True Crime Campfire - Introducing: The Vanished

Episode Date: December 6, 2021

Few things are more devastating than a loved one going missing. On The Vanished podcast from Wondery, host Marissa Jones tells stories of missing persons that have gone overlooked by mainstream media. In a recent episode, Marissa looks into the disappearance of James Foster Chance. The 48-year-old man from Texas went missing in March of 2021. Devastated and without any leads, James’ family began searching for him. But in their search they began uncovering clues that James was not the man they thought he was. And worse -- that he may have disappeared on purpose. Listen to The Vanished at wondery.fm/TV_truecrimecampfireBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support.

Few things are more devastating than a loved one going missing. On The Vanished podcast from Wondery, host Marissa Jones tells stories of missing persons that have gone overlooked by mainstream media. She gets the story from friends and family of the missing person and frequently talks with law enforcement and others close to the case. Marissa wants to help families find their vanished loved ones, or a sense of peace. In a recent episode of The Vanished, Marissa looks into the disappearance of James Foster Chance. The 48-year-old man from Texas went missing in March of 2021, last seen by his neighbors cleaning up after a storm. Devastated and without any leads, James' family began searching for him.

But in their search, they began uncovering clues that James was not the man they thought he was. And worse, that he may have disappeared on purpose. Camper's, you're about to hear a preview of The Vanished. While you're listening, follow The Vanished on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, wherever you get your podcasts. Listen ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. At the beginning of this year, James Foster Chance disappeared from Grapevine, Texas, sometime in the 60 days between the end of January and the end of March. During that time, Texas experienced a record-setting winter storm, leaving most of the state without power for days.

This seems to be a crucial point in James' disappearance. Though we don't know, the exact day he disappeared, or even the exact month. His disappearance has some strange aspects and lots of unanswered questions. But one thing that we do know is that he hasn't been seen in the last eight months. This is a story that will leave you questioning how much you can really ever know someone. Do people only show you the side of themselves that they want you to see? And what could even your closest loved ones be hiding from you? I'm Marissa, and from Wondery, this is episode 318 of The Vanished. James Foster Chance's story. James's family didn't know what to think when they got that call from his landlord.

They began trying to trace James's movements. January 19th, 2021 was James's 48th birthday. He received happy birthday text messages that he responded to, so his family believes he was alive and well. Then, nearly a month later, in mid-February, it appears that James made a trip. According to Connie, James drove from Grapevine, Texas, about 30 miles north to Denton, Texas, and checked into a hotel. That's not odd, except that the days he was supposedly there, were the days that the Texas storm was coming out of its worst, with many roads undrivable, and many highways closed after the February 11th, 133 car pile up on a major freeway, not far from where James lived, that killed six people and injured dozens.

That accident occurred before the worst of the winter weather hit the state, so officials had time to treat and close the dangerously icy roads. By February 17th, the worst of the storm was gone, but damage left millions without electricity. Many roads were still closed or unsafe, and the entire region was in a very cold standstill. But it's on this date, according to Connie, that James drove his very small sports car, a Toyota MR2 spider, 30 miles from grapevine to Denton to a hotel for reasons unknown. He made a trip to Denton, Texas in the middle of February. We had that on his bank records only, and we had contacted that.

He stayed at a motel 6, and we have contacted them, and they were going to check their video to see we would like confirmation that it was him. The dates that he paid were 17, 18, 19, February, and that the motel confirmed that Ken called them, and they confirmed that he was registered there for those days. The bills went through on, I think it was 1920 and 21 or something like that, because it was per night. James's father, Ken, told us that he tried to confirm further via surveillance video that it was, in fact, James at the hotel, and not someone using his credit card and ID, but they were unable to get any video footage. I actually talked to the manager at the motel's

six, he was going to check their video, and I've never heard from him. It was quite late. He said, I don't think we have anything. He did confirm that he checked in, or as my wife pointed out, someone with his name and driver's license and address checked in for those three days. Nobody seems to have known anything about him having friends in Denton. This trip to the Motel 6 is a major question mark in the timeline of events. As Ken said, James didn't have any known friends in that incident. area? Was he simply looking to get away? Perhaps meeting someone? No one has found the key to unlock this part of the mystery. James was known to keep his two vehicles parked at his apartment

when they discovered that he was missing in April. One of the vehicles was also gone. Connie explained how they were able to find a date when the car was still known to be at the apartment. We were emergency contacts and the power of attorney and everything. The apartment complex called us. in order to locate him because his rent was overdue. And in 10 years, that's never happened before. So she was concerned. But they did a wellness check for me on the 12th. That was when the apartment complex called me.

There was no one home. No one answered the door. She opened the door and left the notice inside the door and then went back and called us to see if we had another contact on the 12th. The 13th, I contacted the police the second time, talked to a second officer, and the report was filed on the 15th for the missing persons and was assigned to a detective at that time. The first officer that went out there said nothing was amiss. The apartment was orderly and, you know, no sign of any trauma or anything.

So he was pretty much willing to let that go. the second officer that was involved read me his report the next day, and we found out from the second patrol officer, I guess the first thing was off anyway, that they had contacted the tow company for the apartment complex, and they had apparently February 7th, they still had, they had checked a lot, you know, for abandons or whatever, on just a routine, routine drive-through and confirmed both vehicles were there. My sister and her partner went to the apartment on the 23rd of April to see if there was anything they could find out.