Episode Transcript
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Podcasts. You're
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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
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questions to that one perfect coworker of
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yours. Friends
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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
of the drug affiliation here in Nome. This
31:22
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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
friend ensued, but in
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
greatest mental linebacker in NFL history.
44:06
For 20 years he's professed his innocence
44:09
but the victim's families believe there is
44:11
more to the story. Join
44:14
host Tim Livingston who brought you
44:16
the award-winning podcast Whistleblower as he
44:18
investigates the tragic double homicide and
44:21
unveils new evidence and paints a vivid
44:23
picture of what happened that tragic night
44:25
in Atlanta. Check out
44:27
this trailer of The Raven. What
44:30
you can learn from all this is that
44:32
big cases make for big mistakes. Look
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
death in Atlanta. The primary
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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