Morbid - Theodore Durrant "The Demon in the Belfry" Part 1

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

Theodore Durrant was the last person anyone would have assumed to commit a brutal murder, let alone two. He was well-known in town and well-liked. He served the town in countless ways; as the handyman for the church, the handyman to all his friends and neighbors, assistant superintendent of the church's Sunday School and all around friendly and giving man. But soon he would be linked to two absolutely horrific murders of two young women in town that he'd had relations with. Ones body would be discovered in the church that Theo seemed to love and the other? Well you'll have to wait for part two for that discovery.Daily Inter Ocean. 1895. "Another Body Found." Daily Inter Ocean, April 15.Dowd, Katie. 2016. "The tale of the 'Demon of the Belfry,' San Francisco's forgotten Jack the Ripper." SF Gate, October 31.McConnell, Virginia. 2001. Sympathy for the devil: the Emmanuel Baptist murders of old San Francisco. Westport, Conn: Praeger.New York Times. 1897. "Durrant Breaking Down." New York Times, October 18: 5.—. 1895. "Durrant is Found Guilty." New York Times, November 2: 1.—. 1898. "Durrant is Put to Death." New York Times, January 8.—. 1895. "Lunatic Tries to Kill Durrant." New York Times, August 6: 1.Peixotto, Edgar. 1899. Report of the trial of William Henry Theodore Durrant. Detroit, Michigan: The Collector Publishing Company.San Francisco Caller. 1895. "Clews Still Lead to Theodore Durrant ." San Francisco Caller, April 18.The Daily Picayune. 1895. "A San Francisco Jack the Ripper." The Daily Picayune, April 15.The Morning Oregonian. 1895. "Mysteriously Missing." April 10: 3.The Sunday Inter Ocean. 1895. "Murdered in a church." The Sunday Inter Ocean, April 14: 5.The Sunday Oregonian. 1895. "In a Pastor's Study." The Sunday Oregonian, April 14: 6. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey weirdos, I'm Elena. I am Ash. And this here, it's a morbid. It is. It's a full morbid. This is the morbido. It's a big old morbid up in here. What's up?

How was your birthday? My birthday was amazing. What did you do? First of all, I have to say thank you to every single one of you, lovely, delicious, beautiful, magical weirdos. Whoa. And your wonderful birthday wishes you made my day. Nay, you made my year.

I'd like to thank the people that also wished me a happy birthday because they thought that it was my birthday. It wasn't. I didn't birth three children yet. It was my birthday. But guys, I really appreciate it. You guys are amazing. And Ash's message made me cry, like, legitimately. Yes.

And, yeah, you guys are just amazing and you know how to make a gal feel special. It's always my goal to make people cry. their birthday. And you did. With my posts and my gift. It was wonderful. Everybody was so sweet. I really, really, really appreciate it. And Ash got me tickets to see the Silver Sun pickups next year. And I am so excited. I was like, you don't have to take me. Yeah, you literally were like, you don't have to take me, by the way. I was like, girl, please. Which is also what I did for your Christmas present. I was like, these are tickets to something that you don't have to take me to, but I'd love to go to. We're going to see Gary Goldman.

The gull. We're going to go see the gull because he's in remish from the depress. I'm excited about it. That's going to be fun. Yeah, I got tons of fun shows to go to. John got me tickets to see Allie Wong, which I'm so excited about. We're going to see Stasi. We're going to see Stasi. I'm going to shit my fucking pants. Oh, and then John got me tickets to see Watch What Crappins. Oh, and I get to go to that because John doesn't want to? So excited. It's going to be a great year. And then we get to do all of our shows. Yeah, we get to go to awesome podcast shows and do awesome podcast shows. I bought pants to wear at the Grammarcy Show, which is in New York on January 30th 30th. And my pants are amazing. Guys, these pants are

legendary. They're going to blow your fucking mind holes. They will actually probably literally make your brain leak out of your ears. I just figure if I get to like sit on stage for something, it's probably not going to happen for a long time or like ever got in my life. So I'm going to have a moment. Yeah, you got to have a moment. Yeah. You wouldn't be Ash without a moment. No. Even if somebody, like when I'm old and like in the retirement home, I'm still going to be having moments with fancy pants. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Always. I also hope my kids don't put me in a retirement home. But I know. That's neither here or there. We have other shows, too. We do. So after the Gramercy show in April, we're going to be in Philly and D.C. Super excited. I'm so excited about that. You know who I think is coming with us to Philly and D.C.?

Who? Annie. Annual. Yeah, oh my goodness. Anyways. Just a little brief sprinkle. We're also, then we're going to be in CrimeCon. Oh, guys, CrimeCon. You got to be there. You got to get there, guys.

I got to see Nancy and I got to see Keith. And if you guys try using our code morbid 2020. Yes, because you'll get a little discount. You will, and you got to be there. It's going to be awesome. You're going to be on podcast row. You're all cordially invited. You are.

We want you there. By us. All your faces. And then after we, we get to go to crime con literally like a week later we're going to be in nashville for two shows the first one is sold out but we got it a late night we got a late night show in nashville and those shows just so everybody knows are going to be two different shows yes they are they're going to be two cases so you're going to get a brand new show for the second yeah a few people said they were going to both so we're like we won't make you sit through the same two cases

we never want to make somebody sit through the same show over and over again so we're going to try to make a different it's going to be lit most of the time a lot of the time but yeah but yeah Yeah, so that's exciting. And I think there's some other, like, little things that we can mention on maybe next week's episode, because I want to get into this one. I'm so excited for this one. I've wanted to do this since we had a podcast. You have. And Ash has mentioned this one a lot, and we finally decided to, like, go really hard at it.

And wow, guys. I knew I had to let Elena research this because I wanted a deep dive, not an ash dive. It is real serious. Elena's, like, one of those people that dives for bodies. I'm like one of those people that like snorkels. That's a thing. You scuba, I snorkel. Oh, that's a good way to put in it.

Thank you. There you go. I love that. That was my brainchild. I'm scubaing right now. So what do we doing? I scubaed hard on this. So this is the case of the mysterious disappearance of Bryce Les Pisa. I'm so excited. And I know a lot of people were like, oh my God, I love this case. So I hope I do it justice for you guys. But you always do. I am, oh girl.

I love you. You always be doing that. I hope this one is, this one had me raging. Let me tell you. Well, there's a lot of twisties and tourneys. There's a lot of twisties and tourneys. So let's just start right at the beginning. Bryce Lespisa was born in Illinois on April 30th, 1994.

What? He's a tourist. You know, I don't know anything about tourists. I think one of my best friends was a tourist. They're very, and they're very loyal, I think. Oh. I'm pretty sure. Love that.

I mean, she's very loyal. So, hey, Lindsay. Let's find out if Bryce was loyal. His parents were Mike and, I'm going to actually speak of him in the present because we don't know what happened. I think he's so much. It's easy to say like he was, you know what I mean? But I'm going to try to keep it in the present. If I don't, please don't yell at me.

His parents are Mike and Karen Lesbys us. Together, they lived in Napperville, which is a suburb of Chicago. Which sounds like you take lots of naps there. I'd like to settle there someday. I would love to just go visit Napperville for a little while. If there is anywhere I'm supposed to live, it's Napperville. It is Napperville. You don't take a Napa.

You don't move to Napa. Where are my sex in the city heads? Yo! So he graduated Napperville High School in 2012. That makes me feel very old. And that summer, the family moved from Napperville in Illinois to, and that, Naperville is in DuPage County. DuPage.

Just to put that into where it is. They moved to Laguna Nagle in California. Oh, girl? Yeah, I'm saying. That sounds fancy. Any Laguna, I feel like it's fancy. Well, it's like Lauren Conrad's home. Lauren Canrad.

Okay. It's like Lauren Conrad. Why did I just pick up? I love it. What was that? I don't know, but I loved it. Where am I? That same fall, he started Sierra College in Rockland, California.

He stayed in the dorms. He was on the Dean's list, according to a verified insider on web sleuths. Now, let me let you know what a verified insider on web sleuth is. She's doing a shimmy as she says. I am. I'm shimming for web sleuths. People are like, please do a YouTube channel. I constantly shimmy when I get excited about things.

But web sleuths, I just made an account specifically for this case, just so you guys know. They have verified insiders, which is a new thing that they're doing, where if somebody claims to know a family, a victim, claims to be in law enforcement, a medical professional, a psychiatrist, like any kind of literally like insider into any kind of case. They have to get verified. They verify it to make sure that they can speak on that. And if they find out that they're not verified, and they're not actually that, they take down everything that they've said.

Oh, shit. Because they're like, you can't spout that shit if you're not really in it. So anything that I have found for this case from web sleuths, it's from two verified insiders. and their names are like, well, their usernames are like Karen, and then the other one is like Dragon something. Dragon, something sounds very legit. Either way, these two people are verified insiders. They know the family. They were involved in this case. So just letting you know. Now, Bryce was very artistic. He was very creative. That was something he was known for. He took graphic design courses in school. By all accounts, you know,

He did very well in school. Everybody liked him. He wasn't like, nothing stuck out as like, but he had this weird thing. You know what I mean? Right. He was surrounded. He had a big group of friends. He, by all accounts from his parents, loved, you know, loved his parents, loved his family.

He was one of those kids that his mother says was very close to his parents and like, in the sense that they had like an open and communicative relationship. They could talk about things. Yeah. Like his mother, Karen, says he could literally talk to her about her. anything. So she's like if he wasn't telling me something that was concerning. Right. He was always described as kind, funny, lovable, charming, just all positive things. He was about 5-11. He had like super red hair. Yeah. And green eyes, which it's like... Cool combo. That is the ideal combo to me. Like, I think that is a great combo.

He had one of the best smiles or has one of the best smiles. I have ever seen. Have you seen pictures of him? I've seen like one or two. You look at pictures of him. He has this huge megawatt smile. It's just like you and I have a thing for teeth. Yeah. I love good teeth. I love nice teeth and he had he has beautiful teeth. I'll be right back. Keep talking. And yeah, she's going to look up a picture. You know I got it. And guys like I will of course post photos of this whole case. When you see it, it's like his smile makes you smile. Oh, he does have a good smile. Yeah, he just has one of those. And it looks like he's just like, hey girl. Like he always just like, yeah. It makes you smile.

So it's just, you know, in 2013, he got a huge tattoo on his left shoulder. It's a Taurus bullhead with Roman numerals for his birthday. So it's like a zodiac tattoo. Love that. Which is kind of cool. I have a zodiac-ish tattoo. According to one of the web sleuths verified insiders, Karen, he also had an M and a K for his mother and father's initials in that tattoo. Oh, that's really sweet.

I would never do that. I would. But I understand why you wouldn't. So he started dating a girl named Kim Sly, which is a great name. Okay. What up, Kim Sly? Hi, Kim Sly. What up? I would go by Kim Sly.

I would, too. I would want to be called Sly. Or just Mrs. Sly. Just call me Sly. I'd be like, also, if we get married, I'm not changing my last name. No, never. I will not. This was his first year at college that he met and started dating her.

She was like, a beautiful girl. Like, he was really doing the damn thing. Okay. Like, good for you. Get it price. Yeah, just get it. He spent the summer between freshman year and sophomore year at home with his parents, who they later said they spent a lot of time with him that summer.

They saw him a lot. They never saw anything out of the ordinary in his behavior. Okay. August 2013, his sophomore year began. He got a campus apartment with a roommate Sean this year. He was 19 years old at this time. Two weeks into that year, his roommate Sean called Karen, who was, Bryce's mom. And he tells her, I got to talk to you. And she's like, what's going on here? Because when

your child's roommate is calling, that's concerned. Never a good sign. He's like, I'm really worried about Bryce. This is only two weeks in. Yeah, that's not a long time. That's not a lot of time. It's like, what the hell's happening in two weeks? He says Bryce's personality has completely changed. Like, it's worrying him. He claimed Bryce stayed up. One night he said he stayed up drinking like all night. And he said he's clearly drinking heavy. This is what's happening. Yeah. And then he said he's also taking the ADHD medication Vivance.

Which is no motherfucking joke. Yeah. Vivance is a schedule two controlled substance. So it has a very high potential for causing addiction and dependency, especially if misused. The literature about it is kind of, it's hard to find any literature about it when it comes to mixing it with alcohol. It's not really known what happens when that happens. There's been no studies or anything like that. I haven't found anything that indicates it causes more adverse reactions, but obviously

it's never good to mix any medication with alcohol. So it's not going to cause a good reaction. We just don't know exactly what. I feel like any medicine is like, do not mix with alcohol. Yeah, it's one of those things. There's not even like a specific warning for this medication, which I found weird. From what I found is not, I didn't see any specific warnings that was like, do not take this with alcohol. I think it's just one of those like you don't really want to take any.

medicine with alcohol. But it's interesting because a lot of people point to what we're going to hear about later as like maybe him mixing these caused like a psychotic break. I don't know if that's really true when you look at this, but it could be. We don't know. Once again, there's no studies that say either way. So I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that. So on August 26, 2013, he went to class as usual.

He had a speech class and a web design class at Sierra College. Oh, fuck a speech. Oh, God, I hate public speaking. I hate, it's so, I hate, it's so funny that, like, on stage, I feel much better at, like, a podcast show. Well, because everybody there you would hope likes you. I would hope so. But, like, a speech class.

I went to community college, and there was about 10 people in my speech class, three of whom are, like, still my friends to this day. But other than that, I hated that shit. I would get hives. That's, I hated it. And then my fucking speech teacher would be like, does anybody have questions? Somebody has to ask a question. And you're like, no, don't.

anyone have a question? And I would just be standing up there, like, panting. Like, somebody asked me a fucking question. Just ask me a question so I can sit my ass down. I got to go. The only reason I loved my speech class in college was because I met one of my best friends in the whole wide world, Allie. I love that.

So shout out to Allie. Love you. Love that. Speech class, bro. So, yeah, he went to his speech class. He went to his web design class. His mother said that she talked to him. They had a quote unquote good conversation.

Everything seemed fine. Mm-hmm. But the next day, August 27th, Kim, his girlfriend, had some concerns. Like, she was starting to see shifts in his behavior. So she said he had texted her recently saying that she would be better off without him. Well, that's never a good text to receive. No. And she responded saying, like any of us would, being like, are you breaking up with me?

Like, that sounds like you're breaking up with me. And she was like, are you breaking up with me? And he said, yes. Be a text? Be a text. cool and this is like an over over a year relationship yeah that's fucked up have you ever seen that video

you don't text message breakup yes I have seen that one as the shoes video and you don't you don't text message breakup no so that same day the 27th Kim went to his apartment to talk about things because she was like whoa whoa whoa like you don't get to text message break up me you're not text message break uping me and we're going to talk about this face

to face because we're adults they ended up making up when she got there so they ended up talking through whatever it was She did notice, however, that he was still acting really strange. And she says that he admitted to her that he had taken at least one Vivance pill, at least one. So it sounds to me like he was taking more than the prescribed dose. Yeah. From what I understand, V Vance is like Adderall, but like more, like more than Adderall.

It's like a more intense Adderall for sure. And it's one of those things that you just, and you don't want to take it if you're not prescribed it. Yeah. Well, because you don't know, like, the dosage or anything like that. Yeah, it's, I mean, I'm like a big person when it comes to that anyways that, like, she sure is. Don't take prescription pills that are not prescribed to you because they are prescribed to that person. Very specifically with the dosage that is specific to that person.

But I won't get on that soapbox. So after this on October 28th, at her 1.30 p.m., Bryce talked to his mom, and he told her, I'm going to go break up with Kim again. Which it's like, damn. According to Karen, this was weird because she was like, he had been like in love with her. Like talked about it all the time, how in love he was with this girl. With Kim Sly. So he was, so his mom's just kind of like, I don't know, I mean, whatever.

What am I going to do about it? Like, sure, go ahead. So at 205 p.m., Bryce texted Sean, his roommate, and said, quote, love you, bro. Seriously, you are the best person I have ever met. You saved my soul. Oh. Which like, good on Sean. I know.

Good job, Sean. Now, at 209 p.m., Sean replied, saying, I love you too, man. You have an amazing life, full of love and blessings. Don't waste that. You have too many people that love you, Bryce. Okay. So it sounds to me like maybe Bryce was possibly hinting to Sean before this. He was like suicidal.

He was feeling some type of way. And maybe Sean was, because who knows? Again, we're just speculating. here because nobody said anything but it sounds to me like Sean was maybe picking up on vibes and was just trying to put that out there to not be like too much you know like talk him off a ledge yeah like he was trying to talk him off a ledge without scaring him out of talking to him you know what I mean like because you want to be really delicate when it comes to that especially when if someone hasn't come right out and said it to you like it maybe Bryce hadn't come out and said something

and just just do a little dance around it and he was like I just want to let you know that like we all love you please know that yeah Which it's like, that's adorable. That like these two 19-year-old boys are like, I love you. It is. Like, that's wonderful. So he then showed up at Kim's apartment later in Chico, California at 10 p.m. This was about 90 miles away.

Oh, wow. Yeah, so that's a little bit of drive. She was super concerned. And she said, like, the conversation was weird. He was acting strange, and he said he wanted to break up again. Now, she thought he should not be driving. She was like, it wasn't even about the breakup. Like obviously I was heartbroken about the breakup.

But I wasn't, I was concerned about how he was acting. Like his date. So she was like, I don't want you driving. So she took his keys and wouldn't give them back. And some people like looked at that and were like she was just mad that he broke up with her and she didn't want him to leave. No. That's not the case here, I don't think. And Kim is literally like, I just didn't want him getting in a car and something bad happened.

Because I cared about him. Because regardless of him breaking up with me twice in two days, I really cared about him. So, and this is what makes me think that. She then called Bryce's mom with him standing right there. Yeah. If this was just because she was pissed about the breakup and upset and why would she have involved his mom? She would never involve his mom. So she calls his mom right there and she tells her, listen, Karen, I'm upset.

I think Bryce, something's going on with him. I've told you he's acting strange. Now, remember, Sean has already called his mother and told him he's acting strange. His roommate, who he spends all. this time with and now his girlfriend who spends all this time with. They're both saying something's up with your kid. Now, she's like, I took his keys. I don't want him driving.

So she was like, Karen was like, okay, let me speak to him. So she spoke to Bryce. And Bryce was like, I'm fine, mom. Like she was like, are you okay? What's going on? He was like, I'm fine. I just want to go home. Right.

And she has my keys. I want my keys. And he kind of made it seem like I broke up with her and she's holding on my keys. Mm-hmm. So his mom's like, okay, like, that's fine. So she says to Bryce, you know what, I'm going to fly up there tomorrow and I'm going to check on you. And he said, no, don't make any kind of plans, nothing like that. Please don't do that before we talk.

And he said, because, quote, I have a lot to talk to you about. Oh, God. And she was like, what? And he was like, no, I'll tell you about it later. Now, Karen made Kim give back the keys. Karen got on the phone and said, give him back his keys. I know that you're not supposed to like blame anybody, but I wouldn't have done that. I mean, you're not there to assess the situation.

Someone is clearly nervous. They see something that you're not there seeing. If anybody had any doubt that my kid, not that I have kids, but when I do have kids, if anybody doubts that they're capable of driving a vehicle, I'm not interested. And honestly, like, just to forewarn everybody, I'm real pissed at how his parents handled most of this case. And I'm going to say it. And if you don't want to hear it, that's fine.

But this is how I feel and it's my podcast. So I'm going to say it. But we are not the only ones who feel this way. I've listened to a bunch of other podcasts about this. I've done a ton of research on the internet. Yeah. We are not alone and feeling like there was a lot of mishandled moments. 100%.

And this is just the first one. Yeah. And this is just, and again, I'm a mother. I'm just stating to you what I would do in this situation. And when it comes to my, my kid, if two people that have been very close to him, and these are just two instances, from what I've read, it seems like a lot of people are telling her, something's up with Bryce. Like, he's acting strange.

Anytime somebody who's that close to my kid is telling me, something's off with them, they're acting strange. I'm worried. I'm flying out there tonight. I'm there immediately. And I'm going to, we're going to figure this out. Like, it's just sometimes you've got to over, especially when it comes to your own kids, I'm going to, I'm going to overdo it.

Because I'd rather overdo it than underdo it. And it's like, maybe I'll fly out there and they'll be like, mom, I have the flu and I just don't feel good. And like, everybody thinks that me. You're like, oh, okay, well, let me make you see soup. That's fine. I don't care. Like, I'd rather do that than something bad happened. Right.

Like this. So Kim gave back the keys and at 11.30 p.m. he left. Now, Karen and Kim assumed he was going back home to his apartment on campus. Now, at 1 a.m., he called Karen his mother again. and said, you know, was telling, and she was like, what the hell's going on? He said he was fine. She thought he was home by then,

because she was like, you should have been home by then. It was 90 miles away. He was not home. So he's calling her and he's like, I am on the road. Now, according to cell phone tower pings, he had gone south in the opposite direction to his place on campus.

So now they're like, what? 11 a.m., Karen gets another call. call, but this time from her car insurance company. Mm-hmm. It was either a call or a text. I've seen both. I'm going with call because that's what I've seen more.

The car insurance company was telling her that roadside assistance was used by Bryce for that, for their car. They were informing her of the charge that was coming. So that's a little concerning. Of course, it could be anything, but you don't want to hear that. Right. Now, Karen called Sean, the roommate, and was like, is she, is, Bryce okay. I got the call about the, you know, the roadside assistance. And Sean's like,

oh, Bryce never came home last night. Oh my God. What are you talking about? And she's like, what? So Karen and Mike, his parents are now panicking. And they start checking all their records to see, you know, where he could be. They're like, because from the looks of it, Bryce was using their car that they gave to him. He also apparently had a credit card that was linked to, like, that they had access to, so it must have been on their account. Which I guess is, because at first I was like, wow, what a lucky kid. He gets his parents credit card at 19.

But then I'm like, but that's really good because they were able to look up the account. Like, they were able to look up the charges. I have a credit card that like Papa can see, but it's my personal money. Like it's not connected to his account, but he's an overseer on my account. That makes sense. And I'm 23. Yeah. So you like, so, you know. And it's good

because he's like, maybe don't spend that much money. And I'm like, okay. He's like, hey, don't do that. Well, and this was good because regardless of if it was, you know, their credit card that they pay for or if they just saw the account, they were able to see that there was a $20 charge in the town of Button Willow on their debit statement. This is just a few hours away from their home. So they're like, oh, so this leads them.

Maybe he's coming home. Exactly. This leads them to believe that Bryce was coming to their house. So they're like, okay, maybe he was coming. Maybe he was going to come home and we were going to talk about all those things that he said he needed to talk to me about. And so, but they had been calling his cell phone and they're not getting answers. And so now they're starting to freak out.

So now Mike's, his dad, is looking at the credit card statement and he sees the charge for $20 and he's like, all right, it has the name of the business on here. I'm going to call this business and ask them if they've seen him what this is about. Now the business was Castro, tire, and truck. And that was what was linked to that $20 charge. The owner of this business was a guy named Christian. Now, let me just preface this and say, Christian is a damn guardian angel.

He's a sweetie. Christian, holy hell. I remember the first time I heard this, I was like, Christian's got something to do with it. No, Christian is just a wonderful human being. He's just a wonderful human being. Yep. Now, he tells Mike, so Bryce's dad,

that he had delivered three gallons of gas to a man who had run out of gas and was on the side of the road this morning at 9 a.m. Me all the time. I have always run out of gas at 9 a.m. on my way to work. You have, actually. So many times. Now, apparently when Christian had first gone to deliver the gas, he didn't see Bryce, just the car.

And so he went to leave, but Bryce immediately called back for the gas. And he's like, where are you? So Christian went back. And when he got there, Bryce was with the car now. And he informed Christian that he had been sleeping. So Christian was like, K. Where, though? Unfortunately, this dispelled their belief that he was coming to their home,

because if he had received the gas in Buttonwillow at 9 a.m., then he would have already been home by now at 11 a.m. So where the fuck was he? So now Christian, being the really good, decent human being that he is, can hear that Bryce's parents are worried as fuck. Like, he can hear the panic. As soon as he says, you know, I gave it to him at 9 a.m., and that's all I know.

he can hear that they're like are you kidding me he should be home now so he tells them that he will go back out to the place that he delivered bryce the gas and it was a drive yeah just to make sure that he wasn't there just to see what was going on what the deal was like christian so he goes there and what do you think he finds well i know so i don't want to say what guys what do you think he finds no that's not it he finds bryce brice is still there y'all still there three hours later In the same spot. In the same spot. He was sitting in his car for three hours after getting gas.

He told, so Christian tells Bryce, your parents are panicking. They are so worried about you. And he calls the parents back to let them know Bryce is here. So they spoke on the phone with Bryce. And he tells them he was doing. They were like, what do you do and do? Like what is going on? And he goes, nothing.

And that was it. Like you didn't give any explanation? Chilling in the same spot for three hours for no reason. Karen is like, we'll go get gas and come here. Now, this is the first instance. Where you're like, nope, go there, Karen. Where I'm like, Karen. Go there.

Come on, Karen. At this point, he's about two or three hours, I think, away from their house. I'd be in my car. I would go there. I would be like, I would either ask, at this point, I would be like, Christian. I know we've asked a lot of you right now, but this is kind of important. Is there any way you can stay with him? Yeah.

Or is there any way, Christian, that you can bring him back to your place a business and I will come there. Mm-hmm. But I'm going there. Yep. Because shit's weird. Already shit is weird. Right.

Any kid that's been sitting in their car for three hours with nobody just like hanging out. And after being driving for all night too. Yeah. It's like this dude has been on the road for like hours and hours and hours. Like almost a full day. Yeah. It's ridiculous.

So yeah. So Karen tells him go get some gas. Come back to our house. Okay, Karen. Um, so Bryce got the gas. and off he went. So he would be coming home at around 3 p.m. if he came straight there. Uh-huh.

Didn't show up at 3 p.m. And he stops answering his phone. And at that point I'd be shitting my pants as a parent. Oh, I would be going insane. So Karen and Mike call Orange County Sheriff's Department and they file a missing person's report, which like, good job. Mm-hmm. You should do that. Police were able to obtain an emergency ping order from AT&T.

and I got this little bit of information from the Sinisterhood episode on this case, which by the way, go listen to that too because one Sinisterhood is a great podcast. I really like their podcast. Like shout out to Sinisterhood. And their episode is really good on this. One of them is a mother too, so she has like the same kind of like rage that I have. And it's funny because the other one is like, I'm looking at it from the kids perspective and like my parents would come get me.

Like they were like, so one of them is saying like I'm a mother. Mine wouldn't. Just kidding. But your grandparents would. My grandparents would send you to come get me. And it's just funny because like one of them is being like, I'm a mother and I would come get my kid. The other one's like, I'm a kid and I'm not even a kid.

She's like a grown adult, but she was like, as a child, my parents would come get. 100%. This doesn't make sense. Your ass would totally be there getting me and being like, A hundred percent. What the fuck is going on? I'd be like, what are you doing? Elena has come to get me in many situations, actually, now that I think about it. And I would in this one.

Oh, I love you. Um, so they were, I got it from this bit of information from them that they were able to obtain the emergency order from AT&T. And it showed his cell was pinging off towers only eight miles away from the gas station. He got gas from. Which is not very far. So in nine hours, he had only got that gas and then stopped. In nine hours. Damn.

He got gas. That was it. Well, he's like very focused on whatever he's focused on because Vibance. Because Vibance. I guess. 9.33 p.m., police found his SUV at a hotel, and he's in the SUV. He's not even in the hotel. He's in the car.

And deputies approached him, and they were like, hey, bro, what are you doing? And he was like, oh, I'm going to visit a friend. Which, like, no, you're not. You're supposed to be going home. Like, that was the other plan. And also, what friend are you going to see? Right. So they gave him a field sobriety test and he passed.

Okay. They also said he didn't show any signs of being impaired. They were like, we weren't even worried that he was. We just were like, maybe we should do this. I don't think you would seem impaired on Vibance. If you took enough of it, you would. But if he just, do you think he was, like, taking, like, one? Like, he could have just been on one, you think?

But one, I don't think would cause anything to really happen. So you think he was, like, totally sober? It seems like he was. I mean, From what they said, he was polite. He was in good spirits. Talkative, totally with it. Able to answer questions.

They literally gave him a field sobriety test. That's so bizarre. And the fact that he was friendly and in good spirits. Yeah. And he could answer questions. He was very talkative. They said he wasn't quiet. Yeah.

They asked if they could search his car and he let them do it. He was like, sure, go ahead. They found nothing of note. Mm-hmm. They told him his family was extremely worried about him. And when they asked him what he was doing, he said, quote, just blowing off some steam. Okay. So it's like, from what?

What happened? And it's like, what do you mean you're blowing off steam? Like, you're sitting in your car. What is happening? So at 10.30 p.m., cops told him to call his mother. They're like, dude. You got to call your mother. This is ridiculous.

And they said, Bryce didn't want to. Mm-hmm. Like Bryce was like, no, I'm good. So he was like, can you guys call her for me? and just give me the phone afterwards, which is weird. That is very bizarre. So they called her. This whole case is so bizarre.

I've heard it, but I'm like, I'm all bizarre again. I'm all bizarreed again. So they did. They called her for him. They were like, hey, he's here. Yeah, they're like, cool. Doesn't want to chat. And then they gave him the phone to talk to her.

His mom asked what he was doing, and he said, quote, I'm going to hang with friends later. And he said, I'm just chilling. I'm going to go hang with friends later. But like, why are you just? just chilling in like random parking lots like very far away from your school. Well, and that's, it's like... And like, what friends are you going to hang out with?

And he's just like, yeah, I'm just chilling for nine hours. Like, no big deal. It's not, and it's like the thing, like you weren't running errands. Like, you weren't, you just weren't doing anything. You're just sitting for hours and hours. It's weird. And then they let him, they, the police said he's fine. He can drive home.

Like, he's fine. Well, there's nothing they can do. What are they going to detain him on? Every interview I've seen with Karen the mom says, she spoke with the cops and they said he was fine to drive. Oh my God, Karen. Yeah, like that's your kid. Karen, at this point,

if you didn't do it before, this is the perfect opportunity. If I'm that mom, and I don't give a shit how judge you this sounds, I really don't. If I'm that mom, that is a cop. I'm going to say to the cops, one, can you stay there with him?

Or two, can you take him and bring him to the station? Yeah. I'll come to the station and get him. Bring him anywhere. Please just hold on to him. They can stay there. So I can get there. I would be in the car on the phone with that cop already on the way there.

Would they be able to do that? They technically, I would at least be like, can you stay there with him? And I think they would do that. Can you tell them I'm coming? I would try at least. Yeah. And be like, can, you know, I'm worried. I would at least be, I would say to the cop, listen, people have been telling me for weeks now or days now that

they're worried about him and that he's acting strangely. And this whole thing is fucking strange. I don't know if he's just lucid right now to you, so please can you keep him there because I'm very worried. Yeah. You don't take these people's word that he's fine. Stop taking people's word that he's fine to drive. That your kid is fine.

Nothing is fine about this. This should be, red alerts should be flying in every direction. I agree. 600%. Oife. So hours later, he still didn't make it home. Karen and Mike called Christian, the owner of the, tire place back because they were freaking out, and that was the last person they had talked to.

Christian agreed to check on Bryce eight miles away. So he was like, I will go back to the eight miles away where we last found him, where the cops found him. He was like, I'll go there. And I'll see if he's still there. Yeah. Because if that's the last place you said he was, I'll go check on him for you. And guess what? Because it's like, why is Christian doing this?

Right. Why didn't you just call the cops again? That's another weird thing. So you know what? He went the eight miles away where he was last seen. And Bryce was still there. Yeah. Hours later.

13 hours. He has just been doing nothing. That is so bizarre. So Christian's like, yeah, he's here. He seems okay, but his eyes are a little red. Because he's probably fucking tired. But he's like, that's all I can see. So now Christian's like, okay.

I'm going to let your son follow me. onto the highway 30 minutes away. Which is really nice. So that I can make sure he gets on the highway towards your house. Again, 30 minutes away. This dude is leading Bryce onto the highway. So he does that. He leads him onto the highway and then he sends him on his way and he's like,

now I have to go back to my life. Right. Now, Bryce's GPS said he would arrive at his parents' house at 3.25 a.m. So he spoke to his parents at... few times and when they asked for like landmarks and stuff to tell where he was because they were like let us know where you are along the way he was like vague and like weird about it like at 150 a.m. he told his mother quote he had detoured off i5 but was back on the i5 and then he said there's no lights and i can't see any signs so how do you know where you are again karen that's not

normal right it's like just go get it Please just go get him. Like, this happened so long ago, and I feel like it's happening right now, and I need to go get Bryce. Well, also, it's just a couple hours away. Yeah, it's just none of this is okay. And this has been going on for a full day. Like, what are you doing also at home? A day and a night. It's like, what do you think they're doing at home?

That's the other thing. It's like, what the fuck are you doing? So you might as well be in your fucking car driving. Oh, and it gets worse. Oh, I know. So at 209 a.m. He calls his mom and says, I'm tired. I'm going to pull over and sleep in my car.

I'd be like, no, you're not, though. Now, they are 30 to 36 hours on the road at this point. He's 30 to 36 hours awake on the road and away at this point. She said she told him that's a good idea. Not a good idea. Karen, what the fuck is happening right now? Yeah, like, why do you think that's a good idea? It is 2.09 a.m.

What are you going to, are you going to go to sleep, Karen? Did you get in bed and go to sleep while your child is having something going on? Want to nap on the side of the road? Yeah, no. No. My and Papa would be like, no, you're not taking a nap on the side of the road alone at 2 o'clock in the morning. Hell no. No.

There's no time in my child's life that I'm ever allowing them to sleep on the side of the road. I don't care. If I have to fucking take a train, a plane, an automobile, a boat to get to them. A kayak. I will figure that shit out and I'm going to get to them. I don't give a shit. Well, and at this point, he can't be. He can't be that far away at this point.

It would be like an hour away at this point. It's like at this point, jump in that car, go 100 miles an hour and get to him. Right. What the fuck? What the fuck? Like this is what makes me angry. It's like, what are you guys doing at home? Well, this is what makes me question.

What happened? This is all just weird. Like, I'm not trying to take away from the fact that they don't know where their son is and that they are also victims of this whole thing. Probably could have gone a little differently. Guys, like you got, like, this is your responsibility here. This is tough. So, where are we?

Let's see. So at 209 a.m., he's pulling over. He's going to sleep. That was the last contact that they had, which that's awful. So 8 a.m. the next morning, he's not home. Oh, yeah, he's not home. In California Highway Patrol officers show up at Mike and Karen's door. Your worst nightmare.

I was going to say that had to have just been, I mean, especially after. Any time a policeman shows up at your door or a policewoman shows up at your door is like a nightmare, nightmare, nightmare. Yep. But then if everything had been going on with your kid the day before, you're like, fuck. You've got to be sitting there being like, shit. Yeah. And it's like at that point they have to be thinking, I should have gotten a car and driven there.

I really would hope so. Yeah. And so he asked, you know, do you own this 2003 Toyota Highlander? Mm-hmm. They said yes. And they were like, has it been stolen? And she was like, no, we gave it to my son to use. Well, they told them at 5.30 a.m., a construction worker found Bryce's car,

abandoned and wrecked near Castaic Lake. It was found off an access road where there was a 25-foot embankment. His car was found at the bottom of this embankment and on its side. I don't like that. It was pretty banged up, but it wasn't like, banged up to the point where you were like, oh, he's dead. Right. Like, that's, I've seen pictures of it.

I'll post it. It's interesting. Bryce's, you know, main things like his laptop, his phone, his credit cards, his wallet, all that kind of shit were still in the car. Which is bizarre. Yeah. And they were either in the car or like around the car. But he was nowhere.

Mm-hmm. However, his duffel bag was open and unzipped and found outside the car. It's also interesting that he even had a duffel bag. to begin with. Yes. Because all he was doing in the first place was going to break up with Kim and then as far as everybody knew, going back to school. Yeah.

And that's the thing. And what was in that duffel bag that he took out? Right. And so they assume he must have taken something before he left out of that. Either he did or someone else did. Did they say if he had a passport? They did say he had a passport. I don't think it was on him though.

Okay. That passport. Just wondering. The passport, though, is in like the registry of missing persons so it's like in the database so if it was ever like there would hit on it if something came but nothing has so far okay spoiler alert um the keys were still in the mission spooky now blood was found in the car but not enough to suggest there was a bad head injury or anything like that it was more like droplets on i think the driver's side window

probably like scratch and they said what probably happened was maybe he smashed his nose or he hit his head and it was like a little bit of stuff. It didn't suggest that it was like a fatal injury or anything. The back window was shattered and it looked like, and it had been kicked out or it had been broken by like a tool, like an emergency tool. Okay. So they said either it broke on the impact, which they don't think that's the case, but they said they think he either kicked it out or used an emergency tool to get out of the

back. Yeah. The evidence at the scene also showed that. Rice had accelerated when he drove off the excess road and down the embankment because there was like, I think it was that dirt had kicked up behind. So it suggested he didn't break. Like dirt would have been in front of the tires, but it was in back. Like he accelerated. Okay.

There is this weird optical illusion that makes the lake look like it's right there off the access road. But when you look closer, the embankment is between the road and the lake. Investigators took this and initially were like it kind of looks like he was driving off the road into the lake. lake. Oh, like in that he accelerated to get to the lake. Which suggests he was trying to take his own life. Right. Now, this could have also been, in my opinion, when I look at this, I can see why they

would think accelerating would suggest he was trying to get into the lake. Uh-huh. To me, this says maybe, so what it is is this access road and is a gate that's closed on this access road. Maybe he accelerated to get through the gate. I was thinking maybe what happened was. He was driving around the gate and was halfway onto that embankment to drive around it. He skidded, veered off into the embankment.

Either he was trying to readjust, accelerate to get back onto the road. Oh, okay. Like to correct the fuck up. The wrong turn. Or it was just panic mode and he hit the accelerator instead of the break. Yeah. Because in that situation, like, holy shit, you're going down an embankment. You might hit the accelerator by accident.

Right. I mean, that's just me. and according to some web sleuth verified sources, the vehicle did go around the gate. It didn't hit it. So the vehicle was trying to go around the gate. And they said that it kind of like veered off into the drop-off. Again, like he was trying to go straight, but he accidentally fell to the side while maneuvering past the gate and just veered down. Well, he'd been driving for how fucking long, like you're bound to make a mistake.

He was probably exhausted. Of course, there was a huge search now. Volunteers, I mean, investigators, journalists, helicopters were there. There was a dive crew. There was cadaver and bloodhounds. You know what I mean? The local businesses even let people like set up base camps. They were missing persons posters.

Right. I mean, they went crazy. So bloodhounds were used to follow the path from the car to wherever Bryce had gone next. and his girlfriend Kim actually gave the investigators some of the clothes she had at her house of his like dirty clothes to try to get his scent off of it

the dogs led, so they did get his scent initially the initial search led the dogs from the car or down the embankment and towards the lake but then it walked along the shore and what did the second bloodhound search did was did that same thing, but then went across a dam over the lake. Okay.

And then went southward to a truck stop, like a rest stop. And when it got to the rest stop, it just stops. Like he hopped in a truck with someone. Exactly. So people are thinking he walked all that way and then he hitched a ride. Be it a truck, a car. Was he meeting someone there? Like, how he planned something?

Like he had he planned something? Or did he just hitch a ride? To me it seems like he planned something because what was taken? out of that duffel. What was taken out of the duffel and he walked to the truck stop. Right. And then he knew it was there. Then the scent stops. Right. So he went somewhere. Right. He's not in the lake. Like, it doesn't make any sense. So they searched for 48 hours straight and there was no sign of him. They couldn't find any evidence besides that scent, everything like that. At 207 a.m., six minutes after talking to his parents that night.

They had, um, his SUV was found to be on video surveillance camera on Lake Hughes Road, which was heading towards Castaic Lake. Okay. So he told his mother, I'm going to pull off and sleep. Mm-hmm. Six minutes later, he seemed driving towards that lake. Right. He wasn't pulling off to sleep.

So he was bullshitting her. He was not, either he was bullshitting her or for some reason he was going to this very remote area to go to sleep. Yeah. I don't think that's a, that would happen. Right. Um, they, there was someone driving that vehicle. They'd have not positively identified it as Bryce because they can't see it that very well.

Right. We're assuming it's Bryce because it was very close after he called his mom. And they didn't find anything else in the car. Exactly. No evidence to suggest someone else was driving that car. And there were no passengers seen in the car. Um, the same camera captured him again on that road at 4.29 a.m. Okay.

So this road is very long and really windy. and he went up and down it twice. Weird. And that doesn't make sense. And I think that the sinisterhood episode that I listened to on this, I think they had a really good theory about this, which if you're going to go with the theory that he was trying to take his own life, which I don't necessarily go totally with.

But if you are, this can be seen as maybe... Contemplating? Trying to get the hutsba up to do it. Like figuring it out. Or trying to figure out if that's what you want to do. Just contemplating what he said. Like, you know, that could be it. Right.

Who knows? In the weeks following the search, a ton of tips came in, but no leads were happening. The media ended up getting involved because they were just trying to spread the word everywhere. They're like anywhere we can get this. That a more missing persons flyers came out. They had a billboard near the lake that was like a huge bullboard with his face on it. Yeah. I mean, they were trying everything.

Everybody, the parents kept saying he was fine, and they kept saying we spent the whole summer with him. He was fine. He wasn't acting strange. I don't know what happened in these two weeks. Yeah. They think foul play is involved. They were like, he would never go voluntarily. He wouldn't try to, you know, take his own life.

This just doesn't make sense. September 4th, 2013, a jogger reported a fire in a woody area three miles from where Bryce's car had been found. they found the source was a body burning in the woods. Which is terrifying. So everybody hold onto their butts because DNA said it wasn't Bryce. It was not Bryce. This was a murder victim from, I believe, a Los Angeles homicide that had happened. So that's sad.

I'm glad they found that one at least. But the search was active for three weeks and then called off because they just had nothing. There was nothing to go off of. It was just nothing. During this time, his girlfriend Kim gave more clothing she had of his, just trying to help out in any way that she could. Karen and Mike hired, decided that they were going to hire a private investigator named Denise Sevastano. She said she would take the case pro bono.

She kind of, she basically wanted to look at the foul play aspect of this whole thing. And she also said that She thinks that he hit his head And maybe became disoriented And like wandered into the chuck stop And who knows what happened after that Yeah I mean that's a valid

It is definitely explanation She also said that his parents' address was put into the GPS And they acted like this was like some groundbreaking like thing That she discovered that he had put their address into GPS Indicating that he was planning to go there but like we knew that already because he had told his parents what time the GPS was telling them him and that he was going to be there right so I'm like well he probably just did that to be like oh I'll be home at this time to like shut them up exactly give them an answer exactly like he probably

put it in there to be like yep it says I'll be there at three right I'm like sure so um so she thinks that you know it could be foul play the whole disorientation thing or she thinks he maybe had a psychiatric episode I mean maybe Which any of these could be true. Yeah. So the PI did help the parents hire a sonar specialist so they could search parts of the lake that they hadn't searched before. There was parts of this lake that are 300 feet deep. That's fucking crazy.

Which just saying that... Makes me scared. Makes me so terrified. Because I hate... Like deep water. I don't like deep water at all. I like water, but I don't like deep water. It freaks me.

And thinking of a lake that's 300. feet deep, just walk. It gives me the willies. It's like the underworld. Oh, there's just so much in there that we don't know about. And I'm like, ah. Who lives there? For two days, 12 hours each day, they used this sonar device

on this lake. They found absolutely nothing. So investigators are now interviewing friends and family. They're talking to anybody who knew him. They're like, someone's got to know something. And again, everyone they talk to are like, yeah, he was acting real weird at the beginning of

sophomore year. Like he's just weird. So they were like, what the fuck? Then they get told he had started giving away some of his possessions. Which is wild. Different. So he gave Sean his roommate his Xbox.

Which apparently he loved. Like he loved his Xbox. Big thing to give away. He also gave him a pair of diamond stud earrings that his mother had given to him. Which is like, why are you giving away my jewelry? Yeah. Um, he, his friends, also said that he had begun to mix the Vivance, you know, meds with hard liquor, and that he was

drinking really heavily lately. Yeah. So, of course, his parents are like, no, that can't be true. But you're like, also, what happened that he started drinking so, like, if you, it's interesting to me that it started sophomore year. Like, if he, like, I don't think this was like, I'm going to drink so much because I want to party. Yeah. I feel like something happened. Well, that's the thing. And it's like, even though all these people around him are like, he was melting down. He was changing. completely. He was a totally different person. His parents maintained he was fine throughout the summer that he

never showed any signs of substance abuse, never changed at all. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up. So he just went to school and immediately shifted completely 100%. It just doesn't make any sense. Like it's just, something's weird here. Now some of the theories here.

There's a theory that he had a psychiatric break or he was suffering for mental illness. Now, this could be true because he was technically at the age where mental illnesses can rear their ugly heads. Yeah. And then there's the behavior he was exhibiting, which was very erratic, very up and down. The meds he was taking could have contributed to a psychiatric break. But where did he go?

Right. Even if it is a psychiatric... Where did he go? Right. What's happening? You don't just disappear in a thinner. Because, again, they've, like, searched the homeless population to see if maybe he's just like... You know, they haven't found him.

The next theory is suicide, which correlates, you know, with his behavior that he was exhibiting, giving away his items. They would have found a body. That's the problem with that one, too, because he's giving away his belongings. He accelerated towards the lake. Some people could look at that as, you know, he was circling around that area. It looked like maybe he was thinking about it. Maybe he was just thinking about running away. He was breaking up with his girlfriend before.

You know what I mean? He was talking to his friends like he was saying goodbye. It was like all that stuff. But again, if it was suicide, where is he? Right. Where's his body? Because he did walk away from the accident and dogs traced him to the truck stop. Right.

So it's like, and he took something with him from that duffel bag. Yeah. Well, it was in the duffel bag. Do you have any theory about what he took from the duffel bag? Okay. And I'm going to give it to you and have a feeling you would. I do. I have a theory.

So there's also the amnesia theory that people think he hit his head, got in, head injury and had amnesia and didn't know who he was or what he was doing or where he was going. I think that one's really far-fetched. Yeah, I don't think so. Because this whole thing is planned before he hits his head. I think it's just, it helps for certain theories that he hit his head, but then you have to take into account everything that happened before that. Exactly. Because it's also really fucking weird. Exactly. Because like, so we're just hinging this on he hit his head. Like that doesn't make sense. No, that's just, that's toward the end of the weirdness. And it just reminds me of like when Michelle Tanner got amnesia after she fell off that horse on full house.

Oh my God, that was a great episode. That was a very dark episode. It was. I remember it. I fell off a horse once. That explains a lot, actually. I mean, I'm not, I was going to take that as an insult, but I, like, but I agree. I can't even.

So the next theory is that he walked away voluntarily. Which is what I agree with. Like a staged suicide. He tried to, you know, you wanted to get off the grid. You know, he could have gone to that. truck stop. He could have gone on the highway and off he goes. His parents say there's no way this is what happened. He was super psyched, super happy. No way. He wasn't though. There's also the foul play, you know, theory that somebody else was involved here. Something happened. But who the fuck

picked him up? If that's, like, I don't understand any of this. I mean, maybe the two that I lean most towards are like he decided to start this whole new fucking life and like just hitched her eyed. Or I think he was planning to start a whole new life and maybe along the way something happened yeah abducted who knows and that's the thing so there are a lot of people on the internet um in like different sites like web sleuths reddit all those places that um you know claim to know the family of course know more about this of course reddit holes are my favorite holes i love reddit holes um in a lot of people so and one of the things um that sinister had mentioned was that they went

they also said they went into a big Reddit hole and it's so easy on this case. I've done it. A Reddit hole and a web sleuths hole is very easy to go into

on this case and I highly suggest it because it's very interesting. But they found that a lot of people were saying that they knew him in high school and that he was a heavy drinker

in high school and that he used to bring booze to high school like he would come drunk like he was a big drinker He was Jeffrey Domering. So again this is just speculation

but it's something to put out there. I just feel like sometimes where there's smoke there's fire. Yes. And some of the people speculated like Sinisterhood mentions that some people thought that maybe he was like involved in a drug deal in this place and that's why it was in a weird area. And that maybe the thing he took out of that duffel bag was like a track phone, like a burner phone.

Now in what could have happened is maybe he put that burner phone in the duffel bag It wasn't found during the police search because maybe they didn't go into that duffel bag. They just looked and everything else. And that's why no one found that. Maybe he took that, left his real phone because he was planning to get the hell out of there. Yep. But I don't know. I don't know, though.

I do feel like that would have been found during the police search. Well, and when I was listening to this, I was like, yeah, sure. Like, okay. But then it was discovered that he was charged with a misdemeanor for a drug charge in 2012. It was for possession. His family know about it? Oh, yeah. And it was that summer, right?

Yeah. And it was for possession of cannabis, 10 to 30 grams. He pled guilty. It's a Class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 12 months supervision, it was 12 months supervision beginning 7, 17, 12. And he also had to pay court fines and fees of $7,500. Wow. And there was a big-

California? Yeah. And there was a big breakdown of these charges that I have the, I found the, I found the, website or the uh yeah a link that leads to this like the court docket where you can see everything and you can see the breakdown of all the charges and there's a lot of just like normal charges like court clerk charge you know all this stuff was there like intent to distribute or something no i don't know what this why it was so high yeah that's a high fine but it was there it's out there um it's public record i mean 20 to 30 grams they're that alone is like intent to distribute yeah i mean that's a lot

any baggies for that. Well, so his roommate Sean said in an interview in an article that he believes in his heart that Bryce is okay and alive. Oh, Sean. So he really believes that he said, quote, I think that he's trying to find himself right now. He doesn't want to be found. He left it, meeting the apartment, like he was. He was only grabbing the essentials. He left everything else. Like he still has most of his clothes here, his TVs here. He told us he would come back on Labor Day. when they asked him about that burning body that they found before they identified it as not Bryce they asked him like you know what do you think of that and he said quote I'm not worried because I know that though he may be having some issues right now I can't see him doing that to himself

I just have hope that that's not him Bryce just come home man we all miss you family is the most important thing right now oh so it seems to me like Sean he was clearly indicating to Sean that something was wrong and that he was and I mean just by giving him the Xbox and the earrings I'm sure Sean was like are you saying by to me like what's happening and the fact that Sean thinks he's okay after he was given those possessions it's like what happened because he's like and he says I don't think he wants to be found yeah like he's saying one why do you think that yeah like what do you say obviously because he's making it like he doesn't want to be found but what confirms your belief of that exactly and some of the other things I have found

in my internet searches is that Karen and Mike are portraying that like they were like the happiest family in the world but what about that fucking drug bust? Well and they're they're indicating that like nothing bad happened they are the happiest family in the world and everything I've seen has said like otherwise maybe there was a little tension in that house

in that there could have been some like you know like just it could have been tents in that house and not as like happy and like rainbows as they're portraying it and a lot of people are saying that um Karen, the mother, is very concerned with, like, appearances and very concerned with not being embarrassed or ashamed, you know, like, as most of us are. Yeah. But it sounds like she might have been a little more concerned with that. So her pretending that, like, he, this couldn't be that he is a heavy drinker or this or that.

I mean, you know that he was caught with, you know, he had a drug bust. I know it's just marijuana. That's not a huge deal. Right. But you can't say that he was squeaky clean, you know what I mean? like he did get busted with quite a bit of pot when he probably shouldn't have. So I think does that have something to do with this whole thing is like she knows that like he was having a lot of troubles with this stuff but he did she doesn't want to say it because

she doesn't want to embarrass the family. Right. I think maybe you're not embarrassing the family might have a lot to do with this. I agree. So there is a Facebook page run for this case and it's called find Bryce LaPisa. The Facebook is called that. There's a lot of people that will offer tips. People are still like, you know, stopping people that look like him and trying to find out.

And I mean, one of the things that they point to is the tattoo he has. It's huge on his left shoulder. So it's one thing they can use to ID him. Right. When somebody looks like him, it's just like, hey, can I see your left shoulder? Right. All of his information is in databases for National Missing Persons. It's never, never hit, like, his Social Security number.

none of his accounts. There's, he's never gone into any of his accounts after this. Because it's like if you are still. None of them. Doing shit. Like where are you getting money? Like what's happening.

Right. And according to investigators, like, so far, like nothing's been changed on the accounts. The passwords are still the same. It's wild. Because it is like crazy to think like as a 19 year old that you just have been walked away and just somehow have a new identity.

Yeah. Like never have to touch any of those accounts ever again. Right. That's interesting. And detectives are pretty convinced that a lot of the detectives I've seen are kind of convinced he's still alive and just doesn't want to be found. Because there's really not a lot to suggest otherwise. Yeah. And basically what they think is like the key to this case is what he wanted to talk to his mother about. And that was going to crack it basically. What I wonder personally is if he was planning. initially to take his own life. But when he crashed, he survived.

And he did not hit that late. And maybe he saw this as a sign. Maybe he was like, I'm not meant to do this. But it's like, but why wouldn't he stay there? Or like this would be his chance to call his family or like his friends or something. So I'm like, maybe he was trying to kid or maybe he was thinking about it. But why would he have a duffel bag if he was thinking about killing himself? I think I, and the fact that he just left throws me.

Yeah. The fact that he just left is crazy. Yeah. But the fact that he supposedly went to his girlfriend's house just to break up with her and then everybody thought he was going back to school. Yeah. But he packed a bag. Yep. Drove to her house, broke up with her, told his mommy was coming home and this never came home.

I don't think he had, I mean, he clearly had no fucking intentions of going on. No, he didn't. I think he somehow set up some kind of new life. Yeah. Which is mind-pile. blowing because I'm 23 and right now I don't even know how I would go about that. Yeah. But.

Well, that's the thing. It's like he's 19 years old. He's a grown-ass man. Mm-hmm. If the police have found him, they have no obligation to tell his parents. Right. Well, and it's almost like maybe he wouldn't want them to because the last time that he did, or the time that he saw the cops, he was like, can you call my mom?

Yeah. He didn't want to talk to her. He didn't see. That also makes me think like what's going on there because why wouldn't you want to talk to his parents. It's just weird that he said to his mom, though, I have, there's a lot I have to talk to you about. Yeah.

But then it's like, did he say that? I know, that's the other thing. And it's like, because I haven't seen anything. I mean, I don't know. I haven't seen anything from Kim that confirms that or denies that because she was in the room. Right, right, right. But it's also like, every time she, every time they got on the phone with him during this whole journey, it's like, they would be like, what are you doing?

And he's like, nothing. And that would be it. Like, no one's pushing for more. Right. That's a weird response. Well, and you just have to wonder, was there more to the conversation that they just didn't want to say? Yeah. Or it's like, he was saying nothing and you guys just weren't pushing it any further.

What the fuck aren't you pushing for? Yeah. And it's like, did you know something? Right. And that's why you didn't push it? I don't know. What did you know? Like, I think there's like, um, there's like some ID discovery shows about this.

Mm-hmm. One of them's called like the road to nowhere, which just gives me chills. That's fucking terrifying. Because it reminds me of that song that's like, oh, what is it called? I don't know. Fuck, it's that song, The Way by Fastball. I don't think I've ever heard it. It was that, it's a song about like this couple that just like gets up one day and decides to just leave their life behind.

That's really scary. And I think it was based actually, maybe we'll cover it in like a mini more of it or something because it's kind of crazy about this old couple that like got up one day and just like left their life. and they ended up like dying on the road. Oh. It's a very bizarre, very, like in the song always gives me the hebes. Yeah, I have the hebes right now. Because I believe the singer of Fastball, like read that story and then wrote this song, which is creepy.

And it's like this very upbeat song, too. It's real weird. But as soon as I read this case and read more about it and heard like the road to nowhere is like the thing. Yeah, I don't like that. It just made me think of this song and I'm like, ugh, and the whole thing's just creepy. It's very spooky. Yeah, I'm not a fan.

But I like my life. I don't want to up and leave it. This was in 2013. It is almost 2020. And we have zero information about where Bryce Lepieze is. Yeah, that's insane. And I just don't know, guys. I think he started over.

And I think maybe police have found him. And maybe he was just like, I don't want people to find me. And he's of age where, like you said before, they don't have to tell his parents where he is. Yeah. I mean, the only questions with that is like, why, but maybe we will never know that. Maybe he gave them a good reason. Yeah, maybe we're only seeing what people are telling us about his life. He went into the witness protection program.

Maybe. Even though he's not a witness. I don't know. Maybe he was a witness to something. It's all bizarre, man. So many. There's like, I just want to have so many answers. I know.

And it's like, so I can definitely get behind that he's alive. He's voluntary, entirely missing. Maybe the police know where he is, and he said, I don't want anyone to know, so I'm just going to peace out. Maybe. Direct quote. The only thing that's really irked me about that one is, like, he hasn't touched any of his accounts. Yeah, that is weird. But, I mean, I guess you can get a new identity.

It can happen. People do disappear, so it's like, look at that. But, and then it's like, and then I can understand why people think he was trying to take his own life. I understand that. But if that's the case, where's his body? Right. Because you would think that it wouldn't be very far from where, like, the whole lake and everything was. Where is he going? Where did he go to do it? And it's like, we haven't found his remains at all. It's like, what? Well, the fact that it just stops, like, the sense just stops at that truck stop. I think maybe he just got in the car and he started over. Left the state. And he's somewhere else. Maybe he went to, like, another country. Like, maybe he went to Mexico or, like,

Canada. He could be anywhere on this planet. Honestly. Maybe. Maybe. I know Hawaii's not another country, but maybe he went to Hawaii. California's not that far from Hawaii. He went off the mainland.

He's out of here. I've been off the mainland. You have. You came from off the mainland. I know. So that is the crazy, spooky, frustrating, unbelievable tale of the disappearance of Bryce Las Pisa. It's a gnarly one.

It's one of my favorites just because it's like there's so many things. you can come up with. Yeah, twisty and turny. And it just leaves you feeling spooked. I remember the first time I heard it. It was a rainy day and I was in traffic and it just felt right to listen to. It's the road to nowhere, man. But I was on the road to my eye doctor that day. That gives me goosey bumps. I don't like it. Does me going to the eye doctor make you feel better? Yeah, it does. I got new glasses that day. I love that for you. I have a very like specific memory of like when I've heard something. I can remember like where I was when I heard it. I get that. That's fun. But yeah, it's a crazy case.

We don't have any more answers for you. I want answers. We gave you our opinion about it, but that's based off of, like, speculation and just... I want to hear your guys as theories. Yeah, we definitely want to hear what you guys think. And everything that I got here, I got from verified sources, at least. So, I mean, it's speculation, but it's speculation from pretty reliable sources. definitely go watch the ID discovery about it.

I believe in that's why we drink did an episode about this. That's where I heard it. It was really good. And definitely go check out the sinisterhood episode about this because they were great. It's a good one. It is. And it's just, it's really tricky. So, yeah, we hope you dug it.

We love you. We do. We love you so much. And yeah, so thanks for listening to that. Layna did a really good job. Thanks. If you want to see the pictures that she's going to post to go along with the case, they'll be on Instagram at Morbid Podcast.

It'll probably also be on Facebook at Morbid, colon, a true crime podcast. You could join the Facebook group. You should do it. Morbid colon, a true crime podcast, group. Then tweet at us about what you think your theory is. At a morbid podcast. Email us a case suggestion, a listener tale, a spooky road suggestion, a hey, hi, what's up, hello? Yes.

Morbid Podcast at gmail.com. check out the merch on our website. Morbidpodcast.com. And donate to the Patreon. Our manager is helping us organize it. Sure is. Patreon.com slash morbid podcast. We hope you keep listening.

And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you go to school one day and you're like, oh my God, I used to be so much fun. And now I feel like I'm not going to be fun anymore, but I'm going to start heavily drinking and taking my advance. And I'm going to break up with my girlfriend once. And I'm going to say, no, never mind, it's fine. And I'm going to break up with her again. And then I'm going to go, here have my Xbox and my Diamond Studs. And then I'm going to start driving and driving and driving.

and then I'm going to stay, stay, stay, stay, stay put. And then the cops are going to come get me. And then I'm going to be like, no, I don't want to talk to my mom. And then my mom's going to be like, okay, it's fine. And then I'm going to drive off an embankment and accelerate because I'm trying to get to that lake. But maybe I'm not trying to get to that lake. You don't know where I'm going. Don't keep it that weird.

Nobody knows where you are. Don't do not keep it that weird yet. I got so out of breath doing that. That was a good one. Bye.