Going West: True Crime - Alexis Gabe // 224 (Happening Now)

Episode Date: August 6, 2022

In January of 2022, a 23-year-old woman living in the Bay Area went missing after being spotted on surveillance footage at a local gas station. The next day, her car was found abandoned on a dead-end street with the keys in the ignition, but she was nowhere to be found. Throughout the investigation, police discovered numerous suspicious clues leading to one specific suspect. This is the story of Alexis Gabe. BONUS EPISODE patreon.com/goingwestpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Thank you so much everybody for tuning in today and thank you to Tegan and Alex for recommending this one We probably got a bunch of recommendations on our socials as well since this case is very recent So thank you to anyone who has tried to send us this case and this is an ongoing investigation With updates actually is recent as like a week ago So hopefully the family will have answers soon and we will keep you guys posted on any new Development and the best place to see those updates are on our socials So make sure to go follow us yes

Make sure you follow our socials you can find us on Instagram at going West podcast and on Twitter at going West pod We also have a Facebook discussion group where you can share your thoughts on these cases Yes, and please don't forget to share this episode. Alexis's family is so desperate to find out what happened to her and they're so wonderful and working so hard on this case, so please share. All right, well, let's talk about it. All right, guys, this is episode 224 of Going West, so let's get into it. In January of 2022, a 23-year-old woman living in the Bay Area went missing after being spotted on surveillance footage at a local gas station. The next day, her car was found abandoned on a dead end street with the keys in the ignition,

but she was nowhere to be found. Throughout the investigation, police discovered numerous suspicious clues leading to one specific suspect. This is the story of Alexis Gabe was born on March 17, 1998 to parents Rowena and Gwyn Gabe, who are originally from the Philippines, and she was the only daughter and middle child in between older brother Gwyn Marcus and younger brother Gwyn Austin. Alexis grew up in the East Bay region of San Francisco, aptly named for being east of the city, and attended Liberty High School in Brentwood, which is about an hour north east of the city. Her family lived in Oakley, California on the shores of the San Joaquin River,

which eventually leads into the San Francisco Bay. It's located in Contra Costa County, one of the nine counties that make up the Bay area, and host a population of about 45,000 people, so not too big, not too small. The Gabe family loved music, especially Alexis. Her dad, Gwynn, is a talented singer, and the family love to cheer him on at karaoke. He's also recording multiple songs as a tribute to his daughter, which can be found on her Facebook page if anybody wants to hear that. Gwen said she was most fond of the oldies throughout her young life, and Alexis was very artistic, and she loved taking photos and painting, and even

has a website dedicated to her art pieces, and if you like to check those out as well, you can find them at AlexisGabe.Cravado.com. That's CRVADO.com. She was beloved in her hometown in hundreds, if not thousands of people left comments, on the Instagram and Facebook pages dedicated to her memory, celebrating what a kind, joyful, beautiful young woman she was. Outside of her artistic endeavors, she had a blossoming career in healthcare. At the time of her disappearance, she had just graduated from nursing school, but before that, had dabbled in multiple different training programs in the medical field.

According to her Facebook, she also studied at Los Madanos College, which is a community college in Pittsburgh, California, another town on the banks of the San Joaquin River, only about a 15-minute drive from her hometown of Oakley. Her Facebook states that she received her EKG or Electrocardiogram certification from ControCosta Medical Career College. In this training, would basically certify her to perform electrocardiography tests to gauge how well a heart is pumping.

She would have also been trained in performing stress tests and assisting doctors in diagnosing and treating cardiac issues. In 2018, Alexis started dating a young man named Marshall Curtis Jones. Now Marshall was from Antioch, California, which is only about a 10-minute drive west of Oakley in the direction of San Francisco. According to her dad, Gwen, Marshall fit in perfectly with the family, and Alexis' brothers

and cousins with whom the family were very close really took a liking to him. Alexis and Marshall were together for three years, but in November of 2021, they called it quits for, you know, undisclosed reasons. However, as couples sometimes do, they continue to see each other here and there. And a little over three years is a long time for, you know, the family to get to know him, especially if everybody lives in the area. Sure, they knew him pretty well. Yeah, for him to, like, become a part of the family to get to know him, especially if everybody lives in the area. Sure, they knew him pretty well. Yeah, for him to become a part of the family with her entire family.

So that's a lot of time to do that. So on the chilly evening of Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Alexis stopped by the Chevron gas station on Lone Tree Way in Antioch to fill up her car. Now she can be seen on the surveillance footage standing next to her light blue Infinity Sedan, filling up at pump 12 at 6.23 pm. And then checking out inside the convenience store of the gas station at 6.25 pm. And we have photos of both of these moments which we posted on our socials if you want to see, you know, this is the last time she was spotted and it is

called on camera. 23 year old Alexis then headed to her ex boyfriend Marshall's house. Just minutes down the road from the gas station on Ben Tree Way. Marshall claims that Alexis left his house around 9 pm, so about three hours after arriving. All a lesson three, maybe like two and a half. But she never made it home to her parents in Oakley that night. Alexis' parents called Marshall when she failed to come home, but he just told them that she had already left. So naturally, the Gaves started panicking, thinking that something could have happened to her on the drive back. So they reported her missing because again, they trust Marshall,

they know him, they've known him for years and he is saying, I don't know where she is, she left my house a while ago. So why would they not believe this? So they're thinking what happened to her on the way home then? Did she get into an accident possibly, did somebody take her? Right, and she didn't contact them, so that made them worry even more. Exactly, so even though she's an adult, there's like something had to have happened

if she's not here, so they reported her missing. And by the next day, this tight knit family had already formed a search party to find her. Like they, they just knew that something was going on and they collected all these people to go out and look for her in the area. But what they found was an alarming clue as to what might have happened to her. They found her light blue infinity sedan with the doors unlocked and the keys still in the ignition. But there was no sign of Alexis.

And that's obviously very, very hard because- Oh my God, to find her car empty. Well, and you're thinking, if something did happen, like maybe her car broke down or something like that, the keys probably wouldn't be in the ignition. No, she would have taken them. So off the bat, this is extremely alarming. Absolutely.

So Alexis' older brother described the disturbing discovery by saying quote, as soon as my parents got there, my dad was like, open the trunk. So I unlocked the trunk and opened it up, and nothing was there. Nothing there. Yeah, that moment it was harrowing for sure. And just to have her dad say, open the trunk to have that feeling of, is she did somebody put her in here and she's dead in the trunk You know what I mean? It's dream panic so scary so

Strangely her car was found on Trenton street Which is a residential street back in Oakley not far from the home that she shared with her parents Instead of an anti-ocke where she had last been seen again these areas like you I think he said it I think they're close to each other. It's like 10 minutes apart or so. So it's definitely not far, but. But it is kind of weird that. It's more in town.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like the car was found in Oakley. Right. So attempts to ping Alexis' iPhone showed that it was either off or not working. At the time, it seemed as if it may have been a random attack or even an accident, but the tide of the investigation changed quickly.

The Gabe family wasted no time getting involved in doing what they could to aid police in their search. And you know, all families are devastated at the loss of one of their own, every family handles it differently, and we're not here to please or critique how any other family graves, especially since many people don't have the proper resources to do so, but this family has done so much to search for their missing loved one. Yeah, they've gotten on so many different new stations and are just really out there with search parties, like I said, just trying to find or doing everything they can, putting so much of their time and taking their time away from everything else because

this is obviously the most important thing. Yeah. And almost immediately, a friend of the family established a GoFundMe page, and the family started both a Facebook, sorry, Facebook, a Facebook and an Instagram page for information and updates. So they were really trying to put it out there on social media. They organized search parties to look for Alexis or any evidence that may be pertinent in the case

of her disappearance by foot. And they also provided meals to their volunteers. So that was really cool of them as well, to like make sure that these volunteers were fed and it could keep searching. These are good, good people. So they also circulated missing posters. They held vigils. And when March 17th rolled around, searching. These are good, good people. So they also circulated missing posters they held

vigils and when March 17th rolled around, they hosted an event to honor her on the day that she would have turned 24 years old. Family, friends and community members searched the area with gloves and metal detectors and others brought food and water to those donating their time. With the help of donations, the family was able to convince the Oakley Police Department to raise the reward for information from $10,000 to $100,000. So, police began their investigation immediately. You know, they pursued interviews with friends and family, and they included her ex-boyfriend Marshall, the last person

to see her. When asked about Alexis' day, her older brother, Gwen Marcus Gabe, explained that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He stated, quote, it was like a regular day. She asked if she had male at the post office. So you know, for Alexis, this wasn't like, it was very clear that she didn't go off on her own and she wasn't trying to get away from anything. It was just a normal day for her. She was just going to her ex-boyfriend's house like she had been doing, you know, here and there since they broke up,

months earlier, and that was really it. So no belongings or clothing of hers were found in or around her car, except for, of course, the keys in the ignition, which casted a wide net for her whereabouts. Her brother, Gwen Marcus, also stated, quote, �This doesn't feel real. I'm seeing her poster all over the place and I'm seeing her on the news. My parents from the start were just extremely worried. It just is getting worse and worse, and now a lot more darker thoughts are starting to

enter my parents' minds. Gwen's girlfriend Morgan, who's very close with the family as well, said quote, no words. But not everybody was so helpful. Marshall never once offered to aid in the search. And you know, some might be thinking that this isn't so weird since they weren't officially together anymore, but they were still seeing each other. And either way, this is someone you cared about and were with for a while, you know her family. So to not help at all just seems very cold, especially considering he was the last person to see her.

So it's not like you hadn't seen her in months or something and you had a horrible falling out and you don't care where she's at. Like you're literally the last person to see her. So you not helping just makes you look really suspicious. Absolutely. I totally agree. And you know, like you said, spending three years together with her and being around her family. And then just, you know, like you said, spending three years together with her and being around her family, and then just, you know, again, being the last person to see her is so insane that you wouldn't step forward and say,

listen, you know, I'm gonna do everything in my power to help you guys out. Right. Makes me make some look really bad, like I said. And suspiciously, he was also, according to police, reluctant to speak with them, although he did more than once. He also didn't want to grant them permission to search his anti-yog home, which could, you know, allude to him hiding something, or at least that's what the family

and police kind of pondered. However, he eventually allowed this, and on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, six days after Alexis' disappearance, police served him a warrant at his home on Ben Tree Way. The very place where Alexis had supposedly last been seen, and during this search, multiple bags of evidence and a vacuum were seized from Marshall's home. But police still hadn't named him as an official suspect, and there was still no sign of Alexis. As the days passed, the Gabe's hope

of finding her alive kind of dwindled. Her brother, Gwen Marcus, said that his mother had been up all night crying every single night since the disappearance of her daughter. His girlfriend, Morgan, told a publication reporting on the search warrant, quote, it's like a lot of adrenaline in the beginning. since the disappearance of her daughter. His girlfriend Morgan told a publication reporting on the search warrant, quote, it's like a lot of adrenaline in the beginning.

You know, you're just kind of on autopilot, doing anything that you can. Today is hitting pretty hard. For their efforts, police were rewarded with another clue. Surveillance footage, I mean, this part's huge. Surveillance footage that appears to show a man walking away from Alexis's car on the evening she disappeared. They described him as between five foot 11 inches and six feet tall with a slim build and dark skin. He was wearing an oversized jacket, a knit cap, and an N95-style face mask with

a dark beard, or sorry, protruding from beneath. So you could see under his face mask that he did have a beard. Now based on this new information, the investigation finally had a potential suspect. I mean, somebody walking from her car where it was left is obviously very big to the case because this is probably the person who put her car there. Oh, and it's the biggest thing that they had yet. Absolutely. So given the description, you may be wondering what Alexis's ex-boyfriend Marshall looked like.

And as always, we posted pictures on her Instagram, but to save you the work, he looks like what I just described the suspect looked like. But police couldn't question him again even if they wanted to, because Marshall had fled the state. Welcome back. Okay, this is Daphne on Release Day. So we recorded this episode a few days ago, but since then, aka this morning just hours ago, some more information was released about this case, so I just wanted to keep you guys most up to date and include what has just been released.

So I don't know if I mentioned it already or if I'm going to in a little bit in this episode, I tried to find the spot but I couldn't. We mentioned that other than the surveillance footage of Alexis's car being abandoned as well as her at Chevron earlier that evening. There is also additional information and footage that police had not released. So they did just release some more information and actually an official timeline in her disappearance. So I'm going to go ahead and read to you guys what we have here after Alexis went to the Chevron. So at 6.29 pm, Alexis left chevron and drove

to Aniach. And again, this is to go to Marshall's house. And it is said that Alexis passed several surveillance cameras between that chevron and Marshall's home. Now, just a few minutes later, about eight minutes later, at 6.37pm, Alexis arrived at Marshall's house on Venturiway in Antioch and turned off the engine of her infinity, so they do have this data from her car, and from there her phone continued to be on an active in the area of Marshall's home. Now, about two and a half hours later, at 9.10 pm, Marshall's iPhone began a one-hour and 59-minute phone call to his dad.

So, he essentially spoke with his dad from about 9.10 pm to 11.10-ish pm. So, again, this is about two and a half hours after she arrived so that just makes us wonder what he is talking to his dad about for so long you know of course not weird to talk to somebody on the phone for a couple hours but because this is the time that it is believed that he would have you know potentially murdered a lexas was he asking for advice was he telling him what happened you know that's what we can speculate on so

the iphone has i guess this feature where it logs every time that the phone lights up from sensing motion so ten minutes after this phone call began between marshal and his dad at nine twenty p.m. this was the last uh... logged what is called lift to wake. So police believe that Marshall was not holding his phone or using it while he was on this call. 13 minutes into

the call with his father at 9.23pm, Alexis's infinity turned on and began moving. Now her cell phone also moved with the infinity's GPS that is in the car. So her phone was probably in the car and it passed several surveillance cameras showing that it was in fact driving just like the GPS was tracking. And the infinity made several turns down

a bunch of different streets before turning onto Trenton Street where it was later found. Historical DNA from the infinity's GPS shows Alexis always drove a specific way to Antioch and a specific way back home. So this is really cool because this proves that just based on the cars GPS every time that she went to Marshall's house and came home she went a specific way and This time her car leaving his house it went a different way back to Oakley So you know begs the question was she driving this car or was it Marshall? Now after this so that last update was at 923 when she left begs the question, was she driving this car or was it Marshall?

Now after this, so that last update was at 9.23 when she left. Now at 9.35 pm, the infinity turned off. And seconds later, the driver exited the vehicle and walked northbound on Nourley Road, and no other person exited the car. By the way, all this information that I'm reading is coming from Cron 4, which is a news station local to the Bay Area, so that's where this is coming from. But you guys can find this timeline pretty much anywhere

online right now, a lot of different news channels are covering it. So this, after the car was parked, just about four minutes later at 9.39pm. The driver, who at this point is on foot, passed a surveillance camera at Oakley Road and Belden Lane. Now, as I stated earlier, the suspect looked a lot like Marshall, so police really do believe that he was the one who put Alexis's car where it was.

And at this time, the time that he would have been talking to his dad, his phone was not with him. So this is kind of the weird thing about this, is that his phone did not leave, like it didn't leave the area of his house between 9.20 PM and 11.09 PM. And 11.09 is when this call ended with his dad. So police believe that he did go out and take Alexis's car, but that he left his phone

at home. And this is really important because, as I had said before, his phone was not moving. The light-up feature was not occurring. So for any of us who are using our phone typically maybe we'll check it or at least will move in our phone will light up throughout a conversation especially a two-hour conversation so for this not to happen at all during the conversation would lead us to believe that maybe he had put his phone

down but this is interesting because did he call his dad just so that it made it look like he was home but he left to go abandoned Alexis's car and planted somewhere and you know this phone call with his dad was more of like an alibi because that's a really interesting angle here and to me that is what it seems like happened but let's go back a little bit so I like I said we were were just at 11.09 PM, but at 9.39 PM is when the man who looks like Marshall passed this surveillance camera after abandoning the vehicle.

And just a few minutes after this at 9.43 PM, Alexis's phone stopped transmitting data and at this point police believe it was just turned off. Now her phone record showed that her phone moved along the same path as the driver until the moment it was turned off. Again, this is a quote from Cron 4, but this would mean that after the car was abandoned, it was likely turned off and maybe disposed of somewhere immediately or disposed of somewhere later.

About 20 minutes after this, at 10.06pm, surveillance video on live Oak Road records the person who had exited that vehicle, the man in question, walking south. After this, this person is captured on surveillance video at Slatton Ranch Shopping Center still walking on foot. Then they show up on video again a few minutes later at 10.43pm and they are recorded on a Chase Bank surveillance camera still walking on foot. About 20 minutes after this, they're on Vista Grand Drive still walking on foot, so it looks like this person is potentially even walking home. And then at 11.09 pm is when Marshall's phone call with his father ends. As we mentioned earlier as well, Oakley from Antioch, depending where you are in both

cities, it's about 10 to 20 minutes by car. So from the area where, in Antioch, where Alexis's car was abandoned, and then in the same city is where Marshall lives. So I don't know exactly Marshall's home address, but from the time that the vehicle was abandoned to the time where Marshall hangs up with his dad is an hour and a half. And it seems like just actually six minutes before Marshall could have gotten home and hung

up that phone call, he was on Vista Grand Drive. So again, I don't know how close this is to his home. It's still in Antioch, so I would imagine it's not very far, but it seems very likely that Marshall did abandon her car and then walk home by himself, get home, and then hang up the call with his dad. Now about, let me do the quick calculation, seven minutes after this phone call ended between Marshall and his father at 11.16 pm. Marshall sent Alexis a text message and this said, did you make it home? Now this is around ish two hours after Marshall claimed to police that Alexis left his house.

I believe that was, he said around between 9 and 9.30 and this is at 11.16. And then 20 minutes later at 11.36 PM, Marshall called Alexis's phone and no one answered. And by this time her phone was still off. And it reportedly did not turn back on. Now there is some more information as well regarding the next day that I'm just going to go into a little bit here with you guys.

So the next day which was January 27th, 2022 at 8.15am, Alexis's mother Rowena called Marshall and actually asked him if he saw Alexis the day before. And Marshall allegedly said that Alexis was at his house the previous evening and after they got off the phone, Rowena then went and texted Marshall asking what time her daughter left his house and he told her that she left around 9 and remember at 9.23 pm is when Alexis's infinity was turned on and began moving until it was abandoned by the suspect. That same day on January 27th, so the day after Alexis has gone missing, at 1.02 p.m. is when the Oakley Police Department began their missing person's investigation for Alexis

Gabe. And just three hours later at 4.15, is when her infinity was found abandoned on Trenton Lane. Then the next day there is a pretty big update that has been released by police and this was so again, January 28th, 2022 at 1.21 pm, so 24 hours after the investigation into Alexis' disappearance began, Marshall arrived at his mom's house. When he got there, he backed his vehicle into the driveway and unloaded several large heavy garbage bags into her backyard and or garage. Then about four hours later at 503 pm, Then about four hours later at 5.03 pm, Marshall loaded those large garbage bags into his Ford Explorer while his mom was hosting like this karaoke party at her house.

And after that is when he went to his sister's house in Vacaville, which we're going to describe a little bit later here in today's episode. As you guys know by now, because we described it a little bit ago, on February 1st, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office did serve a search warrant at Marshall's house. But something they didn't release until this morning is that officers found small traces of blood in his home and the shower curtains in his bathroom were missing.

Now that is it for all of the updates on this case as of today. I think this timeline is super helpful, but everything we're going to discuss now and for the rest of the episode is what comes after this happened. While police tried to track down the only person of interest that they had, the Gabe family search party efforts started an extensive search around Oakley and the neighboring areas, focusing more closely on where her car was found, and where the only suspicious person had been seen. We just mentioned this in the episode about the humble county missing five, but back in episode 42 we covered the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Polly class, also in the Bay Area.

In Polly's memory, her family founded the Class Kids Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that conducts search and rescue operations for missing children, among many other services. Class Kids also sent volunteers to help search for Alexis Gabe, which ended up serving as another big break in this case. Two of the class kids volunteers found a shattered glass iPhone screen protector that belonged to Alexis iPhone 11 Pro Max, and the phone screen was located in Antioch near her ex-boyfriend Marshall's home. Although there was still no sign of her actual phone, this provided the clue that they needed.

Testing revealed that Marshall's DNA was on the screen. Just the fact that they found this broken screen protector, not even a phone, and tested it for DNA is incredible because obviously at first glance you have no idea who the screen protector belongs to. Yeah, I could belong to anyone in the area. Right, but it was Alexis, like that is mind blowing. So in addition to the DNA on the phone screen protector, or the phone screen protector, Antioch police announced that they started tapping Marshall's cell phone in late April, so within

a couple months of her disappearance. Police Chief John Beard also said that, in addition to the surveillance footage of the person they now believe to be Marshall, abandoning Alexis' car on Trenton Street, there was plenty of other digital evidence, including phone calls and more surveillance footage connecting Marshall to Alexis Gabe's disappearance and potential death. And of course, these things in particular have not been released since it isn't technically an ongoing investigation, but the fact that they were able to share that is very helpful for all of us who are wondering what they have.

Oh, yeah, definitely. But at this point, in April of 2022, Marshall was missing as well. Now, police received tips that he had visited California the previous month, but again, left the state. So it seems like he left and then came back and then left again. Yeah. So police chief John Beard also stated, quote,

he has refused to speak with us several times. This has done nothing but prolong our investigation. Police also discovered that Marshall was a registered gun owner, although he did not have a criminal history. In May of 2022, they located Marshall in Kent, Washington, staying at a friend's apartment. Now Kent is like a suburb of Seattle. It's about 40 minutes south of downtown Seattle, but a nearly 13 hour drive north from Antioch, California. So for those of you who are unfamiliar with West Coast geography, Washington is two states north of California.

As soon as Marshall was located, the East Bay Police Department in California asked the Pacific Northwest Police Department in Washington to serve and arrest warrant to Marshall Jones at the home of his friend. At 5.45 pm on June 1, 2022, the Pacific Northwest Violin Offender Task Force approached the apartment complex on the 3,500 block of South 220 second street just off of Interstate 5. Now, suspecting that he was dangerous and that they'd be met with some resistance, uniformed officers showed up in helmets with shields and even brought along a canine unit. They approached the grey ground floor apartment, and knocked announcing their intention and who they were looking for. After only about a minute, Marshall emerged in a white t-shirt wielding a kitchen knife and lunging towards two awaiting officers.

And because of this threat, 27-year-old Marshall Jones was shot instantly and died on the scene. And you can only wonder if Marshall knew he was caught and this was suicide by cop? I can't imagine any other scenario in my mind. Yeah, because a kitchen knife is clearly no match for a team of men with shields and guns. So I don't think he was actually trying to attack any of them, but instead maybe just hoping that they would kill him so he didn't have to face the consequences of what he has believed to have done. But I don't know. It's very devastating, of course, that he is deceased because I think all of us know and believe that he holds the answers to what happened to Alexis.

So, especially if we go into these next details, it makes it even more clear. Yeah, I was gonna say, let's talk about, how her family kind of took this news. So, of course, many saw this whole situation kind of, as an admission of guilt and as service of justice, but Alexis his family and law enforcement alike were rightfully disappointed at this whole situation. And Alexis's father stated, quote, we wanted him arrested to pay for his sins.

We wanted to meet him face to face. We wanted to look him in the eye and ask him why? Where is Alexis? Because they are the caring people that they are, the games also mourned the loss of another life gone too soon. Alexis's father added, quote, what happened to Marshall was tragic and unexpected. My wife cried so hard last night hearing of his passing.

He was our daughter's first love. They were together for three years. He became a part of his passing. He was our daughter's first love. They were together for three years. He became a part of our family. We had no idea he was capable of doing something like this to her. And I mean, what a whirlwind to know this young man and treat him like he's a part of the family for three years, and then to know that he's responsible for whatever

happened to your daughter. And then they lose him too. It's such a conflicting and complicated mix of emotions because this is someone that you also loved and now they're dead. Yeah, you're trying to grieve your daughter because she's not around and then now you have to grieve this person who you trusted, who you cared for, and now may have done something just so horrible to your daughter. Yeah, and just to lose two people so close to you and together in the same kind of turn of events, it's hard to process, but of course they have this anger towards them as well.

Like what did you do to our daughter? Yeah, and that's why I said may have because it's not, it has not been solidified that he was the one who actually killed her because as we'll get into, if she's even dead, which, you know, we have that as well of her family holding out hope, but we'll get into the rest of the evidence and what we have because there is more that comes forward after this.

Yeah. So police chief John Beard agreed that it was, quote, People will get into the rest of the evidence and what we have because there is more that comes forward after this. So police chief John Beard agreed that it was, quote, not what we had hoped for, saying, quote, again, Marshall Jones is our only suspect in the homicide of Alexis Gabe. However, I do believe he had help along the way. I need the public's help. I need the public to get motivated to bring forth information that will tell us where we need to search. And again, I'm hoping our $100,000 reward will motivate the public to bring that information to us. And by the way, when he says the homicide of Alexis Gabe,

they have a lot of reason to believe that she is deceased, whether that be the information we know alone, or of course, then alongside what they know that they haven't released to us. So they're saying it's a homicide, though her body has not been found that is what they thoroughly believe happened. Yes.

So John believes Alexis's body is somewhere in California and has hopes that they will find it and be able to grant Alexis the burial that she deserves. He stated, quote, we do hope somebody who has knowledge of Alexis' whereabouts will now feel more empowered to come forward without having to feel a negative response from Marshall Jones.

Well, right, because if somebody knew something before, they could have been afraid of any kind of repercussions. Yeah. From Marshall, but now that he's deceased, maybe somebody feels a little more comfortable coming forward. Right. So please have yet to determine a motive in the case of Alexis' disappearance and possible death as they just seemed like, you know, a normal couple that was on and off again, and their relationship was reportedly not like a violent one.

But after Marshall's death, a friend of his came forward with a disturbing piece of information. According to this friend, two weeks before Alexis's disappearance, Marshall had called him and asked about the best way to dispose of a body. Marshall claimed that he was thinking about killing Alexis. And then he and the friend, who never even met Alexis, decided disposing of the body and a septic tank or burying it in a wooded area, would be this best method for him. And this friend claimed that he thought Marshall had just been joking and was just like speaking hypothetically. But, come on.

No, that's so dumb to me. Joking. Like, how... Who has that conversation jokingly? Like, it's one thing I feel like to dramatically say, I wanna kill her, I wanna kill this person in a moment of anger, you know? Like, I feel like everyone's kinda guilty

of saying that before, but to discuss how to dispose a body, it's a totally different thing. That's a totally, yeah, that's like a step forward. It's like, to talk about, you know, details of how you're going to commit a crime like that. I feel like he might have said, oh, I thought he was joking to kind of save his own back of this is why I didn't report it

because I didn't think he was serious, but I don't think that's true at all. And maybe not to like, you know, get himself in trouble because he was talking, clearly talking about helping murdering someone with Marshall. So it's just like what? Right. And I mean, also, if this friend is telling the truth, this would help police understand

that this was a premeditated attack on her and something didn't happen accidentally, but still or accidentally, but still, or accidentally, but still, why? So another devastating discovery came when Marshall's sister found two pages of notes in Marshall's handwriting in her trash. Now according to his sister, Marshall was supposed to stay with her in Vacaville, California, in her home there, which is about an hour north of where Marshall lived. She told police that upon hearing that Alexis was missing and that he may be involved, she made Marshall leave her home and then later found the pages and turned them over to the

investigation. They were handwritten driving directions to a remote area of California, about two hours northeast of Marshall's home in Antioch. Pioneer, California, where this area was, is a census designated place of about 1,000 people that is 60 miles or 96 kilometers outside of California's capital of Sacramento. We will post photos of the notes to read for yourselves, but the directions were specific,

like even detailing time estimates and landmarks to look for along the way. And this is something that Marshall just left at a sister's house. So did he leave them on purpose knowing that maybe something would happen and he wanted, you know, maybe subconsciously or consciously wanted somebody to be able to find her.

Oh, I think he was far enough away from his hometown and maybe just thought, like, I can throw him in the trash. My sister's not gonna go digging through the trash for something that she doesn't know is there. And then, you know, the trash will get taken out and those will just be gone. Right, but then why, like, why draw this up in the first place I wonder? Yeah, I don't know. Unless you want them to be found. Well, unless also maybe he needed a reminder of where he had dumped her body. Just in case. Just in case he needed to go back for something. Who knows?

Who knows? So, a search of his phone history showed that Marshall's phone had been turned off for most of the journey, but that it had pained it near, pioneer at some point when Alexis went missing. Well, this was actually just shortly after she disappeared. So this would make sense if he did murder Alexis and bury her body out there or dispose of her body in that area, the pings from his cell phone at that time

connected to what this map is stating and showing. So that's a big connection there. And here's actually one more update for you guys from Friday, August 5th, the day this episode comes out. So he, the same day that Marshall had unloaded those large garbage bags into his mother's garage and backyard. So he did that on January 28th at about you know unloaded those large garbage bags into his mother's garage in back yard So he did that on January 28th at about 121 p.m

But a few hours later at 6.41 p.m. After he had already reloaded his Ford Explorer with said garbage bags while his mom was you know hosting that karaoke party at her house an hour and a half after he reloaded the bags at 6.41 pm, Marshall arrived at his sister's house in Vacaville. And then just 30 minutes later, he left her house and he had two cell phones, I guess, and both of them were powered off during this drive. Five hours later at 12.43 a.m.,

Marshall turned his phones back on, and at this point he was in the area of Highway 160 and Highway 12, and he then traveled to Antioch and arrived at his mother's house at 1 a.m. and then at 2.41 a.m. he returned to his sister's house in Vacaville and that day Marshall Jones called out of work, he called out sick and in the voicemail to his boss he said that he had something to take care of. And then there are not any more updates for that day, the day he called sick into work. That was January 30th, but the next day, January 31st,

is the day that his sister kicked him out of the house. So police along with hundreds of volunteers and Alexis's family and friends searched in and around Pioneer, but have yet to find her. But law enforcement strongly believes that she's there. And they've even drained over 8 million gallons of water from a nearby pond in hopes of finding her. But the gabs feel that she's closer. Her dad said, quote, I don't think Alexis is there. My wife strongly believes that she's still out there, that she's still alive, and until

we find a body, we're just going to keep believing that she's still alive. And until we find a body, we're just going to keep believing that she's still alive. In our hearts, until we find a body, we remain hopeful. Until then, small victories bring hope to the family that they will find Alexis and the closure that they seek. So far, in addition to Alexis' screen protector, volunteers have located a pair of women's underwear, gloves, a camera, and her phone case with a cartoon picture of Tupac on it. They continue to hold out hope of finding her phone as well. Her father, Gwen, stated quote, It's very important because it's going to give us a lot of clues.

We can check her text messages, her emails, she has thousands of pictures on that phone. Police have focused their investigation in and around Pioneer, but the forested area and bodies of water pose unique challenges, including poison oak and snakes in the wooded areas and the depths of currents of the surrounding waters. Some have been critical of, you know, how Marshall's family handled the case, even accusing them of withholding information or even sheltering Marshall.

So Marshall's mother was actually involved in another crime and was arrested on May 19th, 2022, for aiding and abetting, although the DA declined to file charges. Now, this is probably unrelated, but it's a strange coincidence nonetheless. Yeah, I think so too. Marshall's father started a Facebook group in Marshall's honor that received so much negative attention that it had to be shut down.

The day after Marshall was killed, his mother called the Gabe family, explaining that she felt ashamed that it had taken her so long to do so. And Gui-in spoke for his wife, saying, quote, It was a very, very intense and emotional conversation between her and my wife. We kept asking her what happened, and she kept saying she doesn't know. She also said if she can bring back one of them that she chooses Alexis. That is a huge quote right there.

Me too. I agree. To me, that makes me feel like she knows or at least strongly feels that her son did something to her, whether she wants to admit it or not. I mean, of course, without having concrete answers as to what happened, his family is gonna wanna support their son and mourn his killing, and they want answers all the same. So, this has to be a tough position for Marshall's family, too,

because if they know what he did, I can guarantee they don't support what he did, but since they don't know for sure what happened, they're kind of like, well, our son is dead now, and what went on, you know? Yeah. Even though at the end of the day, even his mom is saying, you know,

we feel for Alexis the most. Yeah, and I think that's because she truly does believe, like you said, or know that something happened. And that martial was responsible. Yes. So updates are coming all the time. So we'll keep you posted on those, but just recently on Saturday, July 23rd, the switchboard of a cell phone and other iPhone parts

were located in the brush along the route that Marshall had written out. So on those pages that were in his sister's trash. They also found a broken pair of eyeglasses believed to belong to Alexis. Hopefully, that just means that we're even closer to finding answers for this wonderful family. And the Oakley Police Department is still offering a $100,000 reward for any information that leads to Alexis. Volunteer search parties are still being organized frequently in both the Pioneer area and in the East Bay where Alexis is from. For more information on those and to sign up to volunteer, you can join the Facebook group, help bring Alexis Gabe home or you can follow the Instagram at bring Alexis G home.

For information that you think would be helpful to the investigation, you can call the tip line at 925-625-7009 or email AlexisTips at ci.ocley.ca.us. And the GoFundMe is also still active if you'd like to donate there, which we shared in the episode description for this episode. Alexis Gabe is described as a 24-year-old Filipino-American with long black hair and brown eyes. She wears glasses and weighs approximately 170 pounds and stands at 57. She was last seen wearing a white top, black jeans, and white and green Jordans. The Gabe's are clearly such an incredible and devoted family and we just hope that this

exposure brings them answers soon. Alexis's dad promised that he won't give up until they find her saying quote, I know the police are saying that our daughter is gone, but our daughter will remain alive in our minds and in our hearts. We will continue to search for her until we find her. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Tuesday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. This case is just so devastating to know that it's like we almost have the answers but we don't when I say we obviously I mostly mean Alexis's family.

Yeah, it feels so close at this point with all the evidence that they found thus far. It's just sad because I feel like even though, you know, even if they continue to search this area and they do find Alexis's body as police believe they will, that still doesn't give answers as to why this happened to her, why was this done to her? And I don't know if her family will ever get that answer, not that it would bring her

back, but like, it just seems so just pointless as every murder does, but I mean so pointless to not have any answers and not even have the person responsible paying for what they did in a person. So just a devastating story, but make sure to share in case anybody has any information and can help bring the family closure sooner. Again, please make sure you follow us on social media if you wanna see photos from this case and every case we've covered so far.

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But it also helps keep us going. Yeah, it helps keep us going because the more you share the show, the more the longer we can keep telling these stories. So thank you guys so much. All right, guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you