True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 1: She Left a Halloween Party - Hours Later She Was Dead

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

It was the morning before Halloween a night of fun turned into a chilling mystery. After a late-night party, a young woman Face Timed her best friend, tired and ready to go home. Then she froze, whispering, “There’s a girl here.” Moments later, the call ended—and she was never heard from again. In this eerie episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha unpacks the haunting final moments, the unanswered questions, and the horror that unfolded in just four hours. What really happened that Halloween morning? True Crime with Kimbyr dives deep into the darkness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a border between good and evil. As we cross the threshold, we step towards the deep, dark corridors of the human mind. Our vehicle to darkness is hungry to take us down to the bottom. The basement of the mind where motives are pinned down before victims are. And we go deeper. Innocence, broken. Toyes remember what children cannot. Deeper and deeper beneath the earth, where we bury what we can't bear.

But nothing stays buried forever. The deeper you go, the less human it gets. It's October 30th, the morning before Halloween. Before the chaos of trick-or-treaters knocking on your door, But the Halloween fun started early this year with a late-night party the night before. 19-year-old Layloni's costume is just feet from her. Her lashes are on the counter, her phone is in her hand, and she's FaceTiming her best friend Sarah from a bedroom that isn't hers.

It's 8.30 in the morning. She's tired and she's annoyed. She's trying to find a ride home when her eyes look at something out of frame. And her voice drops and she whispers, there's a girl here. Her screen shakes and Sarah hears someone yelling in the background, but she can't make out the words. And then the call just ends and there's no call back and no texts. At first it's easy to explain away. She partied late, she'll call you back, but by 9.30,

the group chat is checking her location. And by 10.45, her mom has sent the usual good morning text and is staring. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari, In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history.

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Hi, everyone, welcome back to my channel, and if you have never been here before, I am Kimber Leia, it's nice to finally meet you. But before I go back and I talk to you about timelines, you need to know who we're talking about. Leilani Marie Bicham was born on June 12th of 2002 in Long Beach, California, to her mother Violetta Giovanni, who went by Violet and her father, Steve Beecham. Four years later, her little brother Anthony, came along, and though things didn't work out between her parents, Leilani, who went by Lonnie, was extremely loved by her family on both sides. Now, some people will say that a person is extraordinary from birth, I'm sure you've heard it before and maybe they don't really mean it but they're just trying to say something nice about

someone that was not the case this was true about ley lani everyone that knew her knew that she was very special eventually her mom violet went on to remarry to a man named onyx pike who she started dating that same year when leilani was four and later they have another little girl named sierra in 2015 and that completed their now blended family i don't usually get the chance to use someone's exact word to describe a person that I'm talking about. But in this case, I do. Leilani's uncle, Kyle, brought her to life with his words. He was only 10 years old when Leilani was born.

Kyle is Leilani's dad's little brother. He said from day one, Leilani was a force of nature. On her very first Christmas Eve, she kept her grandpa and uncles up all night. As a 10-year-old boy who wanted to open presents at 7 a.m. sharp, I was peeved, and powerless at the audacity of this baby girl.

By the way, she was only six months old, and that's to be expected. But it's adorable hearing from her uncle when he was only 10 about his perspective. And he went on to say, while all babies cry, that night ended up being a glimpse into the future of this fiery little spirit. When she was a child, Lelani was direct, precocious, and at times a bit impish. I don't know what impish means. I'm not going to lie. I had to look that one. It means inclined to do slightly naughty or mischievous things for fun.

Kyle said, for example, Laylani would announce family secrets that she overheard. She would loudly point out when her grandpa was drunk and she would scold him for it. In fact, she would scold her dad and grandpa for smoking, swearing, and drinking, and for being unshaven. She would talk to strangers, she would ask probing questions, and challenge just about anyone who got in her way. She would demand we evacuate the computer so that she could play Sims for hours. She would lead her little brother Anthony on plundering expeditions into my room. She'd get into earth-shattering arguments with her dad, and then storm off to McDonald's,

or the park down the street, taking her little brother in tow. She would outwit and out-maneuver her dad, and I should point out that he is a certified, rough and tough guy, and yet he was often left frazzled, shaking his head, muttering under his breath, and getting into his truck to make sure Laylani made it safely there and back. She genuinely loved, cherished, and cared for her brother Anthony and baby sister, Sierra. Layloni even had her baby sister's name tattooed on her forearm. And we're going to get to that later as well. Her uncle ended by saying she was an effortlessly loyal and responsible friend.

I believe this is the hallmark of a true fiery soul. Layloni wasn't just a precocious and fearless girl. girl. She wasn't just a trickster or nymph. She was genuine, loving, and loyal. Always checking in, always responsible, always there for her brother and baby sister. So that was everything her uncle described. And I think it's nice that we're getting to hear from someone who loved her and knew her so well. Lailani was always there. She had clearly a defined role in her family, which she played perfectly. She was bold. She was the little girl in the house that was loud, with a bunch of rowdy men when she was with her uncle and her dad.

That gives you a glimpse into the world of those around Lelani who knew her and loved her. Her family was the center of her life. She was the gravitational force of it all. Three siblings in one orbit. If Anthony was laughing, Sierra laughed too. And if Sierra was having a rough day, Lelani carried it with her like she owned it herself. She was the kind of big sister who would spend her last few dollars on somebody else's snack,

because she wanted to see their face light up. That's all she needed. And that is the type of sibling that she was. And they enjoyed being together. And yes, when LeLani was old enough, she did get her sister, Sierra's name, tattooed on her forearm. It was permanent proof of the bond that they had together.

She and Anthony were also inseparable. Movies, theme parks, and Chipotle. They loved those simple things, but that was their routine. When Onyx married Violet, he also became a very steady figure in Leilani's life. And another core relationship was with her paternal grandpa. Summers were spent in La Palma and around Orange County. And as you heard from her uncle, even as a kid,

her maturity showed. If her grandpa lit up a cigarette or he drank or swore, she would call him out on it. And it wasn't to nag, but it was because she actually cared and she would expect better. He understood that. He knew it was love. But she was also the kind of person that would say, the quiet things, how loud?

She grew up in El Dorado Hills in northern California, not too far from Sacramento, a suburban, family-friendly environment in the scenic Sierra Nevada foothills. Don't think beaches, think rolling hills, lots of trees, lake views, and dry, hot summers. But once in high school, Leilani and her family moved two times, causing her to attend three different high schools. She started out at Oak Ridge High in El Dorado Hills, then they moved to Folsom for a year, which isn't that far. It's only about 20, 20 minutes away, but still in a different district. So she attended Folsom High School.

And eventually, they moved to Carmel. That was three and a half hours away. And that's where Layloni graduated from Carmel Valley High School in 2019. She was a student who spoke up respectfully. She didn't shy away from a challenge. She loved gaming, the Sims especially. She could sit there for hours building houses, styling outfits, and even crafting her own little storylines.

During the Among Us era, who remembers the, she was always read. It was non-negotiable. And that same creative eye would show up at her vanity where she kept all of her nice things and in her notebooks. She loved doing makeup and doing her hair and trying different techniques.

Her nails often took on a life of their own, sometimes so long and detailed that simple things like picking up coins, if you know, you know, was so funny and comical because it was hard for her to do. But she didn't care. The artistry was worth it.

I can relate. I'm sure many of you can too. She was a real girly girl, but she was also still a little rough around the edges. After high school, she enrolled at San Jose City College, and she leaned into art and cosmetology. Self-expression for her wasn't just a hobby, it was the way that she lived. She talked about one day opening her own boutique beauty space that would combine skin care, dermatology, in a place where you would leave feeling like yourself just more confident. She also sketched fashion ideas.

She talked about design, and she even wanted to go get a business degree and was helping her mom and dad with their real estate company. They were very proud of her, and they had reasons to be. She dreamed of other things, too. She liked adventure. She wanted to go skydiving. She wanted to launch a YouTube channel to document greenhouse projects. And her bucket list wasn't just someday.

She was actually the kind of person who would make that practical and make it happen, probably because she did have a little bit of a stubborn streak, but a good kind. where if she said she was going to do it, she would find a way. She believed that women could do anything that they dreamed of. If they wanted it bad enough, they would make it happen, and that the world had endless possibilities. What defined her more than anything, though, was her caring heart. She loved people.

Friends said that she didn't just accept people. She celebrated them, whether it was their religion, their race, their orientation. None of that was a barrier. She didn't want anyone to feel invisible. She would sit with them and make sure they think. felt seen. If a person on the sidewalk needed food, she would give them hers. That just came naturally to her. And it wasn't fake. It really wasn't. Friends really appreciated that she was that kind of person that felt honest and real. The Lailani had another side to her, almost like a dual

personality because she lived in this other world, one of adventure and risk-taking. And I'm not talking about her tongue piercing or her eyebrow piercing or her tattoos because she added more since her sister's name. She also had butterflies on her right hip, some butterflies on her neck, flowers on her left forearm, and she did get a little more rebellious after high school, and the risks I'm talking about involved the illegal Bay Area side show scene. And yes, I said illegal. And if you haven't been around it, here's a very quick version, Fast and the Furious. It's pretty much a huge party in the middle of the street where people take over, and there's so many of them that it shuts down intersections and stretches of roads, and cars will slide and spin while people in the crowd film them.

Like I said, fast and furious. That sums it up. Souped up cars with shiny rims and music blasting, tires screeching as they drift, peel out, and do donuts. Just feed away from a bunch of people that are dancing, drinking, laughing, and cheering them on. It's dangerous. It's for the adrenaline junkies. It's chaotic, loud, and risky. But during the pandemic, when clubs were closed, when restaurants weren't even like serving food, this scene blew up even more. And that is when Lailani and her friends started going to them.

I can't blame them because there was nothing else for them to do. Everything was shut down. So why not shut down the streets too and just go wild? It's actually really hard for police to control how big these crowds get and how fast these cars go and how dangerous it is. They can't start a high-speed chase in this heavily populated area. even do it in LA here as well and it has become a major issue. It can be deadly, especially with the drag racing and even cars doing tricks and on losing control and running into people in that crowd.

Also, they happen really quick. People can pull these together fast, you know, their social media, everyone knows exactly where they're supposed to meet at what time and they block off all the streets, people start driving, doing their tricks, and they leave as fast as they came. There are not enough officers around on duty to contain an arrest, such a large number of people that participate in these shows. So if you're wondering, that's why they still exist. But after I just told you that and even showed you if you're watching, it kind of is hard to believe that Leilani would be interested in something like this.

But she was really into cars because of her little brother, Anthony. When they were little, when she was only six years old, she became a huge fan. They grew up loving cars, going to car shows, and when she was, you know, a little older, but not by you, too much. She said she wanted to model for cars. And then she ended up going with friends and meeting people that shared the same interest over time. And that eventually evolved into attending sideshow. The culture has its own status, a ladder. There's who drives the cars, who shows up style like a model and just poses in front of the cars for photos, the girl who's riding in the passenger seat with the guy that everyone knows or wants to date. And Lailani mostly lived in that passenger, print,

Princess Lane. Her nails done, her makeup flawless, hair looking, amazing, sitting next to a hot guy with a nice car. But she did want more. She actually wanted the wheel. She wanted to be in the driver's seat. She wasn't content on just sitting pretty. She wanted to be part of the action. Her friends and family said that any time she heard the loud roar of an exhaust or a turbo on a sports car or she saw a shiny, restored classic car. She couldn't help with stare and she would say, did you see that ride? It was a rush. She and her girls made quite an appearance as well

when they came to these shows. They had their own name for their group. They called themselves the takeovers. And this was a thing. They had crews, and every one of them had a nickname. And there was also like a low-key hierarchy going on. And let me introduce you to who was in Leilani Circle in the Takeovers. There was Kiara.

She was the one with a lot of energy. She could turn a quiet kitchen in the middle of the night into a comedy show. She liked drinking games, beer pong, drunk twister. If it involved alcohol and fun, she was in. Then there was Amy. She wanted to drive the cars, kind of like Lelani wanted to eventually do. She liked expensive cars like McLaren's, and she liked the feeling of going fast, hair blowing in the wind. That was her paradise. Sarah was just there for the fun. Cars, not so much. She was there to experience the music and the moment and the inside jokes that only made sense when you're pretty much sleep deprived and Layloni she was at the center of

everything she was the friend that brought everyone together she's the type that would say come on just come out and have fun even if you don't like cars there was also Kayla that was Layloni's best friend since first grade and they were just like thing one and thing two according to them they mirrored each other's energy and Kayla called Leilani her soulmate together they weren't in the background they were noticed these girls would come in and heads would turn. But it wasn't about ego for Layloni. The attention would just come to her.

She had that presence about her. No one could forget her when she walked into a room. Especially because she was loud. Kayla said that Laylani had a mouth on her. She wasn't afraid to get in your face. She was blunt, but that's why her friends liked her. And when the takeovers arrived at a side show, people knew it. Conversations would stop.

You know, they would hear whispers as they pass by. Phones would lift a little higher to take a photo of them walking in. They dressed to stand out. I mean, these outfits were over the top, and they carried themselves like they owned the street. To outsiders, it could probably come off as conceited, but they called it confidence. However, this also caused tension from other girls.

They definitely got their fair share of dirty looks and trash talking because the catiness was at a very high level, and that's to be expected when you're young, We're talking about teenagers who went to these events. Now, it's true. There were what they called the OGs, which were a little bit older, you know, maybe 25, let's say, maybe even some in their 30s. And they had been putting on and going to these shows way before the pandemic when boredom made them a lot more popular. And everyone knew the OGs.

They had their own cliques as well. But Lelani and her friends not associate with many other groups, they pretty much stuck to themselves. However, it didn't stop the OGs. from kind of looking down on the younger, newer girls that were showing up. Some said it was insecurity, others said it was pure jealousy. Many of these women had solidified their spot and their men, and they didn't appreciate the younger girls on their turf. So these events were not without drama, that's for sure.

For some reason, what came to my mind when I was learning about this culture was this is like high school drama on speed. That's just what I thought about. But the takeovers weren't just a group of girls, showing up to watch cars. They became a brand, and they had a reputation to uphold in a world where reputation was everything.

Leilani's friends always told her she was so pretty that she should even be a model. She had the look, the walk, the hit factor, and she already had fans, mostly of the opposite sex. I think a good way to define Leelani's personality was that she had a hard outer shell, but it was pretty much a front. One example that I saw about an interaction

interaction and her sarcasm would go something like this. If her friend Amy called, for instance, she would pick up and she would say something like, what the FD you want? But they had the same humor. They practically grew up together. They both had that dry, sarcastic kind of humor. So Amy would just snap back without even missing a beat and she'd be like, no, try again. And then they would just break character and start cracking up about it. I mean, that's how they were. It was playful banter and they were teens. I'm going to be saying they were teens a lot in this video. because it gives you a perspective. They didn't take themselves too seriously.

I think we all remember, and some of you might even still be a 19 or a teenager right now, I remember how fun it was and how, like, catty and full of drama high school could be, and even into college. Now, let me tell you a little bit about the men who drive at these events.

They're all about competition and status. It's like they're going into battle. Hours before a show, they would be in their driveways or garages, washing every inch of their cars, buffing the paint, polishing the rims, checking under the hood, even doing oil changes before the big night, so that their engine would be running smooth and would sound loud and sharp. And the message was, I'm trying to attract your attention.

If a girl walked by and caught a guy's eye, the car did the talking. They would rev the engine really hard, daring her to look back. And Lailani, she definitely drew a lot more revs than most. But there were also women who drove. they were high up in the ranks and very rare. It took guts and it took skill and they earned the respect they got from proving themselves in the circle.

And Lailani was practicing for a time that she could move up that ladder. But no one is pretending that this scene is safe. Guns sometimes went off, fights would start, police would come and try to shut these events down, and drivers didn't always have control of their cars. There have been many accidents where people were standing too close

and found themselves having to dodge vehicles at the very last second, and there were nights when spectators were not lucky enough to move fast enough. And violence didn't just stay on the streets. It could break out anywhere afterward. Tensions would flare easily, especially with alcohol flowing and egos running high. So the girls in Le Lani's circle made sure they were careful about who they got close to.

They could be violent. They could be really nice, but that was the risk that you took. But for the most part, Leilani and her friends gone to know a lot of people over the time they'd been doing this, and they trusted them. But there were times when Leilani and her friends witnessed really bad fights, even between women. One time they saw a girl take a liquor bottle and smash it over another girl's head.

I know this all seems like a little much, but it was a thrill. It was what was happening at the time. And Leilani wasn't exactly reckless. She was brave and she was curious. I mean, who didn't do at least, one thing that they look back on and say that was dumb, but it's part of life experience. And she didn't have a death wish. That's important context for this case. She chased life. She'd chase adventure and all this matters. Because when we get to 8.30 a.m. on October 30th, the people around her instantly knew what was normal and what wasn't. So try to keep this in mind.

She's only 19. She may like to show off and dress up and look pretty and pretty and party, but she's a big sister who spends her last dollars to make her siblings smile. The college student that's building a path in beauty and design and business, the friend who tells you the truth and shows up for you. When someone like that stops answering calls and texts, you notice. So now you know the person at the center of the story. Now we can press play on that clock because it started ticking after she hung up that morning on FaceTime.

But let's go back. because all of this sets the stage for what was happening right before Halloween weekend. Everyone's having a good time like usual. They know there's going to be get-togethers, so of course they're planning costumes, they're making plans of which parties they want to go to. And trust me, Lelani did not need an excuse to dress up, but if there was one, that would make it even easier for her to say yes to invitations. And those invitations were stacking up.

Cars were being polished, hair appointments were scheduled, nails were being done. It's that stretch of the year where the line between fun scary and real scary gets thin without anyone noticing. And we know all too well how easily evil can exist in the shadows, especially during a season of disguises. So I want to jump to Friday night, October 29th, rolling into the early morning hours of Saturday, October 30th. Laylani goes over to Sarah's house to get ready.

Sarah is wearing a skeleton. dress, it's black with a skeleton on it, and she pairs it with a pair of fishnet stockings. Leilani is going as what they referred to as a sexy SWAT officer, which is a little bit of a bolder pick, which fits. It was tight and shiny, almost spandex like a body suit, and it was cut out on the top, so the upper part was just a bra, and there were other cutouts on the hips, showing off her butterfly tattoos. She even put a pair of fuzzy handcuffs on the waistband. It reminds me of something that you would get from, and I don't know if this is still around, Leg Avenue. So when you used to see Leg Avenue, you knew what you were getting. And side by side,

they perfected their look, they took photos, and they stepped out for parties. Now, they said they were going to try to go to 10 parties on night. I know that sounds dramatic, but if you've ever done, let's say, a bar crawl, this is sort of the Halloween weekend edition of that, except you're stopping at houses and it wasn't really that wild. You would go over there, pop in, see who's there, maybe have a drink or a smoke, if that's your thing, and then move on. Layloni did enjoy smoking weed. She wasn't of legal drinking age, but marijuana is legal in California and it's very easy to get access to. So a lot of times teens will opt for that if they're looking for a good time. But let's go back to their night out. At the first party, they were with each other the

entire time like always. They're watching out for each other without making a big deal. They're just using the buddy system. Don't leave your friend behind, right? And then Kira joins them at that point and now there's three of them having fun, dancing, and just enjoying themselves. Now when they go to party number two, the night shifts. And that's because 20-year-old Juan Paraparralta shows up with his best friend, Damien Pandaris. These are two young airmen from Travis Air Force Base who spend a lot of time. basically glued together. They're inseparable. Juan even had Damien's name tattooed on his body as proof of their loyalty, their brotherhood, they're in the military together, and people would always

joke around that they were like attached at the hip. When you found one of them, the other one was never that far away. In this car show ecosystem, Juan is very well known. He puts on a lot of these shows and he's got Instagram clout. At the time, he had over 10,000 followers and growing. He knew what grabbed attention on social media, taking all the right photos and videos and editing it just the right way to rack up views. And his presence was the kind that made people turn their heads when he walked in. In that world, being seen with Juan boosted your status. That's how the scene worked. It's a ladder. And clout is just another rung on that ladder. He's got the tattoos, the expensive jewelry, the designer clothing, the look. And Lailani's history with Juan wasn't a secret to our friends. started out very casual about a year before this.

She was just out of a two and a half year relationship at the time, and she really wanted to keep things light. She was going to college, she wanted to keep her options open, and she wasn't ready for a commitment. She actually first noticed one on Instagram. She liked his posts, they start DMing, and eventually they meet at one of the side show events, and they hang out.

She told one, she just wanted to be the passenger princess for now. No labels, no pressure. But then there's the discovery that Lilani made when she was doing some sleuthing around the internet. She found out that Juan was married. His wife lived back in Texas. So now she had instant regret for even considering anything with this man. But he tells her, I'm getting a divorce. It's not official yet.

But he's making these same excuses we've all heard before. He shrugs it off saying that the paperwork is in motion and it's nothing to worry about. But of course, even at 19. Layloni doesn't love that idea. She tells Sarah that she doesn't trust him. But since she isn't looking for anything serious, she really doesn't let it bother her. Now, Amy, her other friend, is not impressed.

Her perspective on Juan is that he's arrogant and he thinks he's much better than other people and even bigger than he is, like larger than life in his own mind and that Laylaani can do much better. Kayla, who as I said has known Layloni since first grade, just wants to protect her friend but be respectful.

And she basically says, do what makes you happy, who am I to judge, but she does want her to be careful. They've seen a lot of things. Recently, there was an incident that really scared these girls. It was back on October the 10th

at a side show event and everything was normal like it always is. But Lailani was there. She's in one's passenger seat, one's in the back of one of his friends is driving and all of a sudden

this random girl comes out of nowhere, storms up to the passenger's door where Lailani was sitting, yanks it open, cussing at her, getting in her face, and demanding she'd get out. And that moment never left them. The only reason that this incident did not explode into something worse was because the person driving, who was sitting in the driver's seat, stepped up, and they told this woman that Lelani had every right to be sitting in there. And it was Juan's car, but he stayed quiet. But to Lailani, the silence, told its own story in her mind. Like he would not stick up for her.

Leilani didn't know why this woman was so angry at her, and it turned out that this was one of the girls who liked him. And I guess they had been seeing each other back a few months ago. This was pretty uncomfortable for Leilani because she hadn't been hanging out with one lately. They had taken a pretty long break for a few months. And as it turned out, this other woman had kind of been seeing him for a month before Leelani started hanging out with him again.

But then it clicked. Leilani told her friends, that looked like the same girl that hit that other girl in the head with the liquor bottle at that party a few months back. It seemed like she was pretty unhinged. They wanted nothing to do with these kind of situations. But the thing that they really noticed was that this woman seemed to have major issues with other women.

She was one of the OGs I told you about. Someone that everyone knew. She was an older girl that didn't like the underage teen girls encroaching on her territory. She kind of thought that she owned the shows and the men that were there. But a guy like Juan was not worth the drama. So Lailani had already distanced herself from him in the past, and it did not make him disappear.

He still wanted her. He still wanted her around, would call her even more. And isn't that the case? It's called the push-pull effect, right? She pulled away. He wanted to be closer. So there they were. On the night of October 29th at a party, party number two,

and Juan walks in with Damien. Of course, even if they didn't want to, Wan and Leilani gravitate towards one another. Old habits die hard, as they say. And they spend the whole night flirting, hanging out, and Sarah's doing her thing, Kiara's doing her thing. And finally, they feel like, you know, we're gonna be like third and fourth wheel.

And they can tell that Leilani is going to be hanging out with Juan going forward. It's getting later, it's around 2.30 in the morning. They're all figuring out what they're gonna do next. and Leilani says that she's going to be going home to Juan's house. Her friends tell her from across the room, like, be safe, we love you, we'll talk to you soon. That was their ritual. But they were always on their phones, so no one was worried about Leilani.

Sarah and Kiara have her location and they do check-ins. They always sent updates of where they were going and who they were with. By the time Leilani heads out, it's closer to 3 o'clock in the morning. And the plan in her mind is really simple. She's going to go back to Juan's house, sleep over there, and get a ride home the next day. But Juan's house is in Fairfield. And that's a pretty decent drive from where they are. That's about 45 minutes away.

And it's late. She and Sarah are texting back and forth. Sarah had never met Juan before, only heard about him. So she thought that maybe Leilani should call it a night and get an Uber or something like that and just head back home. But Leelani said, it's fine. She's good about communicating. She should. shares her location with their friends, that's part of why I told you they don't freak out.

They literally can watch her dot move on the screen and know exactly where she is. I'm not sure her mother did, though. Her mother was told that she was going to Sarah's house for the weekend. And that night, Violet gave her some extra money and made sure she had everything she needed for her costume. She told her to have fun and be safe. Not long after Lelani left with Juan, Sarah gets her first comforting type text. Leilani lets her know she made it to Wands safely. She just texted, just got here, and put a smiley face.

Then a couple hours later, so close to early morning now, maybe five, when the sun is just kind of breaking through the clouds, Le Lani sends Sarah another text. This time she says she can't sleep. She's pretty much at the point where she realized there wasn't the same spark between her and Wahn, and she sends a photo of the back of one's head as he's sleeping beside her.

For friends who pay attention to her, details that image matters. It says, I'm okay, but then she also explains she wants to wake him up and have him drive her home now. It's kind of like she was debating what to do next, and we're getting closer to the time she makes that FaceTime call that I began the story with. And now you have context. Sarah tells Le Lonnie, just wake him up, have him drop you back at my place. She's still tired, though. So since she hadn't actually slept all night, she told Sarah she was going to at least try to get some sleep, and then she would be over. Now, about an hour and a half later, at 8.30, Sarah's phone starts ringing.

And that's why this moment hits the way it does. When that FaceTime call comes in from Lailani, she's in this bedroom that isn't hers. She's 19. She's tired. She's trying to line up a ride back. Sarah picks up and they're face to face. Lailani is in Juan's bed. And in the background, Sarah can hear people arguing, but she can't make out what exactly is going on. And then, Leilani's eyes shift off screen, and her voice drops. And she says, there's a girl here. Now the screen moves and jitters, and Leilani's moving around, almost like she's hiding, and Sarah can hear shuffling noises, and she's asking questions that Leilani isn't answering. Like, what's going on? Who's there? What are you talking about?

And now the voices are getting louder, but Sarah still can't make any of the words out. And Leelani whispers, I'll call you back. And then the call ended. The call ended. Right away, Sarah feels like something is off and from there. About an hour later at 9.30 a.m., with no callback from Leilani, their friend group starts doing what we all do. We start asking, have you heard from her? Have you seen her? Where are you? Are you okay?

They're also all texting Leelani, and they're asking what's going on. And they check her location. It is like having your finger on a pulse, because they can see that she's still at once, and that makes you feel better, right? You're like, okay, I can see where she's she is, everything's okay, she must just be busy, maybe they're talking, who knows. By 10.45, though, Layloni's mom sends the normal good morning text. It's routine. It shouldn't mean anything until about 15 minutes later when the red receipt doesn't pop up. She realized that Layloni was probably up late the night before, but by noon, that's when she starts to get worried.

That's and the routine fails because that's a sign that Leilani has something going on that probably isn't normal. It's not her usual because by this time, no matter what time she went to bed the night before, she would be up. By 1 p.m., the city's awake like on any other Saturday. People are out and about. It's the day before Halloween. They're running out to get last minute candy. They're doing errands. Music is playing from backyards on the block. Kids are outside. And that's exactly what makes the silence from Lailani feel even weirder because everything's moving except for the message bubble. No responses or anything. Violet texts her again and there's still nothing. Not everyone is like us who consume a lot of true crime. We probably do jump to the worst-case scenario right away, but that's

not everyone's response. But because Layloni was always in touch, this did raise a red flag. And Violet starts to text all of her friends asking if they knew where she was. Kiari gets a really bad feeling. It's to be expected when the last time you saw your friend, She was leaving with some guy at 3 o'clock in the morning, and then you're in a group chat where you hear she was almost hiding in his bedroom and there's arguing going on, you're going to be concerned. But she might not want to tell Le Lonnie's mom right away

because they don't want to get their friend in trouble, because it might be nothing. What's weird is when Sarah tries to check Leone's location again, for a split second, it moved from Juan's house and jumped to the freeway. And then it stopped. And this location was nowhere near Juan's house or Sarah's house. That was confusing and it was also concerning. And then after this,

the map just says that Leilani's location cannot be found. Now Violet was already freaking out. She was actually able to pull up phone records on her computer. All of us can do this. You know, we can pull up our call log within a second and her mom was on it. She was not waiting around. She wanted to know who her teenage daughter was last in contact with. The loss she knew, she was going to Sarah's for Halloween. She sees all the last numbers that Leilani was in communication with, and she starts calling all of them. She calls Kira, she calls Sarah, she texts Kayla and Amy, and none of them knew why Leilani wasn't answering their calls. And Violet was already using the word missing to define what was happening to her daughter. She said Leilani's missing. She's not answering.

I can't see her location. It seems like her phone might be off now. Text aren't delivering, and she's freaking out. I think with modern technology, we would have a time a tendency to freak out even more because we are in such a tether with other people. You can see them and then when you can't, it spikes your anxiety. There are just so many other ways that someone can get in touch. Someone's bound to have a phone around them, so if something happened to theirs, they would be able to call you somehow, some way. There's always a way, whether it's someone's iPad or you're staying at a house and you use their computer.

There is technology to let people know you're okay, and this wasn't happening. Now her friend group has all these thoughts going through their mind. Did she get arrested? Did she get involved in something with Juan? And now she's sitting in a jail cell. Did she maybe go off the grid on purpose, run away with this guy? They couldn't figure it out. They put out Snapchat's asking other people if they'd heard from her or seen her.

But something that Violet noticed from the beginning is that every person that she texted looking for Lelani had texted her back except for one number. And she went through that call log, and that was Juan's phone number. He too had gone completely silent. People were trying to reach out to him as well, and they weren't getting a response.

So that made Violet even more worried. Did something happen to both of them? Were they in a car accident? Of course that's gonna go through your mind. Sarah feels like at this point she needs to come clean. She's not gonna get her friend in trouble by saying, listen, I know where she was last and who she was with.

Even though she was supposed to be with me, Sarah admits to Violet that Layloni did not spend the night last night to her. place that they went to a party and the last she heard she was on FaceTime with her. And there were people arguing in the background and it seemed like Leilani was hiding. And then all of a sudden the call cut off. Well, all of that is pressure behind a four-hour period. 8.30 to 1230.

Four hours meant the difference between she said she would call me back and were filing a missing person's report.