SERIALously - 310: Emmanuel Haro, Giovanni Pelletier & Throuple Lived With Ex’s Corpse

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to an all-new episode of this. Hello, hello, welcome back to an all-new episode of true crime podcast serialously with me, your host, Annie Elise. I hope you guys are having a good week so far. I know that there is so much going on this week in the true crime world. I mean, there's, I can't even get started. We're going to talk about all of it, obviously, but there is so much happening. And this case that is breaking out of UKIPA, California, the little boy, the seven-month-old Emmanuel, I have been all over it. Don't worry. We're going to talk about everything. Not only is there so.

Starting point is 00:01:00 much detail to the backstory of this, but it seems like things are coming out every minute, I feel like. And I've been doing some digging, you know, I like to be like nosy and get my way in there. And not only the backstory with the father and all of that, but there's so many other red flags going on with the mom, going on with her route the day before. I mean, a lot that we have to talk about. So I know I'm jumping ahead of myself a little bit, but like we just have so much to go over here. Now, before we get into all of the cases, I want to announce, obviously, we're going back out on tour for another leg of the tour. It is going to be next week, actually. Gosh, that came up fast. And I'm going to be hitting Nashville, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Atlanta. I think

Starting point is 00:01:43 we are sold out of meet and greets. I'm not entirely sure, but I know there are a few tickets left as well. So if you're in the area, you're local to the city, you're close to one of those cities, come out, live show, meet and greets, the whole thing. We're going to be talking about an all new exclusive case. We also will be talking a lot about Idaho, a lot about some other cases that I know you guys have been, you know, probing me for information on. So tickets are at Annieelis.com and then just toggle over to the tour tab. Also, a little announcement. You may have missed it if you don't follow me on Instagram, but we decided to launch a couple of pieces of the exclusive tour merch this week. Not all of it, but a couple of pieces. And so you can get that also at Annie

Starting point is 00:02:27 least.com. We have our, you know, not a detective, just nosy tea. We have some other stuff. I also have one of the tumblers right here. We had this design. It said, it says adventure is out there, but so are serial killers, so I stay home. We did this design on a t-shirt in the, gosh, what was it? It must have been the spring, and it sold out immediately. So we smacked it on a Stanley. And so quantity is limited, but if you were unable to make the tour so far, you can buy one of those items. It's a couple of the pieces and designs we have on tour. And if you're going to one of the shows, you can buy it and you can wear it to the tour. So, you know, a little win, win, win.

Starting point is 00:03:04 Now, I'm really excited about today's episode because we are starting something a little bit new. I have a very special guest joining me today. And a lot of you already know her. You either know her from my past episodes. You've met her while I've been out on the road on tour. But it's definitely not a name that is going to surprise you. It is my sister, Amy. And let me give you the backstory here for a second. For those of you who don't know, the whole reason I got into true crime was my sister, Amy. Okay? We had our date line Fridays. We'd eat froyo. We'd watch every single dateline. Anytime a case pops up, you know, daily or week to week, we're texting each other, DMing each other about it. And we're just always talking true crime. So she started working with me a couple of years ago on like the back end, the operational stuff because I'm, you know, so short-circuited. I can't make

Starting point is 00:03:56 sense of anything, but we still are talking about cases regularly all the time. So there's been a few over the past few months where she like messages me or is talking to me in the office and she's like, have you heard about this case? Have you talked about this case? Like all of these things. So I'm like, why don't you just come on? Come on the podcast. Come on headline highlights with me and talk. Let's talk about these cases together. So I know she is not a stranger to most of you, but I wanted to give you guys a little bit of that backstory for maybe anybody who has been living under a rock and is not familiar with Amy. But yeah, she's going to be joining me today and talking with me and you guys about some of the cases that she's been following this week and some things that stand out to her.

Starting point is 00:04:35 So everybody, let's give a big warm welcome to Amy. Cue the fake applause, right? Now, thanks for being here. Of course. Thanks for having me. I know. I'm so excited. So for those, I know I just kind of gave like a rough intro, but for those who don't know who you are, which I feel like everybody does know who you are at this point, especially if you follow me on Instagram. but tell how did you get into true crime like why are you so fascinated with true crime because you follow a million cases at once so like what makes you so into it i don't know i mean i feel like back when we started doing dateline fridays i think there i don't know how we got started but i love dateline i love the documentary piece of it and obviously when there are cases close to home it made

Starting point is 00:05:20 it more interesting and then i kind of feel like the true crime industry took off and then there just a lot more series that were available to watch. They were doing a lot of the reenactments of crimes that we were really familiar with. So it was kind of interesting to go back and revisit those and see it from a different perspective when there's been updates. But obviously now working with you, I've learned that I know there's no shortage of true crimes. So it's actually become a lot. But there are some that are really interesting and some that I think that you're lucky that you're bringing awareness to. And I think that piece of it now has become more of an interest to me is really advocating for the families and through you getting to meet some of these

Starting point is 00:06:04 families and being more involved in that process. Totally. Well, and I know that there's a couple cases that are on your radar this week that you're like, we got to talk about these. So I'm actually going to have you share everything that you researched in these rather than me. I hope I do a good job. You're going to do great. You're going to do great. And like I said, I know you and we'll get to it. but like I know you know I've been all over this Emanuel case and like probably to an unhealthy degree. There's also another case that I don't know if you've heard about, but so many people have been requesting that I talk about it. And it's a case about this young man, technically an adult 18 years old, named Giovanni and the text message that he sent to his mom. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:06:42 So we're going to talk about all of that. And let's just kind of start with this first case because it's really unnerving when you break it down. And it's about a pregnant teen who went missing after sending a super crazy red flag text message. So on Monday, August 7th, 18-year-old Kylie Montaro was reported as missing from this really small town in Massachusetts. I hope I don't butcher it, guys, don't come for me, but it's called Rehoboth, I believe. Okay, so it's about 50 miles right outside of Boston. She's described as being six feet tall, light brown hair, beautiful brown eyes, and she had just graduated from Attleboro High School back in June. Now, here's the interesting part, okay? Kylie is 11 weeks pregnant, and though it hasn't been explained as to why, Kylie was actually

Starting point is 00:07:28 living in a shelter for pregnant women at the time that this all went down in a nearby town called Pembroke. So the day before she vanished, Kylie reportedly got into an argument with her on and off again boyfriend, which unfortunately I feel like in a lot of domestic violence types of relationships we see this, right? It's on again, off again, and once again, they got into this argument. And while it hasn't been said what they were fighting about, Kylie did call several family members and several of her friends to talk about it, to confide in them. And she let them know that while, yes, the fight was now over, it had calmed it down quite a bit, she was still fearful for her life.

Starting point is 00:08:05 That's according to her. Now, in fact, she was actually planning on going to his house the very next day to grab some of her stuff. But when she did that, a friend received a text message from her, which read, quote, I don't feel safe right now. something's not right. Oh, no. And from there, it was literally nothing. Complete radio silence. No calls, no text messages, no social media activity, nothing whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:08:31 Now, her sister Faith said that Kylie was constantly active on social media, specifically on TikTok and Snapchat. And so for everything to just suddenly go dark like this and for her not to be active, not to be posting, not to be engaging, it wasn't like her at all. And I think anytime there's not even like a young person. I mean, anyone, myself included, being radio silent on social media for like an extended period of time, even for like 12 or 24 hours, as unhealthy as that sounds, like that's a red flag.

Starting point is 00:09:02 That's not the norm these days. So her sister faith knew this. She also had told reporters that the last time that anyone actually heard from her sister heard her voice was the day prior to all of this on Wednesday, August 6th. Now, if you all remember, she had confided in her friends and her family that they were in this argument, but things had calmed down and that she was planning on going to his house the next day to grab her stuff. So in reality, they got the text message the next day, but nobody had heard her actual voice except for the day prior. I'm curious to know why if, like, her friends and family knew that they were having trouble, that she's pregnant, she's so young, why she didn't have anywhere else to stay? And like they said, they're not sure why she was in a shelter, but I'm sure we'll find out when more details come out.

Starting point is 00:09:50 Yeah, it's tough because right now it's like, we of course know that she was in the shelter. She obviously, by all accounts, it appears that she was very close with her sister, Faith. So much so that, yeah, that Faith would know her patterns and her routines. And when I was kind of going through this too for the first time, I was like, well, why would they allow her to go over to his house on her own to get her stuff? Which that's not really a fault of theirs, I don't think, because I think if she's, She had said, like, look, the fights calm down. It's going to be fine. I'm going to go grab my stuff.

Starting point is 00:10:17 I don't know that I would ever necessarily think twice about that. Maybe they would be like, we don't want to overreact and go with you and make it worse. Like, I could understand where maybe they weren't obviously anticipating something bad to happen. But I want you guys to hear directly from her sister Faith during this interview. Take a listen. This is not normal behavior. We have no clue what happened. It's been eight days since anyone has seen or heard from 18-year-old Kylie Montero, who was last seen,

Starting point is 00:10:43 on August 7th, near County Street in Rahobit. The last time we heard her voice was Wednesday night, but last point of contact was Thursday through text. So within 24 hours of Kylie's disappearance, authorities launched a massive search. We're talking drones, canines, helicopters, dive teams. I mean, you name it, so much. And they also searched a huge area of the woods right around that town that she had lived in, as well as a reservoir that would, I can never say that word, as far as a reservoir. The reservoir, words are hard, as well as the reservoir that was near her last known location. Yet, despite all of those search efforts, there was no sign of Kaylee.

Starting point is 00:11:24 Still, no sign of Kaylee has been found. So as of now, police haven't officially said if foul play may or may not be involved in this. They also haven't named any suspects in her disappearance, but I feel like everybody is... What's the boyfriend's been up to? There's not really a word yet if he's like an unofficial suspect, if they've been questioned. It's all still breaking, so a lot of the details are still coming out. But I think everybody's mind is probably going in that direction. Is that necessarily the case?

Starting point is 00:11:52 Who knows? But we do know that she is a young woman pregnant, and, I mean, it's obviously incredibly scary. Her family has also started a GoFundMe trying to support awareness efforts and even put together a reward for any information that leads to finding her. They're just kind of saying, you know, we're not going to just sit around and wait for Kylie to come home. We need to be out there, we need to be active. We need to, like, be physically searching every day. So we'll keep a close eye on this and let you guys know of any updates, but there are a lot of red flags, especially with the past history.

Starting point is 00:12:24 And, again, I don't want to just, like, say, you know, the boyfriend did it, obviously, but, like, well, the boyfriend, no, I'm just kidding. Like, you know what I mean? But he would have maybe a reason. Yeah, there wasn't really any other turmoil that we know of in her life. Now, hold on. Actually, there is breaking news coming in right now. saying that the Bristol County District Attorney's Office has announced a major development into this investigation. The authorities stated that human remains were discovered on the boyfriend's property,

Starting point is 00:12:52 22-year-old Gregory Groom, and the remains that were discovered are consistent with the missing pregnant teenager. He has been charged with aggravated assault and battery on a pregnant person, also domestic assault and battery, and intimidation of a witness, and that was for acts allegedly committed against her back on August 6, 2025. It says, let me see here, it says that he also will face a murder charge. So he's currently being held without bail. I mean, definitely not the way that people were hoping that this case would end. I think everybody was hopeful that she would be found alive, but I'm glad that they caught

Starting point is 00:13:31 him early on. I'm glad her family has answers and they've found her remains so that they can lay her and her baby to rest. But how awful. looking at a picture of this guy, and what a freaking loser. He looks like such a dweeby douchebag. I mean, what a piece of crap. Like, what a freaking prick. Now, I know that there was a case that you were talking to me about this week that I didn't, I like had to do a double take them all. Hold on. Are you, am I hearing this right? About a threeple, like a threple,

Starting point is 00:14:01 basically. And a dead body. Yes. Okay. Can you break it down? Because I know you said you'll fill me in like for the first time ever right now. So like, let's see what. No, I know. When I read the headline, I thought I read it wrong to the first time. So this one started, it actually took place not too far from us either. Really? In Lakewood. So in between like Orange County and L.A. But this one started in June of this year when a welfare check was called in on James O'Neill. So his brother hadn't heard from him since 2019, which wasn't really actually that weird because their family was estranged. And his brother was currently living. with his thruple, a gentleman named James also and Suzanne Agnew. So for now, we'll refer to

Starting point is 00:14:44 James the victim as Jim, just so that it's not super confusing. But basically, Jim's brother was trying to get a hold of him because he had inherited some money and couldn't get a hold of him. And so he ended up reaching out to the police and requesting a welfare check. So when the police arrived because James O'Neill and James Agnew have the first same name. They assumed that they were speaking with Jim, the victim, but it was actually James Agnew, the boyfriend. So the police told him that his family is worried about him and he seemed to say that he knew that they were looking for him. They had even come by the house and he knew that, but that he just had no interest in talking with them. So hold on. So they thought that he was, that he was the missing Jim. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:15:29 because they have the same name. Then he played along with it and said basically like, yeah, I know my family's looking for me, like pretending to be him. Exactly. And being like, I know they're looking for me, but I don't want to talk to them. So then the police left thinking everything was fine, reached out to Jim's brother and said, hey, we went by. We talked to James, Jim. And everything's fine. He said he knew that you were reaching out and just doesn't want to talk with you. So when those officers showed the body cam footage of the discussion with the man to Jim's brother, Jim's brother quickly realized this is not my brother. actually James Agnew, his roommate. And so later that was determined that that was one of the partners in this romantic relationship or this thruple. Earlier this summer, Lakewood Police went to the condo after O'Neill's brother couldn't reach him to let him know he'd inherited some money. Officers talked with a man who said his name was James, his face and his shoes captured by a body camera.

Starting point is 00:16:23 But when the brother saw that image, they learned it wasn't James O'Neill they'd spoken with. It was James Agnew. So then the officers went back and visited the condo again, and this time they spoke with Suzanne Agnew, the third member of the Thruple. And she claimed, according to court documents, that Jim had not lived there for several years and had, in fact, met, quote unquote, a foreign woman and had run away and moved out to live with her. I feel like how many times in cases do we hear that of like, not necessarily a foreign woman,

Starting point is 00:16:53 but like, oh no, they fell in love. They like ran away to be with someone. Usually we hear that. I feel like, well, I guess this is a romantic relationship. I was going to say in marriages, they'll be like, no, she left me. She was cheating on me. Kind of like Drew Peterson. Remember when he's like, Stacy left and she ran off with her boyfriend.

Starting point is 00:17:09 For a better life. Yeah. Like, be original. Right. Come on. Like, get real. Which I guess too, I mean, if they're a strange family, he doesn't know what's been going on. Like, I guess in some world, maybe these people thought that they could pull one over on the family and

Starting point is 00:17:27 and they wouldn't know any better. But after hearing this, Jim's brother reached out to Suzanne just to get more information. He's obviously curious now, like, what woman, where did they go? How did they meet and get more information? And she actually said that Jim was sitting right next to her but didn't want to talk to him. So he wasn't with a foreign woman? Well, so that's what I was confused about when I read it is I'm thinking, so did he run away or is he sitting next to her? And he won't even get on the phone.

Starting point is 00:17:51 Like, granted, we don't know why they were estranged, but what was so terrible that he wouldn't even get on the phone? to tell his brother, like, I'm alive and I'm fine, just leave me the hell alone if he really didn't want to talk to him. Well, then after that, Jim's brother said, well, I have some inheritance money that I'm trying to get to you. And I need it to be deposited into Jim's account. And so Suzanne gave him Jim's account number and social security number. But then Jim's brother said, well, yeah, but Jim's going to have to go in himself to the bank in order to get this money and to sign for it. And so then she quickly broke off all contact and stopped talking to him. So again, I'm like, if you're sitting right next to somebody, hearing that you're getting inheritance money, you've been estranged, you're living in this thruple, but you also are with this other woman supposedly, just pick up the phone.

Starting point is 00:18:39 No, I will. And what's so interesting is it sounds like, so Suzanne was like, he's right next to me. Oh, he's getting money. Here's his account number. Here's his social security number. Like, he'll gladly accept that money, even though he won't get on the phone to talk to you. But then when he's like, okay, but Jim himself has to go into the bank, she's all, nope, I'm going to ghost you. by like that screams shady well also i was kind of surprised that the brother even gave the account

Starting point is 00:19:03 information like or took the account information and was like acting as if he was yeah exactly entertaining it so officers then arrived again at the home on july third so about a month later after this all started this time with a search warrant in hand and when suzanne was made aware that there was now a warrant for her condo to be searched she said she quote understood and immediately told me we would find James O'Neill's body in the residence, indicating he was deceased. So basically, she just kind of admitted to everything very quickly, which is surprising. But when they went in, in fact, and searched their home in a bedroom, they found Jim's decomposing remains under an air mattress. Under an air mattress?

Starting point is 00:19:45 So I wonder how that, hold on, how does that even actually work now that I think about it? Because air mattresses are usually on the floor, right? they're not usually like on a box spring or a bed frame and like I mean like look I'm not trying to be overly graphic but like when we've used air mattresses growing up or like when we're all spending the night in the cabin or whatever you put an air mattress on the floor because you need something level for it to sit on so like if you threw an air mattress on top of a body just to hide it kind of like wobble around and there'd be like gaps and stuff like unless it was an air mattress on a bed frame well and I was thinking too I mean again not to go to graphic but It's not really covering the body to your point. And so when the officers were there on the first visit, were they not going inside, was there not the smell of... Well, that's what I was just going to say, the odor of it all. If he is decomposing for what, yours at this point?

Starting point is 00:20:37 It's not like a very, like, secure space. No. So that feels very random. Normally, yeah, normally when in cases that we've covered, when people are concealing a body, it's like either in a freezer, it's in a closet. It's somewhere that's, like, sealed off. Well, you're going to hear more. Oh, God.

Starting point is 00:20:52 Way more disturbing. Great. So the Agnews had been in a relationship with Jim for several years, this Thruple, and he lived with them most of that time. And Suzanne said that her husband, James, found O'Neill dead in December of 2023. And instead of calling 911, she decided not to because she didn't want to, quote, unquote, give Jim up. Give Jim up for what? I guess, like, they're this romantic relationship.

Starting point is 00:21:20 She wasn't ready to, like, let him go. I think is the way I understood it. Oh, okay. Not like give him up, like turn on him. No, just like give him up as a person in the relationship. And 2023? So almost two years ago. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:21:32 So instead they left Jim's body on the floor of the bedroom and somehow just kept like living their lives as if nothing happened. But wait. I'm so fucking grossed out right now. No. Well, here comes why he ended up under an air mattress, which is disturbing. Suzanne claims that their dogs, chihuahuas, which I know how you feel about those. So small dogs freak me out. So their chihuahuas started chewing on the remains of Jim.

Starting point is 00:22:04 So they decided to hide his body under an air mattress, which again, why an air mattress? Like all of it's disturbing, but couldn't there be a better spot? Hold on. Okay. So they lived with the remains of their dead partner hidden under this air mattress. for 18 months in an attempt not to hide it like from the police or from anyone else but to hide it from their dogs. Okay. Okay. Hold on. I just want to make sure I'm understanding this right. So I'm going to backtrack a little bit. So they're in this threple. Jim passes away, which I know it hasn't been indicated how, but I would imagine they say natural causes or that's their argument because

Starting point is 00:22:45 they say he died and they didn't want to like, quote, let him go because they love him so much. Then They didn't do anything sinister, so they're not trying to hide him from the police, but his body's laying there on the bedroom floor and the dogs start chewing on it, like a chew choice. So then they decide to hide his body. So here's like a couple things. So when I first was doing my research, number one, I thought, okay, if it was natural causes and they had nothing to hide, like why risk getting in trouble for hiding this body, concealing it? Yeah, that's still a crime. One day it's going to be found out. And so all the while, like, just because you don't want to let him go or did something more serious maybe happen? Because this whole time that he's been in their home

Starting point is 00:23:29 deceased, they've also, they had access to his bank accounts and his social security. There we go. And they've spent, I believe it was over $17,000 of his money. In 18 months. So I don't know if there was a motive there or if that was just he did pass and now they had access. So it just made it easy to get access and no one knows. So let's just keep delusionally living as if this person is still alive and we don't say anything or if they were actually like covering something up or this was the motive. I'm not sure. That is so weird on so many levels because it's like you're just willingly deciding to live with the odor. To your point, it's going to be found out at one point. So you're also deciding, you know, to live with that risk. But then I would be curious to know what

Starting point is 00:24:15 they did for a living or if like Jim was the breadwinner of the relationship because maybe then it was financially motivated and maybe there was something that took place. But I could also see where and because I have covered unfortunately cases like this in the past where like somebody dies and you're like, oh, we're not going to say anything because he does get social security. He still does get regular like deposits into his account and we want to use those. So let's just pretend he's still alive. And that would I guess also then explain why when the brother was looking for him, they just said he doesn't want contact with you because they were just going to like ride this financial wave until they got caught, which obviously they did. But like, I think at some point, even if that

Starting point is 00:24:54 is your master plan and you think you're going to get away with it and that it's all like great and you've like cracked the code and the system, the moment your dogs start feeding on a dead body, it's like it's time to reevaluate your life choices. That is so foul for so many reasons. And just the whole thing is just so sad and that poor guy and just his brother. having to find out. Oh, my God. I don't even know, like, yeah, finding out that your brother or sister is, like, dead is traumatic enough. Then to find out that his corpse has been there for 18 months, that the dogs are feeding off it. They've been stealing money from him. It's like, how evil. I'm not sure if money really could have been the real, I mean, who knows, it could have been the root of it,

Starting point is 00:25:34 but I don't feel like that was a huge windfall that they came across. And obviously, if the brother's reaching out to really try to get this inheritance money to him, and they were all rum, I don't know. I don't know what their situation is, but maybe it was just something like... They're freaks regardless, okay? Like, honestly, I'm just trying to figure it out. Bless your hearty. Me, like, call it what it is. These people are sicko freaks. I don't care what the reason was. That is disgusting. Yep, that one comes to you straight from our backyard. Okay. Oh, that happened. God. So what happened? Were they arrested or what? So, yeah, the couple was arrested on four charges, including theft and tampering with a corpse,

Starting point is 00:26:13 but they haven't been charged yet with any connection on Jim's death. So we'll see if that comes out later. But Suzanne is set to appear in court on August 27th and James about a week later, first week of September. I'd be interested to know, too, if there's any charges coming down the pike for, like, fraud. Oh, for sure. Yeah, for like his banking and all of that.

Starting point is 00:26:33 Yeah. What a bunch of phrecazoids. I feel like I need to scrub my brain a little bit after that case. But I'm going to do that after we record because I do have to talk to you about this next case. And it's the one that everyone has been in my DMs about. And it's really sad. And it's the case about Giovanni. I think I sent this one to you while we were in New York. Yes. Yes. So I've been doing like the deep dive and let me break it down for you. Okay. All right. You guys have heard me talk about function health the last few weeks. And I'm going to

Starting point is 00:27:08 just keep harping on it because it is something that has totally been like, I don't want to say life changing and be overly dramatic, but kind of, because it's the only health platform that gives you access to the kind of data that most people never see. And it also gives you the insights to actually take action. Now, what I mean from that is that inside function, you can test over 160 biomarkers, from heart and hormones to toxins, inflammation, stress, you name it. You can also access multi-region MRI and CT scans, and it's all tracked in one secure place over time, and it's an enhanced view of what's actually happening in your body. I feel like so many times I like get blood work. I get a physical. Recently I did have to get an MRI because of my jaw. And it's all

Starting point is 00:27:50 these different portals. It's like the my health chart. It's this. It's that. And like I never know what the results mean. So I end up just like screenshoting them and putting him into chat GPT being like tell me what this means like I'm a third grader, which is a very helpful hack. But I feel like it's just been so much better now with function health because I actually can view everything. For example, whenever I'm having like a mood swing, let me just tell you this. Your mood is not random. And it's not always about stress either. Sometimes your genes are pulling the strings. And there's a gene that is called M-T-H-F-R. And it actually helps your body process fully, which is a nutrient that is essential for making DNA. And I know that that sounds super scientific, but let me break it down. Basically, it can disrupt how

Starting point is 00:28:33 your brain makes the neurotransmitters that keep you steady and clear-headed. And basically it's like when your brain needs to make serotonin, dopamine, and all the other good things, variance in that gene can disrupt it. And so it makes you have mood swings. It can be linked to depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, all sorts of things. And some signs of this, like of this like gene mutation is fatigue, low energy, anxiety, migraines. But the good news is that you can measure it and you can do something about it. And back again, to my point, is function gives you access to the genetic testing. It's available as an add-on to see if you carry that mutation. And if you do, it doesn't mean you're broken. Don't worry. It just means that

Starting point is 00:29:12 the right inputs, like certain vitamins and like fully rich foods, they might help your brain work better. So again, your mood isn't random. Your genes are actually talking to each other and they're the ones to blame for it. So I use this and you should too. And you can learn more and join by using our special link. Just visit functionhealth.com slash a.E. Again, that's functionhealth.com slash A.E. Another thing I've talked to you guys about recently is O positive. If you are new here, I'm going to just spill the beans, but if you're not new here, you already know this. I've kind of been on this, like, health journey regarding my hormones for the last, gosh, I think it's maybe been a year and a half now. So much so I've said it here before, so I'm just going to say it again.

Starting point is 00:29:52 I had a pellet put in my ass cheek that was supposed to regulate my hormones because I have like low libido, all these things. And like, spoiler alert, it absolutely did not help at all. It was such a waste of money, but I have heard good things about it. But anyway, I was introduced because of the podcast to O Positive. And O Positive is a woman's health company that offers a range of symptom targeting supplements that support women at every stage of life, whether it's your first period to menopause, whatever it is. And they have best selling women's health products at Target and on Amazon. And their Eurovaginal probiotic is one of the top five supplements on Amazon. on and they also have other multiple number one products for intimate care, PMS, menopause, all the

Starting point is 00:30:33 things. And basically what this probiotic does is it balances a healthy pH. It supports flora. It does all the things to just make you feel more confident, more regulated. And I feel like a lot of factors sometimes work into that, whether it's tight clothing, sweating, hormones, periods, all of that. It can like disrupt your pH. And it's annoying because it can cause discomfort. It can also cause like paranoia and like, you know, what's the word I'm looking for? Not the opposite of confident. Insecurity, that's the one. So this probiotic has a blend of four powerful strains that is backed by research to really

Starting point is 00:31:06 support a healthy pH and flora. When taken daily two capsules a day, Euro delivers noticeable benefits within just eight weeks. And many people see results sooner. Many customers also talk about how there's improvement in their health, which led to greater confidence, better sex, better intimacy, all of the things. So take proactive care of your health and head to owe positive. or enter A-E at checkout for 25% off your first purchase. That's O-P-O-S-I-V-com slash A-E for 25% off. Okay, so as I said, I've been following this very, very unsettling case about a missing 18-year-old boy named Giovanni. He had just graduated high school, literally just stepped into a

Starting point is 00:31:55 adulthood in his life. Another high school graduate. Yes, yes, unfortunately. I know. It's disgusting. So he had just graduated high school and then suddenly on Friday, August 1st, he just vanished, just completely vanished. And this was about an hour south of Tampa, Florida. Now, Giovanni, who everybody calls Gio, was from this very, I don't want to say like super small town, but a smaller town in North Carolina right outside of Raleigh, which P.S. we're going to next week. And I'm going to probably butcher the name of this, but it's called Fouca. Quay Verena. No, I know. I like being in person watching you try to pronounce things. No, I know. Hold on.

Starting point is 00:32:33 Let me see if there's a pronunciation guide out there. Everybody's probably laughing at me right now because, you know, you guys know I'm not good with towns. Okay. pronounce fuque verena. There is a thing. Okay. Puevarina. I was pretty close.

Starting point is 00:32:51 That's pretty close. Okay. So anyway, it's right outside of Raleigh. Now, as the oldest of five kids, he kind of naturally fell into that role of being the protector of his family, like not the patriarch, but kind of, you know, taking care of his siblings, just being the man at the house. And earlier this month, he had gone on a trip to Englewood, Florida, with his mom Bridget. And his mom's fiance also went with them on this trip. They were going down there to visit some family. And while they were there, Gio ended up telling his mom something that felt really important to him and that had been weighing heavily on him.

Starting point is 00:33:21 he had said he really wanted to finally connect with his dad's side of the family. So he had been texting in a group chat with some of his cousins, the ones that he had never met before. And they were all planning this meetup. And the plan was for one of the cousins to come pick him up where he was staying with his mom and her fiance in Englewood and then take him over to his grandfather's house in Brevard County, which is about three hours away from where he was staying. So he would obviously need a ride. Now, as you can imagine, his mom Bridget was a little bit nervous about this. this was a cousin that Giovanni had never met before. It was brand new. It was like

Starting point is 00:33:54 reconnecting with that side of the family. And we also don't know why they were necessarily estranged. That was going to be my question. Yeah. Does the parent, does the mom have a relationship with them at all? It doesn't appear so. And we don't know what went down with her and the dad and the dad's side of the family, like if there's hostility or what it is. But she was pretty nervous. Uncomfortable. Yeah, exactly. And on top of all of that, Gio was completely estranged from his father. So like there was definitely some family rifts going on here. But at the same time, she also wanted to support her son. He was now 18 years old. He was curious. This was his family too. He wanted to meet them. So like what was she going to do? So despite her hesitation, she agreed and she let him go. Not that she could necessarily keep him back. I mean, he was 18, but she, you know, supported him. And later on, according to the family, he was so excited. Like their word that they had used was that he was just, buzzing with excitement to go meet this side of his family. So around 1.30 in the morning, on Friday, August 1st, Gio finally met up with his cousins, and he ended up getting into their

Starting point is 00:34:56 car and then making that long three-hour trek over to the grandfather's house. But things went sideways almost immediately after getting into the car. He climbed into a white Chevy Malibu that was driven by one of those cousins from his biological father side. Now remember, and I know I keep saying this, but I just want to remind everybody, Giovanni had never met this cousin in person before ever, not at all. And on top of that, not only was it his cousin in the car, but there were two other guys in the car as well. There's a little bit of confusion because some reports say that all of the people in the car were all cousins. But other reports say that these other guys were just friends of the cousin who was in the car. But either way,

Starting point is 00:35:36 it wasn't exactly, I don't want to say the safest situation, but like he didn't know any of these people. Three people that knew each other well, and he was the new person. He was the outsider. Yes, 100%. And here's where it gets really scary and kind of chilling when you really think about it, because just 25 minutes into the trip, Giovanni's mom, Bridget, got a text message from Gio. And this text message was very clean, very simple. It only had two words in it. And it said, Mom, help with an exclamation mark. Oh my gosh. I just got chills. I know. He also had tried calling her, facetiming her, and he even sent similar messages to his grandfather and to an aunt on his father's side of the family. But after all of those messages and the phone calls that went

Starting point is 00:36:19 unanswered, there was nothing. He just stopped all contact. That was the last time that anyone heard from him. So I find it really interesting that both the story you covered earlier and this one, they're two 18-year-olds. And when they're in an unsafe or uncomfortable situation, they text their parents or their family or friends versus like calling 911 or trying to reach out to someone else. Maybe that's just, I mean, it could just be. the way that technology works these days. I kind of am thinking to my situation where, yeah, we'd hope that they would call 911.

Starting point is 00:36:53 I could see where if, like, if your crutch and like your security is your mom and with texting being so big, especially for the younger generation, I could understand where maybe that has happening. But he also did try making phone calls and FaceTiming. So it wasn't just limited to the text message. So that was the last time that anybody had heard from him.

Starting point is 00:37:14 And when he didn't come home, the county sheriff's office ended up getting involved pretty quickly. They ended up seizing that Chevy Malibu. They questioned the guys who were in the car. And when they did that, according to their story, they kind of painted Giovanni as the villain. They said that he, once he got in the car, he suddenly started acting erratically. And then he got out of the car and just walked away. Which that's not the whole picture in all of this, because Giovanni's grandfather says that he heard that there was actually an argument. that took place in the car.

Starting point is 00:37:46 Another family member said that the group had all smoked weed together before things went south and started spiraling. Apparently, Giovanni started panicking. He started cursing at his cousin. I don't know if that was because he was having a bad trip after smoking or what it was. But they ended up getting so chaotic that they pulled the car over. And according to the story, they say that Giovanni then pulled out a knife. So the cousins claim they wrestled it away from him.

Starting point is 00:38:11 But then as soon as they did that, Gio just bolted. and just took off, ran off into the night, and disappeared. Which maybe is plausible if you think about it. Like if somebody's having a bad trip, maybe when they get out of the car, they do take off because they thought they were in a dangerous situation or something. I don't know. It's not the craziest thing I've ever heard.

Starting point is 00:38:30 But what I will say is like, friends, family, argument, estranged, whatever it is, what kind of cousins leave their 18-year-old cousin, who is clearly distressed and in an altered state, according to them? Who just leaves them on the side of the road in the middle of the night? I mean, even if you didn't know him well, you just abandon him, you just let him take off and you don't call anyone, you don't call his mom or another family member to be like, Gio just took off, we're paranoid, like we need somebody to find him or maybe call the police. Or the grandpa who obviously is kind of aware of what's going on at this point.

Starting point is 00:39:03 Exactly. It just does not make a lot of sense. And his mom, Bridget, along with Giovanni's aunt, they do not believe this version of events for a second, not at all. They both have said that this behavior. doesn't sound anything like Giovanni. His aunt Desiree even had pointed out that the boys had all changed their stories and that one of them even lied about his name, which I'm sorry, but who's lying about your name if you have nothing to hide, right? And his mom believes that Giovanni

Starting point is 00:39:30 might have felt not only threatened, but also outnumbered. Remember, it was like three against one. And of course, there's that text message that says, mom, help, which I can't even imagine being a mother and getting that text message. Oh, I can't even imagine. No. And realizing then that that's the last time that you've ever heard from your child, it is like the worst kind of pain I think that you could deal with. I mean, I take that back.

Starting point is 00:39:54 There's obviously a lot more pain out there. But like trying to wrap your head around what those final moments were like for them when they were so fearful and so scared. And like, what was he feeling in that moment? Like I could just feel, you know, her feeling like, I want to find him. I want answers. I want to know what's going on. like we want him home. We don't want him to be alone. Now, going to the cell phone data of it all,

Starting point is 00:40:16 his phone had last pinged near the intersection of I-75 and State Route 70. So that's where the family decided to start searching right away, trying to see if they could find him. Authorities joined in, too, but it was really driven by the family. And get this, on the very same day that he went missing, a truck driver ended up finding his bag and his cell phone just dumped on the side of the road, which once the truck driver found this, he turned it over to the investigators, but obviously this was not boating well. It's like what 18-year-old kid, who, to your point, is using their cell phone as their lifeline, texting their mom, doing all this, is just, again, bad trip or not, who's going just dump their bag in their phone on the side of the road? It doesn't make sense. So for a

Starting point is 00:41:00 week, the search continued. Then, in the worst possible way, his family got their answer. Not the police. His family got the answer. They are the ones. who discovered a decomposing body in a retention pond right off of the interstate ramp, close to where his phone had last panged. And it, of course, did not take long for the authorities to confirm that the remains belonged to Giovanni. So sad. Now, right now, a lot of people are, you know, in uproar over this. Like, what was it the cousins? What happened in that car? What was this text message all about?

Starting point is 00:41:33 And right now, his cause of death is still unclear as of this recording. And the talks results are pending, which could take weeks. but the authorities have said that there is no clear indication of foul play at this point, at least not yet. So I don't know if maybe there is some truth to this being a trip gone bad, but then what's the cause of death? I mean, did he come across a stranger? Maybe. Yeah, possibly.

Starting point is 00:41:57 Who knows? But the sheriff's office has also said that both sides of Giovanni's family are cooperating with the investigation. So that's good. Yeah. Then on Saturday, his mom shared a post on Facebook, which is just like heartbreaking. and I want to read it here. It says, quote, my son was recently found after a desperate search by only our family alone. And we are still facing an active investigation into his death. I am living every parent's worst nightmare, trying to find the strength to give him the goodbye

Starting point is 00:42:24 that he deserves. And she's right. I mean, when you think about it, Giovanni wasn't found by police or trained search crews or canines or drones. He was found by his own family, after they already had been the ones to hire this group of former police, former military members to come in their search effort and help them look. Like, they're the ones who drove this entire thing. Even their leader said, quote, this is horrible. This shouldn't have happened. They should not have been the ones to locate their loved one. And there's been a lot of flack out there for the police department. We have the cell phone brought them right to the location and it was pretty easy for the truck driver to find his belongings. Like, why was it so difficult for anyone else?

Starting point is 00:43:05 else to find that. Exactly. And like, why aren't you taking this search seriously enough to have like more crew on the ground and not make the family the ones responsible for doing this? Do you think it was they were chalking it up to maybe it was a drug thing and that he was out there and they didn't suspect foul play? Maybe. Could be. Well, actually, hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm just getting a ping on my phone. There is an update and it looks like that might be the case. Let me read through this. Okay. So surveillance footage captured Giovanni's final moments and he was alive when he got out of the car. He crossed a highway and it was 2.18 a.m. And let me just watch this, but it looks like a truck had to swerve to keep from hitting him. And the footage is

Starting point is 00:43:45 really grainy, but it looks like this camera caught it, which this is a camera that was on an overpass. Then it shows him running down a steep embankment toward that retention pond. It's reportedly between the highway and the parking lot of a garden center. Again, in this footage, it's really difficult to make it out, but it was captured by a security camera at that garden center. Now, both times, according to this report, Giovanni is by himself. Nobody was chasing him. And the sheriff says it's not clear what happened when Giovanni got to the pond or how deep it is. But he did give in this statement a few more details about what happened inside the car. Allegedly, Giovanni did start freaking out. And he said, quote, I am a demon and I will wreck this car.

Starting point is 00:44:28 Apparently, he also said that he was going to kill all of them, and he tried to open his door while the car was still moving. So going back to that current theory of, like, maybe it was more than just weed, maybe it was laced, maybe it was something else, it seems like that is tracking. It doesn't make it any easier that he was left alone and that people didn't call 911, but if he really was suffering from delusions and had smoked something or done something, like, this makes it make more sense, but also it says here that the death is still undetermined, and the toxic are. report, as we know, hasn't come back yet. So, like, what's going on here? Like, how did he die? You don't die from a bad trip. And it says here that the, let me go back and double check, the retention pond is not very deep. So it's not like he fell in the retention pond and drowned. Hmm. This is very interesting. Wait, no, correction. It doesn't say that it's not that deep. It says it's not clear how deep it is. But I would assume that they would know, based on his condition,

Starting point is 00:45:28 and, like, the decomposition when he was found if he had drowned and if he had been in the water for quite some time, I don't know. Clearly, even if he was having a bad trip, he was coherent enough to realize, like, I'm not only going to text my mom for help, I'm going to text all my family members, people who know my cousins as well. Like, there's something below the surface here. Of course, yeah. It's so strange. And more than that, it's just absolutely heartbreaking and devastating. And so our thoughts, obviously, with his mom, his siblings, for everyone who loved him. And hopefully answers do come out. I probably will end up doing a deep dive into this case as we like continue to like dig into it. So for those listening,

Starting point is 00:46:04 check back for that. But like, yeah. And this poor mom who thought she was just making the right decision and letting supporting her son and letting him go meet his family. I know. Okay. Switching gears a little bit. I know you have another case you want to share. And I have the two crazy, like really crazy sick ones this week, I feel like. I know. Well, when we had first talked about this one, I'm kind of glad that I don't have to do the research on this one because I feel like we needed to cover it, but I'm glad that I was able to, like, let you run with that one. So take it away, Amy. Okay. So this next one started last week on August 14th. And this one's a crazy story also. But basically, there was a welfare check called in for a 73-year-old man named Eric Winect by his ex-wife, Anne. And they were still on friendly terms and would talk regularly. But their 30-something-year-old son, who was still living with Anne, had been acting, quote-unquote, very delusional and weird over the last two days. There had been a lot of contention between him and his father, and he was just acting out of sorts.

Starting point is 00:47:14 And so in the morning, around 9 a.m., apparently, according to Anne, Bryce had been acting erratically and came running down excited with a knife out of. of the house. So she was worried based off this past behavior and what was going on. And so she called in a welfare check. And when the police showed up to Eric's home, they found a homicide scene, blood splatter all over the ceiling. And he was unfortunately deceased and decapitated. So there wasn't anyone else at the scene at the time. They ended up going to Anne's house in search of Bryce. And when they got there, he barricaded himself in the home, which led to a four-hour standoff with SWAT. And when they finally were able to make contact with him, they found him with a plastic bag and the head of his father inside. Jesus. I know. And what was crazy is when Anne tried

Starting point is 00:48:14 reaching out to her son, Bryce, to try to reach him that morning, when she reached him, he answered and said, I killed him. I went over to dads because he is the evilest person that ever lived. I cut his head off. Oh, so she probably knew that this was going to be the outcome, obviously, but then they went over there, they found the scene. So, and if there was contention in the weeks and days leading up to it, and especially with the dad saying that he had been acting delusional, maybe there is something like mental health at play here. Who knows? Well, and those are the motions that his attorney are filing now. So I think we'll, like, find out more information. Yeah. But yeah. That's gnarly. Well, this one, I think I actually saw it come across, I don't know if it was

Starting point is 00:48:53 TikTok or Instagram, but there's ring footage, right? Or like home surveillance footage that shows him with a plastic bag and a knife. With like a 12 inch knife. He was entering the house around 11.45 p.m. and then, or 1130 p.m. and then left about 45 minutes later. And that was all on the ring camera from the dad's house. Jeez. I know. Oh, God. Okay. So I guess more to come with that. Now, I want to break down everything that we know about this case of the seven-month-old little boy Emmanuel, originally from the Cabazon area, but then went missing allegedly in Yucaypa and kind of breakdown. This is all changing as every single day passes, literally new information's coming out. So at the time of this recording, this is the information

Starting point is 00:49:40 we have. If more information services, I will add that in just so that everything is fresh, but just as a heads up. So on Friday, August 14th, this woman, Rebecca, basically, was facing every mother's worst nightmare, saying that her seven-month-old son had been kidnapped. And she basically what had happened is she and her husband, Jake, were driving their three kids in Yucca, California. But they're originally from Kavana, which, you know, that's like where Marongo is, where the outlets are, and Yuccapa is about 25 minutes away from Kavana. So they were in Yucaypa because it was their oldest son's football practice. Okay. So according to Rebecca, she dropped off her husband and their two older sons.

Starting point is 00:50:23 wherever this practice was happening, and then she drove over to Big Five, the sporting goods store, so that she could buy a mouthguard for her son that he needed for practice. Now, according to her, when she got there and parked, she still had her seven-month-old son, a manual with her. She pulled him out of the car seat and started changing his diaper in the back of the truck. Then she says, all of a sudden, she hears a stranger come up to her and say, Ola, and then everything, she saw a flash of white, and then everything went dark. and she claims that she was punched in the face and blacked out.

Starting point is 00:50:55 Then, when she finally woke up, she saw a manual was gone. She starts looking around all over the floor on the ground, like, you know, everywhere, going into the store, into Big Five, looking for him, and then called 911 when she couldn't find him. So again, like I said, every parent's freaking worst nightmare. The police then launched a very extensive search, including helicopters, canines, but there was no Amber Alert that was issued because, remember, according to her, she didn't see him,

Starting point is 00:51:22 anything. So there was no, like, description of a suspect, no description of a vehicle. All she knew is that this person said, Ola, and then knocked her ass on the ground. And here's a quick interview that she gave explaining what happened herself. What do you have to say to the person who took him? Please don't hurt him and protect him and just bring him back to his parents that love him. Please, I'm just begging you. Please. During our interview, Rebecca said she was attacked while she put a manual on the back seat of their pickup truck to change his diaper. Someone said, Ola, and I couldn't even turn in.

Starting point is 00:51:57 That was just, I don't remember nothing. I got up off the floor and I didn't see my child. Someone took him for me. When I asked about the injury to her face, she said she was punched. I can't help but notice that I have an eye. Yes, he hurt. I pushed me. And I ran a big five minute, asked the lady if she saw anything or sobbed.

Starting point is 00:52:20 baby. She said, no. I came back to give my phone a call. I went when I ran a home perimeter and there's nothing here. Now immediately following this interview, there was just like scrutiny in every single direction because people were saying she had crocodile tears. No tears were actually coming out of her eyes. She was faking it. There were a lot of comparisons to the infamous Chris Watts interview, which in the true crime world, something you probably know, everyone jumps to that comparison. Oh, it's Watts, it's Watts, but people were saying, like, these parents on screen look weird. Something looks shady. It felt very performative, but not very genuine. And there were also some other, like, really weird things that I kind of clocked right away. They made a flyer for their

Starting point is 00:53:05 missing son. And a big text on it, it just said missing kid, which kind of, to me, feels very impersonal and, like, kind of random. The dad, when giving me interview, too, when they're asking, like, okay, what descriptors are there? Are there any distinguishing factors or marks that people can be on the lookout for? He says the only thing that was distinguishable about his son was his eye because it looks as though he either cross-eyed, has a lazy eye. It's very difficult to know because there are a lot of different reports. Some reports have said that he's special needs.

Starting point is 00:53:39 Some have said that he has shaken baby syndrome, which I'll get to in a minute. He also referred to him as an it, which is obviously like. a huge red flag and so there were just a lot of things that were throwing up a lot of shadiness especially like if you're trying to describe your missing seven-month-old I don't care if he doesn't have a birth mark or anything you make you find something you don't say oh it's his eye like whatever it just you know then other parts of her interview got even weirder because when she says and she was knocked out instead of being like I woke up on the ground which is I think what you would say when you're recounting your event. She's like, I was on the floor, which could be

Starting point is 00:54:19 explained away, but that was kind of weird. Then when she was referring to the car seat and the car, she says the chair. That was weird. Yeah. So a lot of people were like, oh, she's recounting some truths in here and like little tells almost of like maybe something did happen inside the house. And so she's explaining the same type of setup or scenario, but like using the incorrect words. But then there were also a lot of other inconsistencies with the mom's version of events. As she was getting re-interviewed by police over and over, her story started to change. And then altogether, she declined to continue the conversation. Lawyered up and said, I'm no longer going to cooperate.

Starting point is 00:54:59 The dad also was asked to take a lie detector test, to which he said, not until my lawyer is present. Which a hot take, a lot of people say, if you have nothing to hide, take it. But then a lot of people say, no, it can be used to answer. so many times. Right. So like, I get that. I'm not going to fault him necessarily for that. Meanwhile, as all of this is happening and unfolding, the child's grandmother insists that the parents are innocent, saying they, like, just pleading for the safe return of the little boy. They even said that the deputies have searched the couple's cabazon house and that they used cadaver dogs, but she believes them, which maybe she doesn't know what really happened, right? But I want to play this

Starting point is 00:55:39 interview really quick. They're not going to hurt that baby. That couple were just homebodies. She's been without her baby since yesterday afternoon. If you have my grandson, please give it to his mom. She's going crazy. Please have mercy on her. Now, here are some other details that have started surfacing over the last several days, and it's not just about the father's past, which we're going to get into all of that, but even more red flags about the mom. Now, let's start with the dad. And this is pretty widely known at this point, but I want to break down all the details. So the dad has charges from back in 2018 for child cruelty. Oh. It's sentenced to 72 months, but it was suspended. Okay. And let me tell you about these details, which warning they are...

Starting point is 00:56:26 Were they with, in regard to his children? His child with his ex. And so it takes us back to 2018. And again, warning because it is incredibly difficult to hear. But it's about a 10-week-old baby girl. Okay? Now, according to the police report, his ex-wife Vanessa told officers that on October 12th, 2018, she had picked up Jake, the husband, the dad from work, dropped him off at home, and then she drove to Beaumont to pick up her oldest daughter from school. About an hour later, she came back home and she tried to nurse their 10-week-old daughter. But something was wrong. The baby wouldn't latch. The baby wouldn't drink. Just something completely out of the normal. And so Vanessa rushed her to the hospital.

Starting point is 00:57:08 She was frightened and paranoid. Now, Jake gave the investigators a very different piece of this story. He had said that after Vanessa dropped him off at the house, he decided to take the baby's temperature. And he noticed that the baby was running hot between 99 and 100 degrees. So he decided to give the baby a bath to break the temperature to cool the baby off. But during that bath, he, quote, accidentally dropped this baby chest first. onto the divider between their twin basin sink. So, you know, when there's like a side-by-side and there's that middle part,

Starting point is 00:57:41 that he accidentally dropped the baby onto that, like onto her sternum. But he claimed he didn't notice any of the injuries after this fall, which it's not a fall, it's a drop, you know. But then later that same night, Vanessa apparently actually woke Jake up and asked him to feel the baby's back. And when he did, he said he, quote, felt something crackle. That is the exact word in the affidavit. And here's the strange part. Jake also told the investigators that he did not feel that crackle earlier when he had bathed the baby right after, you know, she was dropped and all of that happened. So as for Vanessa, when it came time for her to be questioned, she eventually said, I'm not answering any questions unless I have my attorney present, which take that for how you will.

Starting point is 00:58:26 Doctors at Loma Linda University Medical Center told the officer who wrote the affidavit that upon bringing this baby into the hospital, The baby had an acute fractured rib, healing fractures of six ribs, a skull fracture, a brain hemorrhage, swelling of the neck, and a healing fractured leg bone. So this wasn't an accidental drop? No. This was ongoing. Abuse. Yes. Ongoing in various stages of healing.

Starting point is 00:58:54 I mean, a 10-week-old freaking child. Disgusting. Disgusting. Then things took an even darker turn when Jake told the investigators that after he went home from the hospital. that after he went home from the hospital that night, his sister opened up the web browser on his iPad. And when she did, she found a search for, quote, how to feed a baby with broken ribs. Now, Jake insisted he was not the one who made that search, even though it was on his iPad. But what's interesting is this search happened before the hospital visit.

Starting point is 00:59:26 So it's like they knew this baby's condition, right? So then, of course, came the finger pointing. Jake turned the blame on to Vanessa saying that she was the one responsible for the baby's injuries. She said it was him, but ultimately both of them were arrested. And in 2023, each of them pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to the 72 months. It ended up being suspended for whatever freaking reason. And then they went and had another baby.

Starting point is 00:59:51 Well, this was his ex. So then he went and now is with Rebecca and had another baby. And like, I've seen some reports out there that Rebecca's the stepmom, but I've only seen that one. and, like, everything else I've read refers to as the mom. I don't know if she knows the backstory or not. But you now have, like, you know, you have that whole backstory, now coupled with another missing and endangered baby very young as well. Like, it doesn't look good.

Starting point is 01:00:16 And get this, there's some other red flags we've learned along the way. And this is all alleged. Everybody do your own research. We'll confirm things as we go. But there's been reports that the mom, Rebecca, went to the big five the night before this all happened. And that she reported that her car was broken into and she was asking the employees if they had cameras in the parking lot. Oh. Probably. And this hasn't been verified by the police yet. But trying to basically like suss out like it's a dark corner of a parking lot. My car got

Starting point is 01:00:45 broken into. Do you have cameras? No, we don't. Not in that area. Great. Clocking it. Things like that. Which is like what a moron. Like do you not think that they're going to tell like if you use that same. Of course. Like, come on. And there's not a coincidence. Now you're back there the next day with this other traumatic event happening. They're going to tie the two together. Yeah. But so obviously I'm staying with you temporarily right now. And I heard in my room the other night ranting and raving out from the living room. So I came out to you on Patreon talking about the story. And when I re-listen to it just because I wanted to hear what all this commotion was about, you had said that who changes their baby like in a dark part of the parking lot at 747.

Starting point is 01:01:25 But then I kind of felt, you know how I am, like give them a little bit of grace. It's 747. It's It's summer. It's not dark out yet. If you were changing, I'm not a parent, but I would imagine if you're trying to change your kid, maybe you would go somewhere in privacy. And like if it's light out, it's a parking lot of a sporting good store. Like, I didn't feel like that was completely. Okay, fine, fair. That's suspicious. But now that she's been there the day before and accused of like, even if let's just say this was a crazy coincidence, if your car was broken into in a parking lot, you're not going to go back there the next day. No, right. Um, and you're right, I did jump on Patreon because like some, and you guys who are in Patreon and know this about me when there are cases that break. Sometimes I can't wait until I'm recording. And so I just jump on a live stream on Patreon like, you were heated. I was heated. I was wearing my pajamas, had no makeup on. I was just like going. So if you want that kind of tying the scenes access, you got to go to Patreon. Um, no. So again, it hasn't been confirmed, but reports that she had gone to Big Five the night before. Also, during her interview,

Starting point is 01:02:30 The mom had a black eye, and she says it's because this guy who came up and said, Ola, punched her in the face, and that was it. But right at the get, everybody was kind of like, this black eye looks like it's been healing. It doesn't look fresh. That's not what a black guy would look like immediately following. Like, not only is it not big enough, but it's like too developed that quickly, things like that. And now there are reports that the mom has, there's possible video of the mom having that bruised

Starting point is 01:02:58 and black eye as early as August. third. Oh. Could it be from a domestic situation with him? Was it because something happened to baby Emanuel weeks ago? And this was part of setting the stage and, like, framing it up and, like, all of that. Who knows? Do we know the time of death or anything?

Starting point is 01:03:17 No, we don't. Well, they haven't found him. They haven't found him. So in addition to all of this, they're no longer cooperating. The mom has removed her phone number from the missing person's flyer, which, again, and this is kind of what I went off on a rant about. I think last night actually on Instagram is like, I don't care what kind of public hate you're getting.

Starting point is 01:03:36 If my seven-month-old child was missing, I don't care if people are calling me, harassing me, doing whatever. I'm not taking my number off of that missing flyer. Absolutely not. Like, certainly not. Then there's also reports that the day of that alleged kidnapping, there was this family get-together at a park and the baby was not there.

Starting point is 01:03:55 Emmanuel was not there. And again, these are all, like, not confirmed by police yet. It's just all of these details that are coming. in as we go. There's some other allegations that, and this isn't like related, but maybe, that the nephew allegedly died from fentanyl a few weeks ago. Could the baby have accidentally gotten into something? Are they trying to cover up? Like there's just, it opens the door to a lot of questions. And another thing that I found interesting is apparently the mom's brother reportedly is in prison right now for murder because he shot his girlfriend in the forehead when she was

Starting point is 01:04:28 unconscious in the bathtub. Oh my gosh. So it kind of just like shows you this horrible history with all of these people involved, right? Now obviously, Emmanuel has not been found yet. They have not officially named the parents as suspects, but it's not looking good. They have said that like publicly, the police have said there are a lot of inconsistencies. And through this investigation, their other two-year-old child has been removed from their custody. So obviously, the authorities are thinking that they are a danger to the other child. And, like that there's something going on here. Another interesting note is that a nonprofit organization called Yuvaldi Foundation for Kids

Starting point is 01:05:06 initially had offered to help in this search, and they offered a $5,000 reward, but they now have withdrawn that reward. In a statement to the news, they said, we cannot in good conscience utilize our team and resources when so much is missing in this case. A particular concern to us lies within the inconsistencies in the details and the sudden decision by the mother to end communication with law enforcement and our team who was originally prepared to help. Tell me, what parent would do that who was missing a child? Something is not right in this whole picture. We hope law enforcement will continue to pursue the case so that this

Starting point is 01:05:41 precious child may be found and placed in a safe environment. And it's my opinion that this is going to be a recovery, not a rescue. I think that he is probably buried somewhere, nowhere near the home in Cavs on. I know there were some reports that maybe they were in Bowman. at one point and like had been seen weeks ago. So like I think it's going to be I hope a quick search and recovery, but I would imagine it might take some time because I don't think that this happened on the fly. And there's a lot of parallels. I don't know if you're familiar with the Oren and Orson West case that happened in Bakersfield back in 2020. There are a lot of parallels with this, even with the interview. And I had like deep dived

Starting point is 01:06:21 into that case. I have probably done 20 videos on that case. And like the body language, them saying the kids were rambunctious, this and that. And we already know the father has this history of cruelty against a child. And like, if Emmanuel is special needs, if that is what is happening, maybe there was frustration there. And they weren't, obviously, they're not cut out to be caretakers, right? I mean, look at the past history and charges. But I found this interesting too. A friend of mine had texted me last night saying, how do they not have any forward-facing pictures of a manual. Everything is from the side. Everything is a profile picture. And part of me thinks whether he was special needs or whether he had a lazy eye or his cross-eyed or shaken baby syndrome,

Starting point is 01:07:05 whatever it is, part of me thinks that if they were so ashamed of that, that they would not have taken any forward-facing photos of him, only side views because it's kind of masked in that way. You can't really see everything. And all the photos we've seen of him for the most part are side, which that's just like heartbreaking in and of itself, right? So, like I said, breaking all the time, new updates every day, I'm going to end up doing a huge deep dive into this because I'm like, freaking in it. And I have so many questions. I know.

Starting point is 01:07:32 I want to like drive down to you, Kipa, and like boots on the ground figure out what the hell's going on because that's like, what, an hour and a half from here, two hours from here. Well, and I'm just wondering what his ex-wife would say. And, yeah, how much Rebecca knew going into it. And if she is part of this, if she's not, you know. Well, and what I want to know, and the older children. Like, is she a victim also? Right.

Starting point is 01:07:54 Well, and what I would want to know, which the older children, I think, could for sure answer this is, when is the last time anyone had eyes on Emanuel? Yes. And to your point, is Rebecca a victim in all this and just helping with the cover up because she's scared of him or is she complicit in this? Like, is the black eye part of selling the story or is it from previous incidents? A lot of questions. So like I said, things are breaking all the time in this case. And as of now, too, there's reports that. Emmanuel has not been seen for a month, that the last time any family members had eyes on him

Starting point is 01:08:29 was a month ago. And this is something that I think, again, is really important because there are older children in the home. So I would imagine that the police have talked to them and interviewed them and all of the things. So when is the last time someone physically had eyes on Emmanuel other than Rebecca and Jake? Also late on Tuesday night, the house next door to their house caught fire. It was set on fire, I believe, by two homeless people. I don't know if it was intentionally done because they thought that that was the Harrow home or what the cause was, but that's an interesting little tidbit of information. There also have been reports out there that baby clothing has been found in a dumpster in Cabazon where the family lives. Now,

Starting point is 01:09:13 there's speculation that it's tied to Emmanuel. The police have not confirmed that. But it's just, as I said, information coming out all the time. And going back, to that 2018 incident with his 10-week-old daughter. I got some more information that I just want to share because, as I said, information is literally coming in as we're recording and as this is happening. And Vanessa, his ex-wife, her cousin, actually adopted their 10-week-old little girl. And her name is out there in social media, but I'm still going to just refer to her as Jane Doe because I feel like, you know, her privacy should be protected. But Vanessa's cousin had adopted her. And look, when I tell you this poor little girl, she was born healthy. Let me start there. Vanessa reportedly did drink when she was pregnant, but this little girl was born healthy. However, because of those injuries inflicted on her, from birth to 10 weeks old when she was then put in critical condition in the hospital, she now, years later, is allegedly blind. She has a trache. She's wheelchair And it is just awful. There's another boy, too, who was Jake's other son named Jake Jr., I believe, or Jake

Starting point is 01:10:24 the second, who has now been renamed, who was also adopted by Vanessa's cousin. And he allegedly was born with fetal alcohol syndrome because Vanessa's a drinker. And like, it just dead beats all around. And as I mentioned, Rebecca and Jake's, the two-year-old child that was in the home, has been removed since this whole investigation broke. Rumor has it. And I have it. And I have haven't been able to confirm this entirely, but I have heard that that boy is also now under the care of Vanessa's cousin, which it's like, what a saint this cousin is, right? Taking in all of these children who were harmed at the hands of your family member and your family member's ex-husband. It's just horrific. And when I went on News Nation the other night with Ashley Banfield,

Starting point is 01:11:07 right after my segment, the Jake's attorney actually joined. And let me just tell you, this guy is like a sleaze ball and a half. And what I thought was so interesting is he kept saying, I don't represent Rebecca. I only represent Jake. So in my mind, I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no. The writing is on the wall here. If you're not representing both of them, Jake's going to turn on Rebecca. He's going to blame her for this whole thing, just like he tried to blame Vanessa for the whole thing with the 10-week-old daughter. Because tell me in what world. I mean, right now, if Jeremiah, my husband, I were under investigation and we hired a lawyer, you better damn well know that that lawyer would be representing both of us. Or at the very least, if we had to, for some reason, have

Starting point is 01:11:54 separate representation, he would say, like, oh, well, I'm not representing any. You can talk to her lawyer for that. But, like, something is shady here. So I believe, you know, history has a way of repeating itself. I believe Jake is going to put this whole thing on Rebecca. Mark my word. And so anyway, yeah, that attorney was on. He's a sleaze ball. He also did. confirmed that the two-year-old is no longer in the home and it's just sick. The whole thing is sick. So we will continue following this and I will be bringing you all of the details. But until they find a body, it's very difficult to have charges without a body. It's not impossible, but it's difficult. So I hope that they do find him soon. And while I wish and pray

Starting point is 01:12:34 that they would find him alive and safe, I just don't think that that's the outcome we're going to have. So we'll keep researching it. I'll give you guys a deep dive in the future and obviously I'll let you know as literally the moment I hear something and Patreon, I'll let you guys all know too. But that's what we've got this week. I know it was a longer episode than usual, but I appreciate you guys being here. As a reminder, the new merch is out, limited quantities. You can get that now at Annie Elise.com. You can grab your tour tickets for next week, Nashville, Raleigh, Atlanta. The following leg is going to be Houston, Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, all the things. But you can meet Amy there in person. She goes with me out on tour too. She runs the show.

Starting point is 01:13:13 quite literally. She like in the booth and then she's with us in the meet and greets and all that. But thank you guys so much for tuning into another episode of headline highlights. Curious to know how you like having guests on here. I feel like it's nice to just like be able to talk to. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I loved it. I feel like it's so nice to like we talk about these things off camera. So like, why not talk about it on camera, right? But yeah, thank you guys so much for joining. As I always say, be nice. Don't kill people. Be a good human. Don't decapitate anyone. And I'll be back with you guys on Monday with an all new deep dive. So until then, stay safe and we'll talk soon.

Starting point is 01:13:46 All right. Bye. Bye.

SERIALously - 310: Emmanuel Haro, Giovanni Pelletier & Throuple Lived With Ex’s Corpse

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