Going West: True Crime - DeOrr Kunz Jr / Part 2 // 414

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

In July of 2015, a family headed out for a camping trip in the woods of Idaho only for their two-year-old to vanish on the first day. The parents called 911 and were adamant that he was abducted after wandering off by himself. But after police assessed the scene and interviewed everyone present, they composed a different disturbing theory. This is the disappearance of DeOrr Kunz Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host Heath and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going west. Hello everybody. Welcome to part two of the Dior Coons Jr story we have never done this before breaking up one case into two episodes but there was just way too much to cover in one episode so here we are with the rest of that story hope you have been well since in the last couple days. Yeah this is such an intriguing story and there's so many suspicions surrounding so many different characters in this case so please pay attention and also please please share this case. Well without further ado let's finish this story up.

Alright guys this is episode 414 of Going West. So let's get into it. This episode is brought to you by FX's The Bear on Disney Plus. In season three, Carmy and his crew are aiming for the ultimate restaurant accolade, a Michelin star. With Golden Globe and Emmy wins, the show starring Jeremy Allen White, I owe debris and Maddie Matheson is ready to heat up screens once again. All new episodes of FX camping trip in the woods of Idaho, only for their two-year-old to vanish on the first day. The parents called 911 and were adamant that he was abducted after wandering off by himself.

But after police assessed the scene and interviewed everyone present, they composed a very different disturbing theory. This is the story of Dior Coons Jr. On Friday, July 17th, the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office loaned out their dive team to search every last inch of the stone reservoir, and they employed a sonar robot to assist in searching this very murky water. But after these intensive searches were conducted, investigators concluded that they did not believe there was any possibility that Dior wound up in that water.

Vernal shared quote, The sheriff assured me that there is a hundred percent chance he is not anywhere in or near that water. They have torn that creek upside down and inside out. Divers have gone in with wetsuits along with the helicopter. So this is really interesting because this is another thing that people really jump to in this case is saying, you know, Dior must have ended up in that water and they just didn't find him during their search. Yeah, and we have to remember that there are a few different bodies of water surrounding this campground. But for Vernal to say that police essentially said that there is a 0% chance

that he is in that water is really telling, because then we have to go back to some of the last things we said in part one of this story was that, you know, they really don't believe that he was taken away by an animal. They really don't believe he walked off because they would have found him, you know, like none of these like more natural causes are proving to be real and true. But the search continued and that same day, search crews on horseback set out in the hills surrounding this campground.

The following day was actually Vernal's birthday, which he spent camping at the very same site where his son vanished a week prior. The family continued to hold vigils and were very active in search efforts, just speaking to the press and the public very often. A tip line was also established, which brought in over 300 tips and led to the interviews of over 150 witnesses. But with nowhere else for the investigation to lead, suspicion was once again turning against Dior's adult companions on the day he disappeared. And an easy scapegoat was the only one of the four who was not related to them, Isaac Renwond.

All three other adults present on this trip pointed their finger his way at some point in the investigation because again There's a lot of finger pointing so the public spotlight fell on Isaac who was basically you know the outsider of the weekend Yeah, and this seems like the natural go-to. I mean this guy isn't really that connected to the family He's the grandfather's friend who is much younger than the grandfather, by the way. Yeah. So it's easy to kind of let your mind go towards Isaac. Yeah, and then you think about what Grandpa Bob had said about him to, you know, Jessica and Vernal, that he was kind of like an oddball, but that he was a good guy. Yeah. So we're kind of like, who is this guy?

It's natural, of course, to look into every single person on this trip. And actually, Bob also said that even though he and Isaac were friends, he didn't trust Isaac and wouldn't have let him watch Dior stay in his home or trust him not to steal money from him. Wow, that is saying a lot about your friend who, you know, you brought with you on this family camping trip.

Yeah, but what a weird person to bring on a family camping trip then, where a toddler is involved if you have such little trust in them, you know? Yeah. So it just makes you wonder if what he is saying is true or if, again, people are trying – by people, I mean Jessica Vernal and Grandpa Bob – are trying to use him as a scapegoat. Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking here. By people, I mean Jessica Vernal and Grandpa Bob are trying to use him as a scapegoat. Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking here. Well, Jessica told detectives that she remembers seeing a shovel in Isaac's things that was clean before Dior disappeared and supposedly muddy afterward.

She also claims that she watched him clean it off after speaking with police and that she even spotted Dior's bright blonde hair on it. This part is so weird because she is saying that she saw hair on it that resembled the color of her son's hair and that before she could get to the shovel to collect the hair that she is sure that she saw that the hair blew away in the wind. Yeah. Um, I don't know how you would be able to notice hair on a shovel unless it was like a clump of hair, but if it was just a few hairs, be kind of hard to like see that on a shovel unless you're right up next to the shovel, right? But then, and that, but then if you can see it that well,

what are the chances that every strand is gonna blow away in the wind the moment that you're going to try to grab it? Yeah, convenient timing, I would say. Yeah, seriously. So again, another very weird apparent detail. So Vernal remembered being infuriated by Isaac's carefree attitude

on the day of their son's disappearance, and how he didn't seem to take it seriously, and was apparently cracking jokes while this, you know, very frantic search ensued. Vernal recalls that Isaac didn't remember when or where he had last seen Dior, and if he had been at the campsite, if Dior had been at the campsite or not, when Isaac walked back to it from the creek that morning before they realized that he was missing. So they're kind of, you know, dogging on him for not remembering certain details.

But again, they had just met. This guy doesn't know them. He's not responsible for Dior. And it's kind of funny that they're saying, oh, he doesn't remember these things. But then everybody else is also getting the every single detail from that morning mixed up with a different detail. Like everybody's story is changing. Yeah, absolutely.

And let's let's talk for a minute about what Isaac said happened that morning, because I want to put things into perspective here. So on the morning of Friday, July 10th, so hours before Dior went missing, Isaac says that he woke up around 9 a.m., went outside to go to the bathroom, and then went back to sleep until about noon. And that he didn't wake up the family or eat with them. He claims that the family had been eating breakfast the first time that he went outside, but that he had chosen to skip it so that he could get some more sleep.

When questioned about Jessica's version of the morning, where he, you know, apparently pounded on the car window yelling, wakey-wakey eggs and bakey, Isaac denied that he had done that, or even been awake at that time. So that's interesting. It is very interesting because we're getting two completely different stories about the, uh, the wakey-wakey eggs and bakey thing. So, in the afternoon, he fished for a while, and didn't seem to be at the campsite when Dior disappeared,

instead sticking closer to the parents down by the stream. When he headed back to camp to discover that Dior was missing, he says that he saw Bob pacing, as if he was looking for something, and that he joined in the search immediately So they're saying he didn't help look for Dior and Isaac is saying yes I did yeah exactly and Isaac's story by the way has not changed and in fact He's the only person there that day whose story has not wavered says a lot to me Yeah, it really does so Isaac does however possess a criminal record which made him You know perhaps more suspicious than the other attendees

Because unbeknownst to Dewar's parents whom he had just met that weekend Isaac had passed charges of domestic battery and theft though investigators announced that they did not believe that he was capable of harming a child So as you can imagine the public really did not take kindly to this information. His charge of domestic battery began as a rape charge, a felonist charge which was brought against him in 2006. Remember we are currently, during this story, we are in 2015. So it was eventually amended and brought down to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge, but this really didn't stop speculators online from accusing him of being a sex offender,

accusations which police have continued to deny. I mean, the Sheriff's Office has been clear that he is not a sex offender, and have also announced that they do not believe that he is a possible suspect in the disappearance of Dior Coons Jr. And law enforcement officials have not been able to make that announcement about any of the other people present that day. According to Isaac, both the FBI and the Sheriff's Office asked him to not divulge details pertaining to this investigation. He admitted in an interview, quote,

and the next thing you know, he's gone. I'm not supposed to release a whole lot of information. All I can basically say is that he was up there with us." But after that weekend, Bob didn't talk to Isaac much anymore, and the parents didn't keep in touch either. And I won't go into this too much now, because I want to talk about it later, but very interesting to point out that Isaac is confirming that, quote, he was up there with us. So he is saying

that Dior was there that weekend because that has been speculated on a lot as well. But we'll talk about that later. So because Dior's great-grandfather Bob Walton had allegedly been the last person to see him, it's also entirely possible that he was responsible for his grandson's fate, even if it had been an accident. So like we mentioned in the last episode, Bob had to be hooked up to an oxygen tank full time. So when Dior went missing, it is assumed that Bob was seated at the campsite in a folding chair while Dior played nearby. This is the story that has been told. And his daughter, who is Jessica's mom, Trina, later said that there was no way that he could have been involved

in Dior's disappearance on purpose, as his very poor health severely limited his activity, and he likely couldn't have even picked Dior up anymore, let alone done something and gotten rid of his body well enough that all the searches didn't locate him. Isaac himself maintains, quote, I don't think Bob could have hurt someone. He had a hard time getting around with his oxygen tank. Bob seemed very overwhelmed and confused by the whole afternoon.

So while law enforcement suspected that he may know more than he was willing to say, their reservations naturally shifted more towards the parents. And what detectives began to suspect was that Dior had suffered an accident, you know, born from maybe carelessness, and that one or both of the parents

had chosen to cover for Bob and or themselves. Yeah, I mean this is a pretty likely scenario because yeah, I don't think that Bob would have done anything nefarious necessarily. I mean he's a very old man, you know, he's on this oxygen tank. What's his motive? Yeah, what's his motive? How is he even going to do it? How is he going to get rid of, I mean, how is he going to get rid of Dior?

Like that just doesn't make any sense. So yeah, it kind of feels like maybe there was some sort of accident, whatever it is. It's so hard to speculate on that because there could be so many different things that would have led to an accident. Yeah. And you know, I agree with you, especially because Bob had kind of said some weird things after the disappearance happened. So for example, when asked by a private investigator

about his memories from that day, this was asked a little bit later on, Bob said, quote, feel a little bit bad about it. I wish it hadn't happened. I better shut up before I get in trouble there. Okay, that's really suspicious. Yeah, and then also when the investigator later asked Bob if he was supposed to be watching Dior that afternoon, Bob said, that's what I hear.

So it feels like almost that there's like a story at play, like a cover up at play, and that maybe Bob just went along with it because, you know, he's the grandpa. Right. So Jessica and Vernal both claimed that they made sure that it was okay with Bob before they left their son with him, but when asked if he was in fact supposed to be watching Dior, Bob claims, quote, I don't remember that, but I was watching him anyway. And then when he was asked what he thought happened,

Bob said, quote, I don't know what happened for sure. Else I would let you know. And finally, when he was asked what his guess was, Bob chuckled in response and didn't answer. And then he was asked again and he said blankly, I don't really know. So yeah, his attitude around it is really weird to me. I mean, he might just be an elderly man

who really just didn't know what happened, but to have such kind of like a lighthearted attitude towards such a serious situation is really bizarre to me. Yeah, it's pretty bizarre, but I also do think that this is how like older kind of countrymen talk. Like they're not super serious all the time, you know, they kind of keep things light

and straight to the point. That's fair. That's totally fair. So I think we can conclude that, in our opinion at least, he wasn't directly involved, but he might know what happened. Or he doesn't. I think so. Well, soon enough, the spotlight settled on the parents, and it hasn't relented since

it did. With the parents' stories unraveling and suspicions mounting against them, police decided to request polygraph examinations, to which the parents enthusiastically agreed. They were each given multiple tests, all of which they failed, by the way. And to the disappointment of law enforcement, they even failed simple questions that would so obviously link their involvement, such as, do you know where your child's body is? Jessica claimed that this was because she was nervous, overwhelmed and grieving. And that is not unusual at all when people are being given polygraph tests

and they are super close to the victims. Like we've seen this before where it feels like maybe they're not lying, but their emotions are kind of heightened, which is changing how the test is being read because they're so upset by the questions. So it doesn't necessarily mean that they knew the answer to, do you know where your child's body is, but more so that they had an emotional reaction that spiked on the graph. Right, yeah, yeah.

That definitely makes sense. And they also had been asked point blank by interviewers in the media if they had murdered their son or if there was an accident that they had to cover up, which they unequivocally denied. Yet because there was so much speculation surrounding them, their tight-knit community, which had been rallying behind them during these vigils and these searches and getting the word out, they kind of began to like sour on the parents here.

Even Jessica's mom Trina admits, quote, when I found out that Jessica and Vernal had failed both of their polygraphs, I was beyond mad. Because it definitely is still a little weird. Well, as we always mention, polygraph examinations can be really fickle, and they shouldn't be used as the sole way to prove or disprove somebody's involvement. They generally just function as a way to tip an investigation in the right direction, or potentially spook somebody that officers already know were involved. But in Jessica's case, she was failing every single question.

And both she and Vernal underwent multiple attempts and they failed every time. And then, when it was leaked to the public that Jessica had relinquished custody of the two older children that she shared with her ex-husband, speculation swirled that she was guilty. Under the friction of having a missing child, Jessica and Vernal broke off their engagement and ended their relationship altogether. Interestingly, the two became estranged and suspicious of each other, pointing fingers back and forth. Now obviously, it is so hard to even fathom and discuss parents being involved in their

child's death. It is always hard to talk about on the show because at the end of the day we are all outsiders just looking in on a family's life and it's a family that we don't know personally but anyone who talks about this case talks deeply about the parents potential involvement just like how you know it's unavoidable in, let's say, John Benet Ramsey's case, you know, it's like that. It's very hard to avoid. So we are going to dig, dig, we are going to dig. We are going to dig a little bit deeper into this story. Okay. So Jessica said that she wasn't sure whether or not Vernell was

capable of hurting their child, but that she couldn't say for sure that he was not. Ooh, okay. So she's definitely going all in towards Vernell. Well, she later amended this statement saying, quote, I believe Dior's father could have hurt him. He's living his life like it's nothing and I'm falling apart every day. There's one thing here though that I have to point out. I feel like if they were involved together, this would be a very dangerous thing to say.

So this is one thing that makes me falter a tiny bit on believing that Jessica is involved because if Vernal was, you know, interviewed further or whatever because of her statements that she's making, he could crack and tell police that they collectively did it together. So that, I feel like it's very dangerous for her to say, it was Vernal if she knows that they did it together because he could just turn on her and say,

fine, you know what, I'm coming clean. Well, she's not technically saying that he did it, and you know, like definitively she's saying. He's capable. Is he capable? Yeah, I think he could be capable. But also, you know, if they were involved together, then even her saying this wouldn't really matter.

He'd probably just point the finger back at her and be like, well, I think she's probably capable too. Which is, you know, what he's doing. So yeah, maybe, maybe she also doesn't think that he would say it and she's just upset with him and using this as a way to lash out at him publicly. And you know, yeah, it's not like she's saying, oh, well, he did X, Y, Z and here's proof and here's evidence. She's just kind of saying, yeah, I don't know, maybe he did do it. So yeah, but just an interesting thing I want to point out. So Jessica also acknowledged that he was, Vernal was a people pleaser

and would tell people what they wanted to hear. So she's just kind of shitting on his character a little bit in general. So Vernal admitted that Jessica was unreliable and not known to keep a job for very long and that the only reason that she had managed to maintain her position with her grandfather is because they were related. So yeah, a lot of these are just personal jobs.

I wanna say something real quick. If you weren't involved in the disappearance of your son, why are you guys splitting up from each other? Why are you guys now pointing fingers and trying to demonize the other person? It just, it feels too weird to me because it's not like they're rallying together and saying, you know what, this was our son.

Let's try to find him. Let's figure out what happened. I mean, maybe the relationship wasn't great to begin with, and we see a lot of people crack and crumble under the pressure and traumas of situations like this. So I think, you know, this does happen anyway, sometimes. But they could have gone their separate ways and, you know, not had anything nefarious to say about each other. But that doesn't seem to be the case here.

Right. Which is pretty consistent for them, because as we know, they have been pointing the finger at everybody but themselves, right? Right. So when Vernal was asked if he trusted Jessica, he responded, quote, "'When it comes to my son, I did. "'When it comes to like any life decision, no.

"'The only thing that I ever thought "'was maybe she knew something about Bob "'and was worried about Bob Spending what life he's got left in prison. Do I think Jessica did anything? No, because she was there with me. I believe Bob knows more than what he's telling It's my fault for allowing Bob to watch my child But I will never forgive Bob for letting my son get out of his sight I will never forgive him

Okay, so slightly Interesting as well, you know vernal is not really attacking Jessica so much in the in the thought of Dior's disappearance But he's kind of attacking Bob more so and saying, you know, I think Bob's more so responsible for this. Yeah, and this is where he and Jessica will differ as well. So the family has hired three private investigators. The first one, Frank Vilt, quit after catching the family in so many lies. His release statement read, quote, I am withdrawing from the investigation. My stipulation was that both of you would be absolutely truthful. In my professional opinion,

both of you lied and misrepresented the true facts that could possibly solve the mystery of your missing son. Sooner or later, the truth will come out. I mean, pretty crazy that the person that you hired to work for you to help solve your son's disappearance is saying that you're a liar. And all of these investigators, these private investigators, as we're gonna get into,

had these feelings that they were lying about a lot of stuff, but Frank's professional opinion was kind of a new one here because he was thinking that Jessica had chosen not to be a mother anymore. So even after relinquishing her two oldest children to her ex husband, she was still bound to little Dior as we know. So he theorizes that she decided possibly even without Vernal's

knowledge that she no longer desired to be a mother at all and arranged for the private unauthorized adoption of her two-year-old son. And this is weird because this feels like such an out there theory, but the fact that this theory is coming from a private investigator that was hired by the family who looked very deeply into the case and Interviewed every single person that was there For him to say that I'm like, what do you know that we don't? Yeah. Yeah, I want to know what that guy knows Yeah

but Jessica responded to this directly because he is Open with his belief of this and she said that she never would have given up the rights to her son and she said that she never would have given up the rights to her son. Their second private investigator, Philip Klein with Klein Investigations and Consulting, was fired after being forthcoming with his suspicions following extensive interviews with everybody involved. Because both investigators felt like Jessica knew way more than she was letting on. But after reaching the conclusion that he, Philip Klein, felt that at least one person in the family was involved, he was fired. I mean, again, every professional who is deeply diving into this case and is actually

talking to these people have come out with this same conclusion. It's impossible to ignore. Philip claimed in an interview later, quote, I was very clear. You're not gonna like what I have to say. And it was like, oh my god, these two people are suspects. Well, another theory was hatched by a partner investigator of Philip Klein's named Jane Holmes, and she maintains that Dior is deceased, but thinks that he may not have even made it to the trip, and that he may have died prior to leaving for the campground. The trip could have been a red herring to cover up Dior's accidental death at the hands of his parents, and the reason why he wasn't found is because his body was left somewhere on the way.

One reason she hatched this theory is because Jessica frequently took and posted pictures of her son, but she didn't have any pictures of her son from that trip. Or any at all. Yeah, claiming that she just wanted to unplug and go off the grid for a while, which was extremely unlike her. Furthering this theory was the rumor that the jacket and boots that Dior had been wearing that day were found at the home of Dior's parents after they moved out. Now, after the couple parted ways, they were evicted from their home that they

shared in Idaho Falls, Idaho. They left a bunch of junk behind, including furniture, clothing, and trash, and when the landlord cleaned out that apartment, moving everything to the dumpster, investigators were given permission to search through the abandoned items to look for anything suspicious. And within them, they recovered a camouflaged children's jacket similar to the one that Dior was supposedly wearing that day. Additionally, four of Dior's beloved Matchbox cars were recovered, which they claimed had been missing.

But also, these toys in this jacket could have been additional, like maybe they had duplicates, and many sources have incorrectly reported that the boots were found among these items, but they were definitely not. The Lemhi County Sheriff Steve Penner disagrees with any claims that Dior may have been deceased prior to the camping trip, and claims that he does believe that Dior was alive while on this trip with his parents. However, despite Jessica and Vernal stating that the three of them were spotted by multiple people on the day of the disappearance,

nobody could verify these claims with utmost certainty, including his parents. Yeah, I think it's important to note what you just said and to kind of highlight what you just said that the sheriff does not believe that Dior was deceased before the trip and that he was on it because again, Isaac had said that he was there and having just met Jessica and Vernal, I don't think he would have any reason to lie for them, especially something this serious. And he did tell police, you know, we quoted it a little bit ago.

Heath did actually that Dior was on that trip. So unless they have something really good against him. I just don't see him lying for them Yeah, I mean it it's it's kind of telling that the sheriff is saying this after investigating this whole situation But I mean obviously nobody really knows Yeah I do think that the sudden camping trip and the totally inconsistent morning and day are suspicious enough that someone in that group either did something to him at some point within that day or knows what happened to him.

But it's another thing that people say constantly is that he didn't even make it on that trip. He didn't even get to the campsite and that his body was disposed of on the way. I do understand that that would, that would make sense, but there's really just no evidence of that in 2017 after the parents severed their contract with private investigator Philip Klein. Vernal sued him for libel, slander and breach of contract. However, Philip believed that the family

had only secured attorneys and filed this suit in the first place because police were getting closer to figuring out what happened. Vernal's attorney argued that it was actually because Philip Klein was sharing findings with the public a little bit too cavalierly. But regardless of the reasoning for Philip being let go, a judge eventually dismissed the lawsuit against him. Vernal subsequently hired a third investigator, David Marshburn. In 2019, a renewed effort was mounted, though law enforcement officials in the Lemhi County Sheriff's Office have assured the public that they have never

stopped looking for Dior Coons Jr. On June 8, 2019, private investigator David Marshburn took two trained cadaver dogs to search the Timber Creek campground, spending a week at the campsite where Dior allegedly disappeared. On the third day of searching, both dogs hit what David called a hard alert in the same area within the confines of this campground. Now David clarified that his dogs are not tracking dogs, they are cadaver dogs, so they're trained to detect only human remains and that they would not have alerted to the decomposition of animals. And Lemhi County Sheriff Steve Penner also brought a cadaver dog who indicated to the same area.

And after this, David Marshburn was released from his position as the family's private investigator as well. According to Vernal's attorney, Alan Browning, quote, Marshburn reported some things to Vernal that were very disturbing to Vernal. And since hearing that, Vernal has stopped looking for his son. In Dior's case, Vernal was interviewed by both law enforcement and the FBI for a combined total of nine times, while Jessica was questioned five times. Sheriff Penner reported that none of the accounts he's been given by either parent match and that there are inconsistencies within every single one of them. Both they and Bob Walton are still considered suspects by the Lemhi County Sheriff's Office. Reporter Nate Eaton, who covered the case extensively, recalled, quote, You ask them

what happened on Monday, you'll get a different answer on Tuesday. I think the most disturbing part about that is they were questioned very soon after Dior went missing. So it's not like their story changed a couple years later when they're kind of misremembering some things. Yeah, because we have seen that happen in quite a few cases where, you know, years or decades go by and the story changes. Yeah, I mean, if I think about what I did last weekend, it would be really hard for me to pinpoint.

I think it's a lot easier to remember specific days when something important or noteworthy happened. Like, it's easier for me to remember what I did last Christmas than it is to remember what I did last Saturday, right? Sure. But this was only days later, so there's no reason why every single time they're questioned, the story should change completely.

They should just know what they did and that's it. And if it falters in very minuscule ways, due to slight misremembering, that makes sense. But for their story to change drastically for both of them is really weird. Yeah, and I think that's precisely the reason why these private investigators either were fired or don't want to work with the family anymore because they feel like they're not

getting the truth. Well, speaking of, PI Phillip Klein also believes that Jessica has knowledge of where Dior's body is. In an interview with Nate Eaton, Phillip reported, quote, we have attempted to work with Jessica tremendously. We have offered to fly her to Texas to give her the opportunity to get away from Idaho because she's scared of some situations. I believe some of it is paranoia that has set into her at this point because she knows the walls are closing in around her.

But I will announce today that Jessica has told our investigators that she knows where the body is, but she won't go all the way and say more. Also today we are willing to announce that in our interviews with the grandfather, he did admit to investigators that he believes there was an accident. He will not go all the way and tell the complete truth at this time. I mean, that's crazy. Like, I don't think Phillip Klein has any reason to lie about this, especially because he's a professional investigator,

but whoa. Yeah, I mean, that should have been a bombshell in this investigation, the fact that he is claiming that she told him that she knows where the body is. Well, Phillip Klein's findings also reveal that after one particularly grueling interrogation session shortly after Dior went missing,

the couple left and headed to a Spencer's Gifts to purchase a make your own sex toy kit and were spotted by the private investigators like they were kind of in good spirits, which Phillip and his associates found not only suspicious, but in poor taste. I mean, yeah, that's maybe not the best look, you know? Well, unfortunately for this investigation, Jessica's grandpa, Bob Walton, died on June 15th, 2019 after battling cancer.

on June 15th, 2019 after battling cancer. Before his death, he reportedly said of his grandson's disappearance, quote, what's done is done. Like, what does that mean? Yeah, like, seriously, what does that mean? Dior's whole family seems to maintain hope that the family will see answers at some point. To mark eight years without Dior,

his grandma Trina Clegg wrote, quote, I still have faith and pray for answers every day. I remember all the great times, laughs, and your beautiful eyes and smile. I will never give up hoping for the answers until the day I die. I give great thanks to everyone who still helps with looking and keeping positive thoughts and prayers in the name of Baby Dior. I am eternally grateful for all the law enforcement that continues to help seek for the answers to the nightmare at Timber Creek Campground.

I love you Baby Dior, today, tomorrow, and for eternal." Both parents have continued to deny any involvement and Jessica maintains quote that kid was my best friend I would have given anything to be in his place Which is again why there is a lot of speculation that an accident occurred and it was covered up Yeah, I think you know my mind really goes to that Maybe they didn't nefariously do anything. Maybe they didn't, you know, purposefully take Dior's life. But I do think that something happened.

I mean, why would they? Obviously, we had kind of touched on earlier that maybe they had decided that they didn't want a child and that having a child was too much responsibility. But it's still kind of hard for me to believe that especially when you watch interviews and I don't know, Jessica in particular seems really eaten up about it and now that people can't put on a face or or maybe have regret for something they did, I would lean more towards the accidental situation. But I do think that they know they know what happened. Yeah I agree with you. On the day of his disappearance Dior was wearing a camouflage jacket, blue pajama pants, and cowboy boots. He had blonde hair and

blue eyes, stood at three feet tall, and weighed 28 pounds. He would now be 11 years old. If you have any information about the disappearance of Dior Coons Jr., please call the Lemhi County Sheriff's Office at 208-756-8980. Thank you so much everybody for listening to the rest of this story of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to part two. We never do part twos, we never do two part episodes, but we thought it was necessary this time and we are interested to know what you think about this case. Yes, you can find pictures from this case on our socials. We are on Instagram at going West podcast and we are on Facebook.

We have a discussion group, discussion group called going west discussion group. That is a private group that you have to join, but we pop in there a lot and talk to you guys. Yeah. And then there is a public page just going west, true crime. So join, let us know what you think. Give us a follow. Thank you guys so much for tuning into this episode into everybody who recommended it again That was Hillary Claire Margie and Jasper. So again, this is replacing our Friday episode

That's coming out tomorrow because yeah coming out on Thursday, right? So we'll see you on Tuesday. Yep We'll see you guys on Tuesday. All right, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thanks for watching!