Criminology - Asha Kreimer

Episode Date: October 10, 2021

In September 2015, Asha Kreimer disappeared in California. Her boyfriend, friends, and family had been worried about her in the days and weeks leading up to her disappearance. They said that Asha was acting strangely. She was definitely not herself. She was withdrawn and her behavior was described as strange and bizarre. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the disappearance of 26-year-old Asha Kreimer. Asha's strange behavior reportedly included statements that she had killed a neighbor but this neighbor was definitely alive. Asha was involuntarily committed before she disappeared but it appears that little was done for her. The mysteries, theories, and questions abound in Asha's case. What was she acting so strangely in the days before she disappeared? Was she suffering from some type of mental illness? And, did she voluntarily runoff, or was she taken against her will? You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey there, it's Wayfair here, where delivery and setup are as easy as a few taps on your phone. You're relaxing in an old hammock, scrolling Wayfair's app, when you spot it, a brand new patio set. Next thing you know, Wayfair delivers it right to your patio and sets it up. Oh, you need a new grill, too? All right, Wayfair's got you covered. With Wayfair's room of choice delivery and fast experts set up on qualifying orders, life gets a little easier. Visit Wayfair.com or the Wayfair app. Wayfair, every style, every home. If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor,

Moms and Mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for. Hey guys, I'm Mandy. And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for Moms and Mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases as we shed light on everything from heist to whodunit. We're your go-to podcast for Mysteries with a Motherly Touch. Subscribe now to Moms and Mysteries wherever you get your podcast.

Hey there, this is Erica Kelly, host of Southern Fried True Crime. I cover contemporary and historical cases and I love listener suggestions. And like any good gossip, I'm interested in anyone and anything. Come join me as I explore the dark underbelly of the deep south. I'm a one-woman show in a narrative format, kind of like sitting by the fire and listening to a story. So pull up a chair and subscribe if you're interested. I'd love to have you. You can find me on any of your favorite podcast apps.

Just search for Southern Fried True Crime. Until then, you'll take care. Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 178 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Mr. Mike Morford, what is going on with you, brother?

Not too much. Been a little bit busy with the fake Zodiac news that came out yesterday. And you and I talked a little bit about that before. we started recording so that sort of took up part of my day and a lot of people were talking about it. What's new with you? Yeah, that's been obviously a big topic of conversation. Gibby and I were talking about it yesterday and I said, well, if anybody is going to know what's going on, it's more. You know, when you want to know the facts, you go to an expert on that subject and, you know, not to shoot your own horn, but I will. You're in that category when it comes to Zodiac because

you've spent a pretty good chunk of your life studying that case. Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. And it's unfortunate when you see big cases like that that grab a lot of people's attention. And you see stuff that's not true coming out every so often. So when I see that, I have to try and set the record straight. Yeah, which I think everybody appreciates. So we continue to see some great Patreon support.

Let's give shoutouts to Michaela, Kelsey Moore, Elsie Maughan, Stacey Bowman, Mary Mick, Sydney Davies jumped out at our highest level, Stephanie Farooley, and Thomas Murray. So more of some great new support. Yeah, we really appreciate that. That really helps the show out, and we can't thank you enough. And if anyone would like to support criminology, you can do so by going to patreon.com slash criminology. Just a reminder, CrimeCon Vegas is getting closer and closer. We'll be there on podcast Row from April 29th to May 1st.

But don't wait to get your tickets if you want to go and hang out with us. Yeah, tickets are going fast, and we've had people in our Facebook group mention that they're going to CrimeCon. And they're already making their plans, but people have asked how they can save a little bit of money on their trip. And fortunately, we can help a little bit. Just use our promo code criminology to save 10%. on your standard badges when you visit crimecon.com. But like Morp said, tickets are going fast, so don't wait. So Morp with all of that out of the way, let's jump right into this episode. A couple of episodes back, we covered the case of Gabby Petito,

who has been in the news recently due to her bizarre missing person's case that turned into a murder investigation. Sadly, although she was found deceased, she was found. She was found relatively quickly after she went missing. Today we're covering a strange missing person's case, but this is a case that has never been solved, the case of Asha Kramer, who vanished six years ago. In October of 2011, Australian Asha Kramer moved to California's San Francisco Bay Area. It was there that she met and fell in love with a man named Jemai Gale. The two moved to Albion, California in Mendocino County, $100,000. 50 miles north of San Francisco.

The couple lived there without incident, but that all changed by September 2015. That's when 26-year-old Asha started suffering from some kind of mental health crisis. Asha experienced bouts of insomnia, as well as periods with catatonic states. It got so bad that she was taken to the hospital at Fort Bragg, and doctors had to physically restrain her. Though she was obviously going through something,

Asha wasn't considered a threat to herself or others, so she was released. One of Asha's childhood friend, Sally Scales, tried to help Asha recover by getting her out of the house and spending time with her. Sally and Jemai thought that some fresh air and hot meal might do Asha some good. They went for breakfast at Rollerville Cafe, about 40 minutes south of Albion in Point Arena, California. Asha didn't really speak to either of them during their meal, and she also didn't eat anything. She excused herself and went to the bathroom, and that was the last time she was ever seen. So a little bit about Asha's background. Asha Kramer was born in Hilo, Hawaii on May 2nd,

1989 to Russell and Jeannie Kramer. She had one older sister named Gansy. In 1991, the Kramer family moved to Redcliffe, Australia. In 1996, Russell and Jeannie divorced. After she graduated high school, Asha moved to Malumbimbi, Australia. She worked at the arts factory where she and Gansy studied remedial massage. Soon, Gansy and Asha decided to move to California, which was sort of a spontaneous decision, but one that they were really excited about. In June 2011, Asha and Gansy flew to San Francisco, Asha found a job at Burke Williams Day Spa, and within weeks of arriving in the United States. She met Jemai Gail. Asha and Gansy ended up up attending a birthday party for Jemai, and he and Asha found that they had a lot in common.

Their mothers were both nurses. Their fathers were both musicians. They were both biracial, and it turned out that Asha had met Jemai's brothers as they traveled in Australia. So it was pretty easy to see why Asha and Jemai hit it off. Asha and Jemai moved in together, living in the Mission District of San Francisco. In 2013, they decided to move because the rent was too expensive in San Francisco. They found a listing on Craigslist for a little place in Albion and decided to jump on it.

Around the time of this move, Asha's mom, Jeannie, was concerned that Asha was smoking a lot of marijuana and voiced her concerns to Asha. But she apparently brushed off her mom's worries since she wasn't doing hard drugs. As we mentioned, in September 2015, Asha started to show signs of mental illness, which she was predisposed to develop since mental illness ran on both sides of her family. In the beginning of that month, she visited her sister Gansy in Los Angeles, eight hours and 15 minutes south of Albion to celebrate Gansy's birthday.

On September 6th, when Jemai picked Asha up from the visit, she talked about wanting to change her life, including specifically getting a driver's license and having better relationships with the people in her life. She was almost completely silent for the entire drive, though, which seemed extremely odd to Jemai. When they got back to Mendocino County, Asha seemed happy to be home. But back at home, Asha's mood remained off. Jemai had never seen Oshah so despondent. She was more reserved and more quiet than she had ever been before.

In conversations, Asha would mention to Jemai that she didn't trust her own judgment about anything anymore and that she was constantly thinking about her personal and relationship issues. She told Jemai that she wanted to have a child and get married, but that she wanted to go to a doctor because they had been having trouble while trying to conceive. Asha and Jemai talked about therapy, and Asha decided she was going to go. Two friends were scheduled to come visit Asha, Olivia Ponton, who was actually Gansi, friend that Asha had only met one time was coming to visit and so was Sally Scales, Asha's childhood friend. Asha felt nervous and she kept cleaning the house even though it was already clean. When Olivia visited, Asha still seemed depressed and her appetite had decreased enough for Jemida notice. Since she had returned from visiting L.A., Asha constantly woke up at 3 a.m.

in the morning, she was restless and unable to go back to sleep. And this was unusual because Asha had never had sleep issues before. Asha was very nervous about Sally's upcoming visit, which confused Jemai because Asha had always described Sally as being like a sister. Asha suggested that Sally should stay in San Francisco with Jami's mother instead of staying with them. She said it would be more comfortable. This was also odd to Jemai, especially when taking into account that Asha had bragged about their property and how it had multiple hot tubs. She had previously invited close friends to come visit her at any time, but was now acting like the place wasn't fit for company.

Jemai never really figured out why Asha didn't want Sally to stay with them. On September 16th, Jemai drove Asha to pick Sally up from San Francisco International Airport. The three had dinner at Jemai's mother's house. That evening, he talked with his mother about Osha. Asha's depression and asked that she tried to talk to Asha about it. The next day on the 17th, Jemai drove Asha and Sally to Mendocino. To shop at Harvest Market for cold cuts, wine, and cheese, Asha abruptly stopped browsing the store and went and sat out in the car.

Sally and Jemai talked about Asha's depressed mood. Sally wondered if Asha didn't like living so far away from the city. That night, Asha had two. two glasses of wine, but only a few mouthfuls of bread. The following day on September 18th, Aosha and Sally were sitting together in the room Sally was staying in, talking about their fathers, who had both died young, and Asha became catatonic while talking about her dad.

They were also looking through old photographs, when a photo of a white house apparently triggered a bad memory for Asha. Asha got up and went downstairs. Jemai was caught off guard when he heard Asha suddenly and unexpectedly talking about a childhood trauma involving sexual abuse. Asha said she had been molested as a child, but she made herself forget the incident. Jemaya had never heard her talk about this before. It worried him to see her this upset.

He told Asha that she should go talk to a doctor to help with what she was dealing with. And she agreed to go. Since it was a Friday, it would be hard to get an appointment before the weekend. Jemaya and Asha arranged to go see someone on Monday. Later that night after everyone had gone to sleep, Asha woke up and yelled, I haven't gotten over my father's death. And she would yell incoherent, nonsensical things each night after this. The following day on Saturday, September 19th,

Asha was still acting withdrawn and quiet while visiting with Olivia and Sally. Asha wouldn't respond when people spoke to her. and Jemai felt that her body language was odd and creepy. Asha would just shrug her shoulders and swing her wrist back and forth with her fingers spread wide. Jemai asked Asha if she felt like hurting herself and she said that she did. So he called a crisis hotline and tried to put her on the phone, but Asha wouldn't speak. Jemai was informed that his only option for her on the weekend was to take her to the emergency room, but Asha didn't want to go. Throughout the day, Jemai repeatedly checked to see if

Asha would go to the emergency room and each time she said no. So more if I think based on what we know, you know, it seems as though Jemai is trying to be a really good boyfriend. You know, he's noticing these changes. He believes that something is wrong. He's made calls. He's trying to check on, you know, what his best option, the best course of action is for Asha. I think the problem that a lot of people have in these situations is they want to help someone, but if that person is not receptive to the help. So in this case, going to the emergency room, well, what can you really do? Can you force someone to go to the emergency room?

and I would argue that it's pretty difficult. Yeah, and I think that based on him recognizing all that stuff that was going on had to be pretty out of the ordinary. So he spotted those warning signs, which means that to him, she was really off and needed that attention. On Sunday, September 20th, Jemai took Asha, Sally, and Olivia to Asha's favorite restaurant. Asha hardly ate anything during that meal and told Jami that she, she wanted to call her mom. They didn't have cell reception or date at the time, so Jemai told

Asha that as soon as they got home, she could call her mom. When they did arrive home, Jemai gave Asha the phone. She dialed 911 and quickly hung up. A dispatcher called back, but Asha wouldn't speak. Jemai asked Asha if he could take her to the emergency room, and this time she let him. Jemai explained the situation to the 911 dispatcher and then hung up. Jemai drove Asha to Mendocino Coast District Hospital. On the drive there, Asha told Jemai that she thought he had cheated on her in the beginning of their relationship. At the hospital in a triage room, Jemai explained the situation to a nurse who brought in a wheelchair for Asha to sit in. While she was being wheeled back into the emergency room, Asha suddenly stood up, stopping the wheelchair

and almost falling. Jemai coaxed her into the emergency room and she walked in. Just a few steps into the emergency room. Asha got very agitated and she started to back out into the nurses station while Jemai tried to tell a doctor about the situation and what Asha had been experiencing, including her recent behavior, Asha ran out of the emergency room. Jemai couldn't convince her to go back inside and she wouldn't let him touch her either. So on the instruction of a nurse, He called 911 and followed her. Jemai saw Asha try to get into a car occupied by a family. They didn't know.

But the family drove away quickly. Another man saw Asha and pulled over to talk to her. And she pulled at his door handle to try to get in. But when he saw Jemai coming, he drove off. A police officer with the Fort Bragg Police Department responded to the chaotic scene. And after Jemai explained the city. situation, the officer tried to question Asha, but she would not or could not respond to any of the officer's questions. The officer made the decision to take Asha in on a 5150 hold, which in California

is the code that allows a person to be placed in a psychiatric care on an involuntary hold if they're a danger to themselves or others. The officer handcuffed Asha and took her to the hospital in the back of his squad car with Jemai sitting next to her. At the hospital, three staff members a paramedic, and two officers had to restrain Asha. The doctors asked Jemai for Osh's mental health history, and he told them that some of her family had manic episodes as well. The doctor asked Asha if she was seeing things or hearing things, and she responded saying that she wasn't hallucinating.

The doctor privately told Jemai that he believed Asha was experiencing a psychosis and a manic bipolar episode. Asha voluntarily gave a urine sample, and an orderly noticed that it was cloudy and orange, which could indicate a urinary tract infection. Asha repeatedly tried to leave, but the orderly kept telling her to sit down, and she would for a bit.

A psychiatric social worker finally arrived and asked if Asha was planning to hurt herself. Jemai informed the social worker that just before this social worker came into the room, he had asked, Asha, if she was planning on hurting herself, and Asha reached for a piece of nylon rope hanging from the ceiling, and he felt as if it was something the social worker should know about. Asha then started to ramble. I killed Joy and Eddie killed Joy.

Jemai chimed in telling the social worker that Eddie was their neighbor, Laurel Eddie Pratt, and his girlfriend was Joy May Taylor, and that they were both at home safe and unharmed. While the social worker completed paperwork, Asha started reaching for the nylon rope again. When it was time for Asha to sign the document, the social worker had filled out. She simply scribbled all over the paper. Jemai was shocked and horrified at Asha's actions and behavior, and it was obvious to him that Asha was in no shape to be released. The social worker talked to Ash about two suicidal patients he had evaluated.

that day, as if to scare her about the people who would be in the psychiatric ward with her, and he asked her if she wanted to visit a psychiatric facility or get released from the 51-50 hold. Asha responded, saying she didn't want to be lonely. The social worker asked an emergency room doctor to authorize a drug called Adivan for Asha, but the doctor, for some reason, refused to prescribe it to Asha. A nurse came into the room and gave Jemai Asha's discharge paperwork. At this point, she had not actually been evaluated. and she hadn't received any kind of treatment yet, but she was being released from 51-50 hold.

And, Morp, this was, you know, part of the story that really kind of stood out to me. You have a young woman who is obviously experiencing something. Exactly what it is. I don't know. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a mental health professional. But, you know, just based on everything we've talked about, I don't think there's any doubt that she's experiencing some. something that at the very least she needs help with for a police officer to take someone in

on a 5150 hold. Obviously that police officer saw something pretty alarming. But then it's as if she's released without really being treated at all. I just didn't understand it. Yeah. And I think it must have been very difficult for Jemai too, because as much as he cared for, wanted to take care of her. I think having to deal with this, you're not a professional and don't know how to handle or treat it or go about making sure that she's okay. It just seems like a very stressful situation for him to have to go through to try and help her. Well, you know, and as a boyfriend, it really seems to me as though he was trying hard. You know, obviously he recognized that her behavior was off. it was odd for her.

And he seemed as though he was trying everything. But again, he's not a professional. He doesn't know exactly what to do. But I think you can see that he cared for her. And he definitely wanted her to get help. Yeah. It doesn't seem like a case where he just threw his hands up and said, okay, I'm done with this and just sort of ignored what was going on.

He put an effort to try and see that she got some kind of help, it seems like. Yeah, absolutely. I'm not seeing a neglectful boyfriend here at all. On the drive home, Asha told Jemai that she had cheated on him and had sex with one of his friends. She also started saying once again that she killed Joy. At one point, she tried to jump out of the car while they were on Middle Ridge Road, a very dark and rural road. Needless to say, this was a very hectic and stressful ride home for Jemai. And things didn't improve when the two of them got home. Jemai offered Asha Tylenol P.M. to help her sleep.

But she grabbed the whole bottle as though she wanted to take them all. And Jemai had to take the bottle away from her. While Jemai was cooking dinner, Asha reached into a drawer and grabbed a knife. Eddie, the neighbor that was dating joy, that Asha had been talking about having killed, came over and smoked a cigarette and tried to talk with Asha to help her feel better, but it didn't seem to help. And Asha did not improve as the night went on. Asha wouldn't change into her pajamas or go to sleep. And Jemai ended up staying up with her all night. A few times she went out and started her car, even though she didn't have a license to drive. Jemai went outside to check on her

and found her holding a candle, using it to burn a piece of paper. She turned the flame toward him, and Jemai got upset. Sally came down and she and Jemai tried to give Ayesha food, chocolate, some water, anything to try to help her feel better, but she threw all of it down. On September 21st, Jemai called his mom and asked her to talk to Asha. He was desperate for any kind of help. When Jemaya's mother spoke to Asha, Asha sounded upbeat, but Jemai felt she was only faking a happy tone of voice as she lied to his mother, claiming that the hospital had given her medication. Jemai took the phone and told his mom the truth about the situation, and she agreed that Asha needed some sort of medication immediately.

Jemai made a protein shake for Asha since she hadn't eaten much in days, but as she took a sip of it, she gave him a nasty cold stare before spitting it out. As Jemai cleaned up the mess, Asha slipped outside. When Jemai realized that Asha was gone, he raced outside and found her jacket in the middle of the street. He searched the house and the yard, but he couldn't find her. Jemai and Sally hopped in the car to search for Asha and finally found her walking on Middle Ridge Road. They placed Asha in the car and headed home. Just after they returned home, Asha disappeared again. And this time, Jemai found her standing behind a tree watching them searching for her.

Sally was clearly irritated by her friend's bizarre behavior and Jemai sensed it. So he suggested that he and Asha should walk their dogs, but Asha didn't want to. Instead, they sat on the porch. Jemai finally got Asha to talk and he asked her why she kept running away and she told him that she wanted to kill herself. Then she turned around and quickly ran away from him. Her sandals flew off, but she continued running on the rough gravel. As if it wasn't affecting her, wasn't hurting her bare feet at all, Jemai jumped up quickly and went after her. A while later, Asha came barreling back into the house out of breath, telling Sally and Olivia, who had come over for a visit, that she

had just felt like running, running on a jagged gravel road with bare feet. Jemai came in behind her. Sally suggested to Jemai that they should take a drive down the coast to help calm Asha, and Jemai remembered that Asha liked to sleep in the car a lot. He decided that a drive was a good idea and figured they'd go to the clinic as soon as they returned. While Jemai was pulling away from their home, Eddie stopped to talk to them, telling Jemai, do not let her out of your sight. Jemai, Asha, and Sally headed south on Highway 1. It was morning, so they stopped for breakfast, hoping that I. Asha would eat something with their usual morning coffee. They stopped near the Point Arena Lighthouse and dined at the Rollerville Cafe. Sally talked with the waitress, but Asha didn't say anything except to order. She also didn't eat the food when it arrived at the table at some point during their meal. And Alaskan fishermen came over and talked to them about fishing in the Arctic. And Asha started laughing very strangely.

Like she was laughing and crying at the same time. When they were done eating, Sally asked a waitress where the restroom was. And when she opened the door of the restaurant to go around to the bathroom, Asha told Jemai that she was going to the bathroom too. This was sometime between 10.30 and 11 a.m. When Asha walked out the side door of the Rollerville Cafe, thinking that Asha and Sally were in the restroom together, Jemai went out to the car. And while he was sitting there by himself, he remembered Eddie's warning. Don't let her out of your sight.

So he decided to go back to the restaurant to check on her when he saw Sally walking to the car alone. Jemai frantically asked Sally where Asha was. And Sally said that she never saw Asha after she went to the bathroom. The two tried to calmly assess the situation and confirmed with each other that Osha wasn't wearing shoes. so they didn't think she could have gone for her. They found her jacket on the ground on the road that leads to the point in... In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency?

We just walked in the door, and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved, until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, Blood and water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Jemai and Sally searched the area near the restaurant, including the streets, the fields, and the forested areas for almost three hours. Sally was getting tired, so she bought a coffee at the Rollerville Cafe before they headed back to Albion. The restaurant was close to Highway 1, so it was possible that Asha could have walked out of the Rollerville Cafe and straight to the highway,

where she hitched like to ride north to her home in Albion. When Jemai and Sally arrived home, Oshah wasn't there. Welcome to another round of Drawingboard or Mero Board. Today we talk brainstorms with U.X designer Brian. Let's go. First question. You thought you'd see everyone's idea in the team brainstorm, but you've got a grand total of one.

Drawing board or Mero board. Drawing board, right? Because in Mero, the team can add ideas now or later. And with privacy mode, we can keep them anonymous in team. until they're good to share. Correct. Next, you need the best way to explain your idea, but all you have is a few sticky notes.

Drawing board or Mero board? Drawing board? Because, you know, in Mero, I could record videos at text, images, links, and digital sticky notes, of course. Present my thoughts the way I want. Right again! Now, you're looking for a past idea

you thought was just genius. Only you could find... Oh, there it is. Drawing board or Miro. All our finished and unfinished work lives in one place. And he's one. Join over 60 million people getting ideas noticed in Mero brainstorms.

Get your first three boards for free at Miro.com. That's MIRO.com. This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. You know when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself? Talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start?

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Save $80 with code space 80 at Talkspace.com. Sally stayed at the house in Albion to wait for Asha in case she came home and Jemai headed back down to Point Arena to search for her. On his way, he called 911 to report Asha missing. Jemai parked at the Point Arena Lighthouse and for around two hours he searched between the Point Arena Lighthouse and the Rollerville Cafe. Amendicino County Sheriff's Deputy was also searching the area for Asha after Jemai's 911 call, but there was no sign of Asha anywhere. There was also nothing to point out which way she had headed once she walked out of the side door of the Rollerville Cafe.

After Jemai returned to Albion and Sally confirmed that Asha had still not come home, He used to find my phone app and saw that Asha's phone was near their property somewhere, but they were unable to find it. On September 23rd, two days after Asha disappeared, Jemai found her iPhone in some bushes on their property, but he believed that Asha had dropped it there before she vanished. A dishwasher at the Rollerville Cafe came forward and stated that he believed he saw Asha talking on her cell phone on the day she went missing. So I think more based on that, there's only two options. Either this dishwasher was mistaken or somehow Asha returned to the property with her phone

where it was found two days after she vanished. Now, what's unclear is whether the police ever checked the phone for evidence or clues. We just don't have that information. Yeah, I think that two-day period had to be unbelievably stressful and hectic for Jemai. To have to wonder where Asha's at and what's going on with her if she's safe. And then to find her phone two days later right close to your home, I think that only raised more questions and maybe had him wondering when and how that phone got there. And maybe in his mind he was wondering if she had come back home somehow and he had missed her. Well, you know, more of you and I, we do a lot of cases. We do a lot of missing persons cases,

always stressful, right? When someone in your life goes missing. I think what's a little different about this case is the days leading up to when she disappeared, there were a lot of strange things going on, right? Her behavior was strange. It was odd. So Jemai and other people in her family. were dealing with all of that as well. That had to have been very stressful. And then obviously when she disappeared, that's extremely stressful. So you really feel for Jemai. Because in a short period of time,

this is a guy who went through a lot. And now is dealing with the fact that his girlfriend is missing. Like you said, this cell phone is very mysterious. Yeah, I think they also have. a hurdle in the terrain because this sounds like an open area with different bodies of water, fields, things like that, not lots of people and homes as far as the eye can see. So it seems like there was any number of places between where she vanished in her home that she could have

gotten injured or fallen down or hidden. On the night of September 22nd, Osh and Jumei's two dogs got loose and ran away. Asha's German Shepherd never returned, but their other dog did. It's been theorized that Asha returned to Albion, took her dog, and then disappeared. But Jemai believes this is impossible because of the neighbors in the area have security cameras that caught Asha's dog running away, so they would have likely caught Asha returning to her home as well. While police were on the lookout for Asha, Jami continued to search for her as well, creating missing persons flyers with her photo and information on them and handing them out along Highway 1. Asha's friends and family, Asha's mother and Jemai's mother, all arrived in Albion to search for

Asha. Jemai's mom picked up Asha's mom, Jeannie from the airport in San Francisco, less than 48 hours after Asha had gone missing. They didn't waste any time making plans on how to help in the search for Asha. On September 24th, Eddie, the neighbor came over and told Jemai that the morning Asha disappeared before they left for the Rollerville Cafe, he had found Asha trying to get into a trailer on his property. He said, she made a series of confessions to him, including that Jemai beat their German Shepherd dog, and that she had killed Joy, his girlfriend, who, as we've already mentioned, was very much alive.

She also detailed out to him a very graphic description of her childhood sexual abuse. Eddie was aware that Asha had been involuntarily held for psychiatric reasons. So he just put his jacket on her shoulders and told her that she should go home. Asha dropped his jacket and left it on the ground and just walked away. Jemai told Asha's mom and her sister, Gansy, about what Asha had told Eddie. But Jeannie felt that Jemai was deflecting responsibility by bringing up the claims of childhood molestation. Jeannie had no knowledge of any such incident in Asha's childhood. On October 2, an anonymous woman called Jemai, she was 100% sure that she saw Asha in Gulala, California around September 25th.

Gulala is just 20 minutes south of Point Arena, the opposite direction that anyone had looked on Highway 1. This woman claimed to have seen Asha at a supermarket getting into an older news. on green car with four surfboards on top. An older man was driving. Employees at the supermarket there were shown a photo of Asha, and while they thought she looked familiar, no one there was even sure if it was Asha, or if and when the person that appeared to be Asha had gone into the store. Mendocino County Sheriff's public information officer Gregory Van Patten confirmed publicly that Jemai was not considered a person of interest, nor was there anything to suggest he was connected to her disappearance in any way.

Officer Van Patten theorized that Asha simply walked into the ocean, perhaps to harm herself, had been abducted, or left the cafe that day intent to disappear of her own free will. And more things didn't get easier for Jemai. Because just weeks after Asha's death, disappearance, he was in a serious car accident and was badly injured. The dog that had run off but returned home was riding with Jemai and was killed in the accident.

Jemai recovered from the accident and continued to search for Asha without success. In a bizarre twist in September 2018, Asha and Jemai's neighbor, Laurel Eddie Pratt Ryan, was reported missing. He was last seen in late September in Albion, California. out the Albion store where he said he was going to Port Bragg. His motorcycle, van, and his dog were still at home. Days after Eddie was last seen, his dog was found by a neighbor, starving and dehydrated. There are rumors online that Joy Taylor, Eddie's girlfriend, and the girl Asha said she killed or saw Eddie kill, is also missing.

The rumor was fueled by the fact that Joy wasn't at the house with the dog when Eddie went missing. She's never been officially reported missing, but online posts by people. people claiming to be family members of hers, confirm that she's been missing since 2015. It's also worth mentioning other comments from people claiming to be family members also state that Joy was not missing at all. She was in prison. Either way, we don't know what her status is.

Laurel Eddie Pratt Ryan, however, remains missing to this day. So Morph, this definitely adds a new wrinkle. First of all, it's very strange. Some of the things that people claim Asha was saying before she did, disappeared. You know, specifically this part about, you know, I killed Joy, I killed Eddie, Eddie killed Joy. I mean, there's, there was a number of different things there. And then all of a sudden, Eddie goes missing. There are rumors that Joy is missing, unconfirmed, but rumors. You'd have to say that's pretty odd. Yeah, I don't know what the odds are of neighbors so close together going missing.

Now, they didn't go missing at the same time. Their time of going missing is spread out a little ways, but it still seems odd that two people that live so close to each other would go missing. And then the whole status as we talked about of joy, not being able to get a clear answer on what's going on there, just adds to the confusion. Yeah, I absolutely agree. Asha's disappearance is considered a cold case at this time,

but has gained popularity online and in true crime circles, thanks to the Netflix documentary Murder Mountain. The documentary included an interview with Jeannie, who was searching for her missing daughter, and footage of her handing out flyers in Garberville, California, two hours north of Albion up Highway 1. Central to Murder Mountain is Alder Point, California, a census designated place in Humboldt County,

about three hours north of Albion and almost four hours north of where Asha was actually last seen in Point Arena. Humboldt County has a thriving black market for marijuana and much of the documentary is focused on the murder of 29-year-old cannabis grower, Garrett Rodriguez. Van Patten has stated that to think Asha could be connected to Alder Point or that her disappearance could be connected to the other disappearances and the homicides documented in Murder Mountain would be, quote, a pretty big stretch. It's pretty clear that Asha was going through something mentally. She wasn't sleeping or eating, and her confessions of killing her very much alive neighbors, Joy and Eddie, showed that something was seriously wrong with her memory or perception. While mental illness runs on both sides of Asch's family, it's important to note that an orderly at the emergency room thought that she

could have had a urinary tract infection. Altered mental status is one of the most common signs of urinary tract infection, especially for patients who are elderly or who already have some form of mental illness. The infection can cause agitation, confusion, or withdrawal. All signs that Asha was exhibiting. A manic episode, as was suggested at the emergency room, can cause lack of appetite and less need for sleep and increased energy. But it's commonly known to cause people to be more talk.

talk of an outgoing, where Asha was withdrawn and quiet. A manic episode is not in itself psychosis, but it can trigger psychotic episodes, and if someone gets to the point of psychosis, they should not be released from the psychiatric hold. Asha's father had suffered a psychotic break of some kind shortly before his death at a young age, so whether Asha had previously shown any signs of mental illness, a urinary tract infection could have definitely caused or exacerbated her symptoms. No credible sightings of Asha have been reported recently. If it was her that day in Guala and she was trying intentionally to escape her life, she could have walked the 16 miles in five hours, especially if she was walking quickly due to anxiety, agitation, or just wanting to get a

head start on anyone looking for her. Asha's family related to the Mendocino County Sheriff's office that she may be using a false name. The details of this false name are not clear, but are said to be connected to a reported mental health incident just before she disappeared. But more like with many things in this case, you know, that information has not been expanded on publicly. So it's a little murky exactly what all of that entails. Yeah, I wonder if part of that is due to, you know, a person's medical history and mental history, keeping that stuff private, a lot of places choose not to release that information. Yeah, that very well could be. It could be something to do with the hippo laws. I don't know. If Asha didn't intentionally walk away, but rather had a psychotic break, where is she? It would seem likely that people someplace would report seeing a woman acting radically.

Something still had to happen or after she. she walked out of the cafe. If she harmed herself and took her own life, where is her body? Of course, Asha could have met with foul play as well. Like in so many disappearance and homicides, a lot of people immediately looked at Jemai as a suspect since he was Asha's boyfriend. It's been reported that the relationship between Jemai and Asha's mom, Jeannie Kramer, was strained, and Jeannie has openly stated that Jemai was abusive towards

Asha. Although Jeannie doesn't suspect, at least publicly, that Jemai was in. involved in her disappearance, but rather his behavior and treatment toward her daughter contributed to her voluntarily leaving while she was vulnerable. Jeannie has never expanded on why she believes this, only that she received bits and pieces of information after Asha's disappearance that led her to this conclusion. Jemai has always maintained that he was never abusive towards Asha. It seems from all the available info that Jemai was very patient with her and whatever she was going through encouraging her to get help and taking her for treatment.

When she vanished, he searched for her for hours. Jeannie did seem to have suspicions about Asha's cell phone and whether it was her only phone as well as wondering whether Jemai had deleted anything from the phone. It does seem a little odd that she had an iPhone with the Find My Phone app enabled, but they didn't think to use it until they got back to Albion. And even then, it took a couple of days to find the phone only for it to be later revealed that it had been lying in the bushes on the property for days. And Morph, I kind of understand this. You know, a parent is going to be suspicious when their child vanishes.

I think that's very natural. You know, I'm thinking about this iPhone, the find my phone app. You know, would that be the first thing that pops into your head? I don't know because I think, you know, in that situation, you're frantic with worry. So are you thinking as clearly as you would be if you were not in that situation? My answer would be probably not. And then, you know, I've used that before to find my phone. Does it tell you that it's in bushes?

No, I don't think it does. I think it gives you a location, but it's not. like a GPS tracking device where, you know, you can lead you exactly to where it is from my understanding from the times that I've used it. Yeah, it can tell me it's, it's a, you know, at my house or around my house. I don't even know that it's that specific sometimes. Sometimes it'll show that I'm at a neighbor's house when I'm not. But so telling me that it is at my house, well, it's not going to tell me that it's in the seat cushion. Right. So I guess that's kind of the point that I'm getting at.

Yeah, it's not like there's some kind of beacon that rings to say, you know, come find me here and you can walk right up to it. I think there's actually far more precise apps that a lot of kids use so parents can track them that will tell them live statistics right up to that to the minute and can more closely pinpoint a location within feet. So I think there's definitely things out there that would be more accurate for for pinpointing someone or their phone. Yeah, my family actually uses one that not only tells you where somebody is, it tells you how fast they're going if they're driving in a car. There's also some features that tells you where they've been,

which to me would be very helpful in a situation like this. Jeannie also recalls that Jemai told her about six different stories about what happened to Asha's dog. The last reports about her dog online claim that Eddie the neighbor ended up with the German Shepherd, but it's unclear why Jemai didn't just get the dog back from him. Jeannie also has voiced frustration that Sally and Jemai's stories don't seem to be consistent. According to the Facebook page, helped find Asha Kramer, Asha has been spotted as recently as March 2021 in Ukiah and Upper Lake California. The woman believed to be Asha has a right-sided limp and is often seen in the company of homeless individuals. Again, there's no indication from law enforcement that this is a credible citing of Asha,

but Jeannie Kramer believes that her daughter, Asha, is alive and living in Lake County, California, east of Mendocino County. At the time of her disappearance, Asha Kramer was 5 foot 10, about 135 pounds, with curly thick brown hair, brown eyes, a gap in her front tooth, and she spoke with a soft Australian accent. She has a tattoo on her right wrist of the red outline of a triangle. If you have any information about the disappearance of Asha Kramer or her current whereabouts, please contact the Mendocino, Sheriff's Office at 707, 463, 4611, and be sure to reference case number 2015-23867. Jeannie Kramer has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to Asha's return. You can also email Jeannie directly at genie.cramer at gmail.com. she and the help find Asha Kramer Facebook page take protecting their tipsters and sources,

identities, seriously. So morph as we wrap up this episode on Asha Kramer, obviously there's a lot of mystery to her disappearance. I think first off, you have to talk about some of the things that were going on with her, some of the behaviors that she was displaying up to the time where she disappeared. There was definitely something going on in her life, whether that was a urinary tract infection that caused confusion or whether she was experiencing some form of mental illness at the time. I keep going back to some of the statements that she reportedly made about killing. people, killing her neighbors.

When these people were most definitely alive at the time she made the statements, you know, some of the stuff is just so very strange. And, you know, you think about Jemai. Obviously, he went through a lot. I get it. Jeannie has suspicions of him, but it doesn't sound as though the police do. So assuming he had nothing to do with Asha's disappearance, You know, the guy seemed like a caring boyfriend who was trying to do everything in his power to get her help.

I'm kind of confused as to why more wasn't done to help her when she actually did go in to try to get treatment. Yeah, I think it's safe to say that without treatment, whatever she was experiencing likely would have gotten worse. and wherever she was, if she was alive out there someplace, it seems to me very likely that someone would have called the police or called some kind of medical personnel to get her help because I think that mental illness or whatever she was suffering, that breakdown would have been very visible to someone. So I wonder if it's possible that somehow,

some way she was taken into custody at some point, and is in a hospital someplace and they just haven't identified her. And if she's there being treated or being cared for and somehow they just haven't found her. Yeah, I don't know. I think the other options or scenarios that you have to discuss, one is foul play, right? Did she leave the cafe, hit your ride and meet with foul play at some point? Or has she really been seen as some people claim that they've seen her and she's living some type of nomadic existence, maybe, you know, blending in with some sort of homeless population.

I know some parts of California have very large homeless populations. I don't think it's out of the question that that's a possibility. Yeah, I think one major thing that would help people spot her would be talking with her and hearing her accent. Again, depending on how thick her Australian accent was, that seems like something that would stand out because how many Australian people you're going to talk to in California. You know, that might be homeless. It seems like something that would be a big clue. Although, you know, I've heard, you know, people like Mel Gibson doing an interview and you can barely hear an accent in his voice, in my opinion. So maybe she didn't have that heavy an accent that would be

noticed by everyone. Now, the other thing that I thought about was, you know, she's five foot 10. So, you know, fairly tall, right, for the average woman. That kind of stands out a little bit, I think. So it's frustrating, right? Because it does seem like there are a few things that would help identifier you could throw in this this red triangle tattoo that would be pretty noticeable as well this is one of those very mysterious cases because we don't know what happened we don't know if she's alive we don't know if she was taken or if she even you know at this point really knows who she is we don't know yeah unfortunately there's a lot more questions than answers here Yeah, absolutely.

Thanks goes out to Sunny Landon for writing and research assistance in this episode. If you love the show, but you haven't done so yet, please take a minute, go out, give us a five-star review. Keep telling your friends. Word of mouth about the criminology podcast goes a long way. If you want to find us on social media, we're on Twitter with the handle at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Criminology Podcast or by joining our Facebook discussion group. Criminology podcast discussion and fans. So Morf, that's it for our episode on Asha Kramer.

But we'll be back with everyone next Saturday night with a brand new episode of criminology. So until then for Mike and Morph. We'll talk to you next week. Take care, everyone.