:37

on her own, and documenting all of

22:39

it in real time. I'm

22:41

just going to make a video. Make

23:00

sure you know our women. Nobody does

23:02

anything about it. We

23:05

want justice for Flo. She

23:09

sent me a video from their very first search, making

23:12

their way through the tent camps on West Beach. It's

23:15

an extremely important moment captured in time.

23:18

Somebody on this beach has something

23:21

to do with Flo's disappearance. In

23:24

the video, you can see

23:26

dozens of tents lining the shore, some

23:29

ATVs, old beat up trucks, small

23:32

john boats, and washed up

23:34

trash and debris everywhere. It

23:36

looks like a junkyard. They

23:41

were looking under tarts. That wasn't

23:43

there before. Digging through the

23:45

sand. We need more gloves. In

23:48

search of any sign of Florence. Flo,

23:51

give us your energy. We need more gloves.

23:55

We need more gloves. Is that where the footprints

23:58

are? We're here. Hey,

24:00

look for me now, footprints, guys. Hello?

24:04

Hello? Hello? Hello?

24:07

Hello? When we found her footprints on the mud

24:09

spots, they refused to come

24:11

out. She

24:14

was on West Beach at a gold

24:16

miner's tent. A

24:18

lot of people have talked about how she's

24:21

involved with the drugs in them. The

24:24

man she's referring to is

24:26

Oregon John. It

24:29

gets really strange. She

24:32

told me that the Chief of Search and Rescue

24:35

approached Oregon John's tent on West

24:37

Beach, and he personally retrieved Flo's cell

24:40

phone from him. The

24:43

Chief of Search and Rescue, she

24:46

told us that he went and talked to John

24:48

himself, and he got Flo's phone from him. He

24:51

verbally told a whole room of people at

24:53

the Search and Rescue meetings. She

24:57

told us that he went and talked to John himself.

25:00

John was very kind, very calm, and

25:04

he took Flo's phone from him. So

25:08

Flo went somewhere else, besides Oregon John's

25:10

tent that night. She

25:12

did so without bringing her

25:14

shoes, shirt, jacket, and her

25:17

cell phone. Flo's

25:19

friend also talked to the occupants of

25:21

several other tents that were adjacent to

25:23

Oregon John's. Other

25:26

neighbors and gold miners, they

25:28

heard her screaming. They

25:31

talked about how she took her on a forlorn at the

25:33

beach, never came back with her. She

25:37

came back really hungry, and I rate 10

25:39

the next morning very angry, demanding

25:41

food. A

25:44

story she was told by one of the

25:46

miners camping next to Oregon John's tent was

25:48

the same story I'd heard before, from Wendy

25:51

and Blair. Flo

25:53

went on the back of the four-wheeler and

25:55

went up West Beach, and he

25:57

didn't come back till morning, but he came

25:59

back. back without her. Remember

26:03

the story that Sue had heard about

26:06

Flo's last known communication on her cell phone

26:08

that night? Right before

26:10

Flo's phone died, she

26:12

said, I'm in the bushes with some people

26:14

and they're passing something

26:17

around and I don't feel safe. She

26:22

tracked down the friend who Flo actually talked

26:24

to that night and she messaged

26:26

her directly about her last exchange with her. This

26:29

is the last known communication from her cell phone.

26:33

I was talking to her the night she was missing.

26:37

I asked her if they were on drugs. She

26:39

said they were in the bushes throwing the drug out to

26:41

her. She

26:44

said there were three men. I don't remember

26:46

the names if you had nicknames as names.

26:51

Nicknames. The last

26:53

phone call Florence made on the night she went

26:55

missing paints an eerily similar

26:57

picture to that theory we heard about

26:59

from Kelly, the lady who sent out

27:01

those text messages. Except

27:04

there was one major difference in

27:06

the messages from Kelly that I saw that Sue

27:09

showed me. She

27:11

described two men and one woman, but

27:15

in Flo's last known phone call to her friend,

27:18

Florence herself says she is

27:20

with three men. Some of

27:22

them have nicknames. She

27:24

said there were three men. I don't remember

27:26

the names if you had nicknames as names.

27:32

A crucial and unique detail

27:34

that's different than what Kelly

27:36

was saying in all of

27:38

her text messages. Speaking of Kelly,

27:41

Flo's friend was also aware of this theory.

27:44

She'd seen those messages too. But

27:46

she also had a very odd personal exchange

27:48

with Kelly during the first couple days of

27:51

the search. Kelly

27:53

made a comment that stuck with her forever

27:56

and it's reshaped her entire perspective

27:58

on Kelly's theory. I

28:02

think she was involved in some

28:04

way. She's

28:06

referring to Kelly. As

28:09

soon as Flo went missing and as soon as

28:11

they started holding search and rescue meetings, a

28:14

few days after the meeting started, she showed up and

28:16

she was like, I think you need to look

28:18

a lot closer than you're looking. I

28:21

think you need to research areas that you've

28:23

already searched. I

28:25

think she's a lot closer than you guys think. Why

28:29

would Kelly think that? Does

28:31

she know that? I

28:35

have a screenshot of her basically admitting

28:37

that Flo was dead in her presence

28:40

a day after. It

28:44

does tie back to John. I've

28:47

been sent the screenshots of her exchange

28:49

with Kelly and the story goes

28:51

a lot different. She

28:53

asked Kelly, was John a part

28:56

of it or was it just these other

28:58

two guys? Kelly

29:00

responded, no, it

29:03

was John and my ex boyfriend

29:06

that did something to her, I believe. But

29:09

I believe in my heart that John and

29:12

my ex boyfriend are the ones that did

29:14

something. Hmm,

29:19

why are there two different versions of this story? There

29:22

was Oregon John's name and all the other messages

29:24

I've seen. She

29:28

also asked Kelly, quote, how did

29:30

they move her? Kelly

29:32

responded and said that

29:34

I don't know because they made me

29:36

leave. It was

29:39

John and my ex boyfriend that

29:41

hurt her, I believe. These

29:45

are pretty big statements. My

29:49

ex friend then said, I just want to

29:51

clarify what I'm hearing. You weren't a

29:53

part of any of it, but you happened to

29:55

be near her presumed dead body and

29:58

they made you leave before they moved her. Kelly

30:01

said, yes, they

30:03

wouldn't even let me inside. And

30:06

I said, I just want to clarify what I'm

30:08

hearing. You weren't a part of any of it,

30:10

but you happened to be near her, presumed dead,

30:13

and they made you leave before they moved her.

30:16

And she said, yes, they wouldn't even

30:18

let me inside. She's

30:20

referring to the tent. So

30:23

I think slow is in the tent. These

30:27

are pretty big statements. At

30:31

one point when we were searching for slow, we

30:33

saw high school girls walk into his tent. We

30:36

were turning young girls away from his tent. I

30:38

think they had a drug operation. I

30:41

also have video footage of John

30:43

and his neighbors that were supposedly involved

30:46

moving their entire camp. If

30:49

Kelly is telling the truth, then she

30:52

clearly has a conscience. She's

30:54

texted all kinds of people about this story. But

30:57

reading somebody's messages is entirely different than

30:59

talking to the real person. I

31:02

need to talk to the real Kelly. I

31:05

think she was their bug on the inside,

31:07

feeling guilty and doesn't want to be convicted.

31:10

And that's why she's trying to stay anonymous. I

31:12

think she's a huge accomplice because they're all part

31:14

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32:55

This theory put forth from Kelly in her

32:57

text messages is beginning to

32:59

take on a different form. And

33:02

if it's true that these individuals

33:04

were seen moving Oregon John's tent

33:06

camp right after Flo disappeared, then

33:09

something happened in John's tent or

33:11

something happened after she left his tent

33:13

and John stayed behind and somehow falls

33:16

out of the narrative forever. But

33:18

that doesn't make sense. What about the

33:20

multiple witnesses who saw Oregon John drive off

33:23

with Flo on the back of his ATV

33:25

only to return the next morning without her?

33:29

Maybe Oregon John took Flo to meet with

33:31

these other people. But either way,

33:33

according to the eyewitnesses, he didn't come

33:35

back until the morning time. And he

33:37

came back without Flo irritable

33:39

and hungry. So

33:41

if John just dropped her off somewhere, where

33:44

did he go for the rest of the entire night? Because

33:46

he wasn't at the bars. And

33:49

why didn't he say this to Flo's family,

33:51

Wendy and her sister Blair, when they confronted him

33:53

on West Beach a few days later, when

33:55

he gave them Flo's belongings. And

34:00

her sister's asking, where is she? Isn't

34:02

that when you would say, hey, I dropped her off

34:04

with these people, if that were true? Or

34:07

is that not the case? You

34:10

could sit here for hours and make up a million

34:12

different possibilities. But I think we need to zoom out

34:14

further. Whether the story

34:16

Kelly is telling everybody in her

34:18

text messages is entirely true, partially

34:20

true, or completely false, one

34:23

thing remains either way. And

34:25

that's Oregon John. If

34:28

Kelly is telling the truth, then she clearly has

34:30

a conscience. I need to talk

34:32

to the real Kelly. So

34:36

I did. I got

34:38

a hold of her phone number, and we exchanged a

34:40

few texts. She

34:42

was being nice and cordial. And

34:44

we set a time for a phone call. Hey,

35:00

who is this?

35:06

This is Payne. I texted you yesterday. So.

35:13

I'm working with Flo's family about her disappearance. Oh,

35:17

yeah. Okay. Do

35:20

you remember my text that I sent you? I

35:23

need to. You

35:26

get just a couple minutes real quick just to

35:28

chat about what you know. Will

35:32

that be okay? Cannot

35:41

be reached at the moment. Please leave

35:43

a message after that. Pretty

35:49

sure she blocked me. What

35:51

is actually happening here? A

35:53

few days later, I texted her again. And

35:56

again, she was very nice and cordial. I asked

35:58

to talk about her. text messages that alleged

36:01

flow was murdered that night. And again,

36:03

we arranged the time to talk.

36:05

Hello. Hey,

36:11

it's Payne. Can

36:14

you hear me? Payne, Lindsay, I was

36:16

just texting you. Yeah,

36:21

about Florence? Yeah. Yeah.

36:26

You have a few minutes just to talk real quick? I

36:30

guess I already talked to you. Yeah,

36:32

but you didn't... You hung up on me last time

36:34

or we lost service or something. Just...

36:41

We never talked about it. Yes,

36:45

we did. I remember we did. Are

36:48

you sure it was me? It might have been somebody else. No,

36:51

it was you. I remember me. We

36:54

had texted about it, but we never talked on

36:56

the phone about anything. Bye.

37:04

What is going on right now? Does

37:07

she actually not remember? I've

37:10

texted her before each call and she's

37:12

texted me back every time. Clearly

37:15

understanding what we're talking about. I

37:17

think... I feel like I'm losing

37:19

my mind. Hello?

37:24

Do you have any comments about the

37:26

text you sent about Florence Archpiolic being

37:28

chopped up? Do

37:34

you have any comments on that? I'll

37:40

take that as a no comment. I

37:43

really don't know what to make of this. But

37:46

as a source of potentially

37:48

crucial bombshell information, this

37:50

is starting to feel a little shaky and

37:52

unreliable. In a way,

37:54

it seems like I've made a complete 180

37:56

back around here. Kelly,

37:59

the one who's... saying this stuff has

38:01

altered key points in her story over

38:03

and over again. Based

38:05

on that and my own exchanges with Kelly,

38:07

I feel like it's only natural to start

38:09

to question things. Something

38:11

is just off here, and

38:14

I'm not even referring to the fact that she

38:16

didn't want to talk to me about it. That's

38:18

her choice. That's fine. But it

38:20

was almost like she genuinely didn't know who I was

38:22

when I called her, even though

38:24

we were just texting about it, and

38:26

she knew that. I

38:28

just don't know here, but there's a lot about it I

38:30

don't like. I

38:33

need to stick to the facts. I

38:36

need to stick to what we know for sure. And

38:40

through that, maybe all these other things will start

38:43

to make sense. If

38:45

we're sticking with what we know to be 100% true,

38:48

in this case right now, then

38:51

that only really leaves one person. Oregon

38:53

John. It

39:10

was Oregon John who was the last person to

39:12

see her that we know about. It

39:15

was Oregon John who had possession of

39:17

closed things. Her shirt, her

39:19

shoes, her jacket, and her cell

39:21

phone. He

39:23

also offered no explanation as to why

39:26

he had these things. He

39:28

has since fled town, and to my knowledge,

39:30

has never returned. And

39:33

he has a rap sheet in Nome with

39:35

93 different incidents on it, including

39:38

sexual assault, cruelty to

39:40

animals, some really bad stuff. And

39:43

no matter the level of involvement Oregon John may

39:45

or may not have here, he

39:47

is, without a doubt, the most

39:49

central character on the Night of

39:52

Flow's disappearance, and he could very well hold

39:54

the keys to solving this. So

39:57

We must talk to Oregon John. And

40:06

I wasn't feeling very confident about that. Everyone

40:08

I've ever talked to has said he

40:10

fled gnome years ago and move somewhere

40:13

in Asia. Windy met in the Philippines.

40:16

If that's the case for in bad

40:18

shape here. In. The

40:20

police report on organ john. That. I

40:23

received from the city. I was able to

40:25

learn his full name. And

40:28

so my internet searching began. In

40:31

it didn't take long before on

40:33

Facebook profile the seem to exactly

40:36

match his physical description. I

40:39

went deep back in the photos. There's

40:46

no. This

40:48

has to be the guy. The

40:52

Morning Facebook. Just

41:04

another beautiful nine tude. Yeah,

41:06

Alaska. He's

41:11

not in the Philippines. He's right

41:13

here in Alaska. If

41:34

you want a full breakdown of episode

41:36

four, Go. Right now to

41:38

my weekly show called Talking To Does.

41:41

Where. I break down this entire episode

41:43

in great detail. Things. In

41:45

this case are seeking up. And this

41:48

is a real time investigation. And

41:50

if you'd like to fall it more closely. Go.

41:52

Listen to the latest episode of

41:54

Talking To Does. And. And

41:56

for a portion of the episode. I. breakdown

41:58

episode four with the pretty producers of the show

42:01

in great detail in a lot of

42:03

backstory. Thanks for listening

42:05

and I'll see you next week. Up

42:14

and Vanished in the Midnight Sun

42:16

is a production of Tenderfoot TV

42:18

in association with Odyssey. Your host

42:20

is Payne Lindsey. The show is

42:22

written by Payne Lindsey with additional

42:25

assistance from Mike Rooney. Executive producers

42:27

are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey.

42:29

Lead producer is Mike Rooney along

42:31

with producers Dylan Harrington and Cooper

42:33

Skinner. Editing by Mike Rooney and

42:35

Cooper Skinner with additional editing by

42:38

Dylan Harrington. Supervising producer is Tracy

42:40

Kaplan. Additional production by Victoria McKenzie,

42:42

Alice Kneek-Than and Eric Quintana. Artwork

42:44

by Rob Sheridan. Original music and

42:46

makeup and vanity scene. Mix and mastered

42:49

by Cooper Skinner. Thank you to

42:51

Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck

42:53

Media and Marketing and the Nord Group.

42:55

Special thanks to all of the families and community

42:57

members and listeners to the team. Additional

43:00

information and resources can be found in

43:02

our show notes. For more podcasts

43:04

like Up and Vanished, search Tenderfoot

43:06

TV on your favorite podcast app

43:08

or visit us at tenderfoot.tv. Thanks

43:11

for listening. Hey

43:19

Tenderfoot listeners, it's Payne. I

43:21

want to tell you about a new true crime

43:23

podcast from Tenderfoot TV called The Raven.

43:26

The Raven re-investigates a double homicide

43:29

that took place after the biggest

43:31

night in sports, the Super Bowl.

43:34

And the man caught up at the center

43:36

of the crime, Baltimore Ravens star linebacker Ray

43:38

Lewis. Hours after the

43:40

game, in Atlanta's affluent Buckhead

43:42

neighborhood, Lewis and a group of friends

43:44

got into an altercation. Within seconds, two

43:47

men were stabbed to death in the street. Lewis

43:50

and two friends were charged with murder. A media

43:53

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43:55

the end, all three defendants walked free. Ray

43:59

Lewis would go on to the scene. to become a Super Bowl champion

44:02

and is widely regarded as the

44:04

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44:06

For 20 years he's professed his innocence

44:09

but the victim's families believe there is

44:11

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44:16

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44:18

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44:21

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44:23

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44:25

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44:27

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44:30

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44:32

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44:34

what happened to No. J. Simpson and

44:37

look what happened to Ray Lewis. A

44:40

couple of weeks ago the family of

44:43

the incident in 2000 and I'm

44:45

paraphrasing but it goes something

44:47

like this while Ray Lewis

44:49

is being celebrated by millions.

44:52

Two men tragically brutally died

44:54

in Atlanta. Ray

44:57

Lewis knows more than Ray

44:59

Lewis ever shared. What

45:01

would you like to say to the families? It's

45:03

simple you know. God

45:07

has never made a mistake here. It

45:10

happened just hours after the Super Bowl and

45:13

it happened in a flash. Oakley says he

45:15

was leaving the club with Lewis when the

45:17

two victims started arguing with their group. Then

45:19

it was mayhem. Two men were stabbed to

45:21

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45:24

suspect Baltimore Ravens star

45:26

linebacker Ray Lewis. Ray

45:28

Lewis absolutely took control and told everybody to

45:30

shut the fuck up. I am not

45:33

gonna let you motherfuckers ruin

45:35

my career. Charged

45:37

with murder, Ray Lewis, Rachel Oakley

45:40

and Joseph Sweeting who would stand

45:42

trial and walk free. We have

45:44

done a job. One job. Get

45:47

ready. But for the victims'

45:49

families, justice was

45:51

never served. So you think on

45:53

this day Ray Lewis knows what happened that night.

45:56

Oh yeah. I hope it haunts them for

45:58

the rest of their life until they... Burn Inhale.

46:00

Questions and theory still surround the

46:03

night in Atlanta in the murders

46:05

of remained a cloud over Lewis's

46:08

otherwise remarkable career with a vase

46:10

fellow at the Noise Acrobat twenty

46:12

part of my nap you they

46:15

may, right? lowest. In

46:17

one of sports biggest stars, get away

46:20

with a heinous crime or was the

46:22

whole thing a tragic misunderstanding? A

46:25

farm system success. To

46:29

really investigate. What happened Or

46:31

ten years ago? Maybe we'll get

46:33

to the bottom lines. Over

46:37

twenty years later times story.

46:41

I know where. He

46:43

be on to having some. Football

46:52

mock in the Man in the

46:54

Mid. Field.

47:01

Real. Read

47:03

your books,

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