Up and Vanished - Inside Up and Vanished: In The Midnight Sun

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

”Inside Up and Vanished: In The Midnight Sun” takes listeners behind the scenes of this season of the podcast. Host Payne Lindsey sits down with Tenderfoot's Laura Benson to discuss the investigation into the disappearance of Alaska Native Florence Okpealuk. Payne reflects on some of the challenges of this season and his experiences on the ground in Nome, Alaska. Follow the show on Instagram: @upandvanished Subscribe to Tenderfoot+ for ad-free listening, exclusive bonuses and early access. {apple.co/upandvanished} To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's called Status Untraced. Check out this clip and stick around until the end of the episode for the official trailer. I should return mid-September or so. If I'm not back by then, don't look for me. And it was one thing that kind of made me feel weird about whenever he'd talk about his plans for India. And the more I've thought about it, especially over the years, it almost seemed like he was preparing for something because he wanted to be famous.

He made that openly clear, like that was his end goal. And it was just weird as I thought about it more and more, just how he was trying to visit everybody before he went on this one last big trip where he was trying to find himself. Like he was saying his goodbyes to everybody and then just disappears. Hey listeners, welcome back to Inside Tenderfoot TV. Today we're going inside the latest season of Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun. I'm Laura Benson from the Tenderfoot team and I'll be sitting down with Payne Lindsay, creator and host of this award-winning show. Join us as we hear what it was really like investigating the case of missing Alaskan native Florence Okpiluk.

Grueling travel, uncooperative law enforcement, and dangerous catfishing operations made this investigation particularly worth unpacking. Dive a little deeper with Payne into what you can expect in the next installment of Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun. Payne, can you tell me what made working on this story different from the other cases that you've worked on?

I think the first thing that stands out is where it's located geographically. I think it's the furthest away from my home in Atlanta I've ever been and still been inside the United States. Just a completely different environment out there in Alaska and Nome specifically is different than most parts in Alaska itself because of where it's located and how you can get there. There's no roads leading there. Only way in and out are these two flights a day

on these small planes or you're taking a boat. And it's just a tiny town on the edge of the water. And it just kind of feels like you're on the edge of the earth up there, way north on the Arctic Circle. That was a one of a kind experience for me. So I think that stands out the most right away. It's just where these cases took place. Yeah.

Okay, so given how far removed it is for you and from your life, what compelled you to actually choose this case to pursue? Because I'm sure there are thousands of other options that you had that would have been stateside. Can you talk a little more about that? Yeah, I mean, I think that ever since season one of Up and Vanished, this show became a platform

and we've been able to create subsequent seasons. For me, it's become, I guess the way I put it is, I look at Up and Vanished, the podcast now as also a resource and tool for the victims' families, the community. And I feel like as a True Crime Podcast, we can offer the most support and help to potentially move the needle and find new information in a case that is largely uncovered in the media and missing indigenous women has for a long time been not covered as much in mainstream media and it's been a really large issue happening right under our nose. To me it's an opportunity to shine

a spotlight on that and try our best to make any difference that we can by giving the attention to families that haven't been getting it. And I think that just from the jump, that's a great place to be. And it's amazing that the podcast can even do that. And so really since season one, the victims in all the missing persons cases

have been victims that are usually not covered as much in the mainstream media. And I think that that's been a theme since 2017 that we want to continue. A follow up to that since you're going really outside of your own community, and you're diving into these other worlds in this show and in other shows, can you talk a little bit about how you establish trust with the people that you're going to be interviewing, with the families of the victims, attempted trust with law enforcement? Can you talk about that process and your approach? Yeah, I mean, I think that people are different everywhere. But I also think that we're also a lot the same everywhere.

Even if you don't even speak literally the same language, I think that if you're going to a place as an outsider and you're aware of that, just be conscious of it and be willing to learn and be willing to be patient and understand things that you may not know. And just listen. And I think that that universally translates. When I'm going to a place like Nome, Alaska, and I'm talking to the family of Florence Okpialik, who is a local Alaska native woman, I'm learning for the first time a lot about that culture and about how people grew up here and what it's like to live here. And I think it's okay to ask questions sincerely and you don't have to know the answers all the time.

I did as much research as I could, but that would never inform me as much as talking to somebody in real life would. And so I go there willing to learn and if I'm talking to people about super vulnerable topics, then I feel like I want to offer myself as available to talk about similar topics. If I want you to be vulnerable with me, then I'm going to be vulnerable with you. And so that's really how I established trust, is just by being for real.

I think for a lot of people, they get that, that they can see that, regardless of whether or not they're hesitant or scared. I think universally people can recognize when other people are being real and sincere. And I've just leaned into that. And I think that for the most part, that's always been a good thing and worked out.

Just being truthful, being honest, being real about your objective and being willing to listen and give a part of yourself too if you're asking somebody else to do that. So is there a lot of conversation and interview that happens before you actually start recording and rolling when you're talking to victim families? Well, to be honest, we're always rolling because we just learned that that's the way to go because you learn the hard way. Usually, unless it's a super professional

setting where it's lights, camera, action, there's not like a three, two, one, we're rolling. Also, that kind of feels a little bit like we're making you more nervous. It's like we try to keep it casual. And if you hear a eight minute conversation on the podcast, there's a good chance that nine times out of 10, that was eight minutes from two hours, right? We've talked about all kinds of things

and gotten to the point where we're both more comfortable with each other to get to a point to talk about these specific details or recall these memories or develop, you know, an articulate thought about something. And so, yeah, there's a lot of conversations that happen every single time that you don't hear on the podcast

because they're not, the content itself isn't necessarily relevant, but it's very relevant to the relationships that we're establishing and as people in real life. Yeah, absolutely. So since you're in these very emotionally charged conversations with people, how do you personally maintain neutrality during an interview or do you even?

Do you find yourself getting really pulled in? Can you talk about that experience? I think it depends on the subject matter specifically, who it is that I'm talking to specifically. But when you're dealing with true crime content, you're talking about murder, you're talking about death, you're talking about tragedy, you're talking about bad people, people who are suffering. Those are aspects of this that are really dark, sad and unfortunate.

And so there's a lot of navigating that. And there is a level of objectivity that I consciously put forth to myself, really more so in the way that, and this is just as an analogy only, like a therapist would or something, right? Where like if you're unpacking something that was trauma related, right?

Which I've even done before to a therapist, they're mostly just listening, right? Which I've even done before to a therapist. They're mostly just listening, right? And they're not really giving you too much or commenting on the way that you feel or how you're remembering it, et cetera, because it isn't about that. It's really about you unleashing how you feel about something.

And so I'm always trying to be respectful of that. And a lot of times that means just saying less and in the right moments offering words of support or, you know, I'll give them my opinion if I think that they're doing a really good job at something that they feel like they're not, right? I'm like, I see that the other way, like just as encouragement, right? And then if you I see that the other way, like just as encouragement, right?

And then if you're talking about someone who's more of a suspect, that's a whole different story. I approach that a little bit more hard-nosed, actually not a little bit, a lot of it. And that's what that kind of calls for. But when you're dealing with people who've experienced the tragedy, really the floor is all theirs.

And I just try to consciously remain in a active listening state that they feel, that they can feel and see. They can see me listening and hearing that and understanding that. And they get that validation of, okay, he heard me, right? Most of the time I feel like that's what you want when you're unpacking something like that.

It's just, can I be heard, right? And that's real. And I feel the same way if I'm ever doing that. So that's what I try to consciously do in those kinds of scenarios. Is that a skill that you have learned and developed and worked on throughout working on Up and Vanished, or is that something that you actually,

kind of a character trait that you've had your whole life? It's a skill that I've been working on, still working on, and developing my whole life podcast or not. There are plenty of examples that I won't even bring up about like a past relationship or something, right? Where, you know, active listening is just... These are things that in everyday life people care about and feeling understood and heard and things that I value a lot.

And so a lot of it stems from how I felt when I didn't feel like I was heard or what it literally was that made me feel that way. And these are not completely just like set in stone rule book rules. It's just people skills and adapting to who you're talking to and being willing to understand them if they're different than you or if they feel differently about different things. And just also being consciously aware of that too. And so I think the podcasts Up and Vanished especially, and just talking to all these people over the years, strangers where I've felt majorly uncomfortable like a lot of the

time and just didn't out really show it. It has kinda taught me to be less scared about it and more confident in the way that I'm being perceived by somebody and not being too scared to say things or ask things because most people want to tell you if they trust you and that's why they're there in the first place. I'm still always trying to get better at that.

And there's days where it's a lot harder because I'm tired or it's just like anyone else in life, whatever you're doing. But that's a tool that I'm always sharpening that I didn't come out of the womb being good at. I just became more consciously aware of it over the years. And I think that doing Up and Vanishing and talking to so many people over the years helps me get a little better at that and see things in a slightly different light than maybe I didn't see exactly

years ago. Yeah. Okay, you touched a little bit on the difference between, you know, talking to families and talking to suspects and the discomfort a bit. When I was listening to the show, I was legitimately scared for your safety a couple of times, especially as you're, you know, using this old Facebook profile and you're getting these videos from John from Oregon, John of guns, like showing his guns off to you. You're also in this really remote town with no roads. You've kind of established that maybe the police department is corrupt. Can you talk

about just the experience you had going to meet John or maybe going into some of these more kind of sketchy scenarios and having those conversations? Yeah, I really tried to in this season for you know that particular interview and everything that built up to that happening, try to pull the curtain back a little bit for everybody for you to see sort of the paranoia and the you know live active discussions because all that stuff is real and is kind of kind of what you may not see if we just jump cut it to me in a bar with Oregon John. But yeah, I would say that in this scenario, I was well aware of the risk.

But I also knew that if we planned this properly, that we could minimize that risk. And that really started with being ahead on everything Being there before he thought we were there having scouted this place and being there hours before Having a backup plan for this a backup plan for that and most of those things never even had to come into play But knowing that we had that in the back of my head allowed me to, I think, even be a little bit more confident there in the moment because it was all this buildup about Oregon John and whether I should approach him as this guy or myself

and getting him at this bar and that was crazy and stressful and scary in itself. But then once we're finally there, it's like, it felt like for a brief moment, hey, we did it, but hey, we've done actually nothing. Because now I'm here and he thinks I'm somebody else. How do I start bringing up this missing persons case without sounding suspicious?

Okay, we've talked about it once. How do I bring it up again? Why am I so interested in this, right? Actually, when you hear that, I was there at the bar for two hours and I think in the podcast, it was probably about 15 minutes or so that you heard. And that was really over the course of two hours of me

talking about other things and then slowly going back to that so it didn't seem weird. Which that was the first time I've ever done that where I was posing as somebody else and had the fear of him discovering that and getting mad or violent or whatever, right? But we were in a public place and so I kinda had to just tune out a little bit.

It was one of those things where, you know, look in the mirror, why are we doing this? If I'm too scared to do this, like on that day, which is totally rational and totally okay, I feel like maybe I shouldn't be making podcasts like this then. It's, and not every true crime podcast has to go knock on the bad guy's door,

but that's what I want to do to find answers or what I'm willing to do. And if I back down now, it feels like I got so far, I could just see a family member saying, why didn't you talk to him? And I'm just gonna say, I was scared. So why are you doing this? So I leaned into that the most.

And plus we had Mike, Dylan, Cooper there. So we had some, you know, some muscle if it went down, not really, but. Bunch of podcast guys. Bunch of podcast dorks in the back. But yeah, that was a totally different beast. And in that scenario, the way I'm approaching it is stick to the plan, don't get too distracted,

ask the questions. Ask it again. It's different if they know who you are, because you can ask it in different ways and do it repeatedly. But in this case, I had to go back and forth from talking about other things back to what's up with Flow and details about that.

And really just not, every time I asked about it again, I was thinking, is this the time he thinks it's weird? Is this the time that he's like, why are you so interested in that? Who are you really? And then he even brought up at one point, this podcast person, and for a brief moment, and sitting there I thought,

shit, is he just calling me out? Is he saying I know who you are? I'm gonna pretend like that's not the case and keep going. And I realized, no, actually he doesn't think I'm that person. But I just kind of just staying tunnel vision in that moment. And then when we're done, when we leave and we're back in our safe place, I'm like, holy shit, what just happened? I don't even remember some of the stuff.

Let's go listen back to what, what was said. But in the moment, it was just laser focus on why we're here. Don't regret not asking these questions. This is your only chance. Right. Well, and it seemed like he volunteered a lot of information, right? Wasn't he the first person that brought up Florence's disappearance initially?

Like, was he bragging or what initiated his kind of opening up about that? It seemed really pretty wild to me that he would just meet the stranger on the internet and then dive right in. Or was that deep in the conversation? It was early on that we got there, actually. And that was one of the biggest puzzles we were trying to solve is how do we get there in the conversation? And to me, I thought the easiest way to do that would be if we could get to Gnome, then we can get to that part of the conversation.

And I didn't even have to bring up Nome, but we already had a backstory in our heads that we were very familiar with Nome. And so we can talk about Nome. And if you talk about Nome long enough, he's gonna talk about what he did there, why he left. And so we were talking about places in Alaska. He brought up Nome.

The second he did, I stayed on Nome. That's when he just opened up about that stuff. I didn't have to ask him anything about those details. I think because it unfolded that way is why he continued to tell more because I never plucked that out of him initially. He offered that. And from his perspective, that was a surprise to me.

And I was very curious about that. And so me asking more questions would be valid in that scenario. And so I just leaned into that, but I was definitely, you know, surprised, happily surprised that he did offer so much. And, you know, it makes me wonder exactly I was surprised, happily surprised that he did offer so much. And it makes me wonder exactly where his subconscious was.

It almost felt a little bit like to me, he wanted to get these things off his chest, whatever version of the story he was telling, true or not. Part of him wanted to say stuff about this because he probably hasn't said much about it to many people. Since this is a real-time investigation and we all want to know what's going on with Orca John, you had a great cliffhanger right at the end of the final episode of the season where you call him up as yourself because he does figure out who you are after you leave. Can you give us a little sneak peek without giving anything away?

Do you get ahold of him again? Well, to not spoil anything, which is gonna be a very unfun answer, I'll just put it this way. He knows who I am and we're not done yet. Tune in in June, all right. Right, exactly. Get ready for puck drop at Bet MGM, in June. All right. Right. Exactly. BetMGM has something for every hockey fan, so you're sure to find a way to get off the bench and onto the ice all season long. Take your shot to light the lamp this season with BetMGM.

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Real Canadian Superstore. I'm really interested in how you related Florence's case to Joseph Balderas's case. Why of all of the cases that happen, why do you think those two are so closely linked? How did those become kind of these tandem investigations for you? Well, if you're in Nome and you just walk the downtown front street for five minutes.

If you see a missing poster for Florence, within the same 30 seconds, you're going to see a missing poster for Joseph. They're the two most recent suspicious unsolved missing persons cases in Nome of young people who just completely vanished, and there are no answers at all. And so because of that, they are closely linked

because why did two people go missing in this town of 3,000 people and there's zero answers and there's posters everywhere and no one knows shit about it, right? Also, just like Flo's family had reached out to me on email, Joe's family also did the same thing. And that quickly sort of jump started a relationship with his sister and I, and eventually met his mother

and his family, and she was aware of this podcast, just like Diallo was. And they understood the value that this could bring and they wanted us to cover their loved one's story in the way that they've heard before. That allows us to go straight into doing that. Right. Otherwise, if I've, if there's a case that, that I just found on the internet that I wanted to do a story on,

then the first thing I'm doing is reaching out to the family and explaining what this is and asking them if they would wanna do something like that. In this scenario, they reached out to me being fully aware of what up and vanished is and asked if we would cover their missing persons cases. And so that really jump starts us and puts us in a great spot to be able to go straight into the whole point of this,

which is finding new information and hopefully trying to find out what happened and who's responsible if it's a murder. Right. So can we expect to hear a lot more about his case in the June installment? Yes. We have been researching and investigating Joseph's case for a long time, pretty much since the very beginning. and investigating Joseph's case for a long time. Pretty much since the very beginning. And we have so much information, new information on his case,

which is really kind of why we decided to break it up into two parts like this, because we wanted to be able to give both cases an authentic focus that was, it's hard to do both at the exact same time. But eventually they kind of dovetailed together because of how small Noam is and how the departments relate and how this person is the same person over here. And in part two of Midnight Sun, we're diving just as deep as we did in Florence's case, into Joseph's case.

And we have tons of interviews and a lot of new information, new leads and persons of interest that are still out there. And we're also still doing the same with Florence's case. But yeah, there, with Florence's case. But yeah, you'll expect to hear every single detail about Joseph Baldaris' missing persons case throughout the next part. And you're heading back up there, right, to continue to do more research? Mm-hmm. Yes. A lot of people we've already talked to, there are some individuals that we have not yet had the face to face that we need to have. And a few other people we need to see in person that want to offer us information in that way. And so we're going back there to do that and really try to tie up loose ends

and put the pressure on the individuals we think are likely involved and put them on the spot a little bit and try to get people talking. And that is easier to do when you're at their doorstep and instead of calling from a number that they're just going to not answer or hang up on you. Right. So what has been the most challenging part of making this season of the show? Is it the logistics or is there another element? The logistics has been challenging doing 12 plus hours of traveling to get anywhere,

multiple flights, cars, all that stuff. It could be exhausting. And it feels like once you finally touch down that you've done work, but you've done nothing. It's the same thing as you being at your house, except you're not, you're here. So you still have to go do everything. So that has always been a challenge in that way, just because, you know, it can be

draining to do that much moving around. And just with a small town, it's hard, it's harder to navigate the intricacies of the local relationships and the politics and, you know, the rumor mill and being careful of what we say and that going over here. And I think mostly, which is just in every missing persons case that we've investigated, it's just heavy material. It's heavy, it's heavy real life.

Hearing it in the podcast or watching it on Netflix is just a tiny little teaspoon of what it is really like to talk to people in real life about something tragic like this. And being in a position where you're trying to generate new information and talking to a lot of people who may not want to talk to you at all. So just feeling that resistance, feeling that sort of responsibility, feeling, you know, the heartache from everybody around you, right, and wanting to be able to offer some glimmer of hope and trying to use that to empower what we're doing instead of slow us down. But it's it's real life. And there are people that text me every day there. It's, that text me every day there, it's,

it's always happening. It, it, it didn't ever stop. It never stops. And you know, that that's just always a challenge in itself, just unpacking all this stuff and having people open up about something that was really tragic and an open wound. something that was really tragic and an open wound. And so that's always probably the most difficult part next to knocking on the bad guy's door, which is not always as fun either.

But there's a little bit more of an empowerment you can have in those moments and they're fewer and far between. So how do you take care of yourself when you're on the road and you're in these extreme situations, you're dealing with a lot of emotions of other people. Do you have a process for self care or do you just go all in? And then when you're finished and you wrap and you come back home,

you sleep for three days or what's your process? It's a lot of going all in. Yeah. Sometimes we factor in days, there's no way that we'll be able to be doing this on day four, we're gonna be completely gassed. Like, you know, we try to forecast that. So in those moments, it's like, we're gonna order the most baller Uber Eats we can get,

pig out, or Netflix Day on the couch, or, you know, who's going to the liquor store and making cocktails for us, whatever it is, right? But really it's mostly when you're there, you're in it and you're maximizing time. And it's really when you get back to your own home and where we make this podcast that you can kind of reflect and see and hear things

differently and objectively being out of those elements. But when you're in them, you're just in capture mode. You're in go, go, go, don't, you know, make that extra step, make that extra call, and you know, try not to think too much about how tired you are because eventually you'll be back. But that's all to really maximize your time and make it worth it and do the most you can

when you have the opportunity to. Yeah, absolutely. What's been the most rewarding part of working on this season of the show for you? I think the most rewarding part of working on this season of the show for you? I think the most rewarding part of working on this show has been establishing really true, real, meaningful relationships with the families and even being able to have funny, silly conversations about stuff and just being able to

have open talks and open lines of communication and understanding amongst each other that just feels really special and rewarding. And they're also super appreciative. And we're also super appreciative that they even trust us with this at all, right? That makes me feel good and better and everyone else and makes us feel a little bit more confident

when it is confusing and you feel like you're out of your element. And so that to me has been probably the most rewarding part of this. And it's just refreshing and it's cool that we can just, we have this collective goal together and it's real. Like it's a podcast for every listener, but this is a collective goal we have

outside of any audio you hear. That is really cool to me. Right. So who do you think most needs to hear this show? And especially this season? The suspects. Yeah. In terms of wanting these cases solved,

I think the people who know the individuals who are responsible, the people who have that little nugget of information, the people who think they know somebody who knows it, I think those people need to hear it the most because I think that leads to potential new information or somebody slipping up or somebody confessing or somebody acting out in some way that results

in some sort of new action that exposes something. And then right next to that, it's the local community knowing that these stories, these cases, these people, their disappearances have not been forgotten. that these stories, these cases, these people, their disappearances have not been forgotten. And even though your local law enforcement sucks, there's other people out there, and I don't mean just me and us, other listeners, people out there who care about this issue

and also want that to change. We can't necessarily go in there and reconstruct this ourselves right now, but we can highlight these issues and create enough interest and expose a big enough problem to where the people who have that power can step in and do something. And I think that just even the support of a casual listener is important. And the families knowing that people care, locals knowing that other people care and that maybe this won't be like this forever, right? Like that glimmer of hope that, hey, like you have a lot of people here who are right here with you, who feel the same way, who agree with you. So if that's the case, I think this

eventually changes. The change happening is a different, deeper, multi-pronged conversation. But this is how it starts is, okay, we have a problem that we've identified. We have a lot of people who agree with that. What do you do? What can you do to change the way things are? And that's also I mean, I say that now also as a if you're one of those people who can, then let's do it. Let's go like, you know, start taking action. And, you know,

I think that is super valuable. And just the community support and just listeners together, all giving a shit about something they didn't know about before. And I think that means a lot to the people and families affected by this. Right. I imagine also for the families, there's a community. Have you witnessed a community kind of come forward of people who've had, who've lost family members, who have missing family members? Like, do they form a community and kind of create more of a resource for one another? Have you seen any kind of exchanges in that way of people sharing information and resources and getting things

done kind of behind the scenes, I guess? Yeah, yeah. In both cases, there have been people and there's people in both families, Florence and Joseph, who have band together and have been the people on the ground doing all the work, actively investigating, making calls, recording stuff, putting pressure on people. They've been doing that since day one. They've had a lot more challenges because they also are dealing with the fact that anything they say and do out in the open may potentially impact their life where they live because it's a small place.

And I think that us being there and telling this story on a bigger scale has for some people, made them a little more confident in being able to talk more openly and feeling like it's not just their responsibility. We can help each other. I think that's what I've witnessed is people locally who now feel more confident in saying the things that they know, even amongst themselves and not feeling

as scared sometimes or as hesitant because the people that you're likely afraid of, we called them out for you, some of them. And they're aware of that. And if they continue to give you shit, then we're going to tell everybody that they're doing that. And so I think that level of accountability that we can bring is also a little bit more reassurance in that

it's OK to keep fighting and hopefully in some instances, you know, a boost of confidence that it there's there's more people who care now and it's it's a little bit safer now to to go at this and we're gonna continue to expose all the negative things that occur here that have hindered them from doing that to the fullest extent all these years. You already touched a little bit on some previews, but what can we expect from the next installment coming in June? In the next installment, you're going to hear a lot of interviews with different persons of interest. And we are fortunate, we're fortunate enough to have the ability to go back in time

thanks to a lot of the hard work put in by the private investigator, Andy Klamzer and other private investigators who have gone. And eight years ago went and did audio video recordings with individuals that really capture a moment in time and are a locked in story that they've said and we have the ability now to hear all this stuff and we'll play it for you and compare it to what they're saying now and be able to really dig into a,

unlike Florence's case, a massive, massive case file that has been put together through the family and the private investigators and add to that and compare how what was being said then and now and much more easily find where somebody may be lying or that thing that everyone always thought was a little weird and suspicious. Well, it definitely is because you never heard this and it'll be a lot of that and a lot more active investigating.

And the same with Florence's case. And one of the other reasons that we chose to do the break is that going in episode one of the first part, that was the first time we announced this podcast. Once we did that, everyone in the community and people who are a part of these cases, they know that now. So the landscape's different. And now we're getting tons of emails, calls,

Facebook messages, you name it, from people who have been prompted by what they've heard and now feel confident to come forward or realizing that this little piece of information they had was worth something. And so we're now sort of in part to fielding what's happened post the first eight episodes and as a result of the podcast being out at all, new information in leads and interviews that have stemmed from that. Amazing. I can't wait. I have so many specific questions that I won't get into because I know they're going to show up in the first couple of episodes of the next season. So

I will just wait like everyone else. Can you share with our listeners what else is on the horizon in the future coming from the Up and Vanished team? I know that everyone's waiting till June for the next installment of eight episodes, which is coming sooner than you think it's time flies. But in the meantime, the same Up and Vanished team has been working on another case and another podcast that's coming out April 17th. It's called Status Untraced. It's a very bizarre, sad, interesting story about someone who was traveling abroad and went missing.

And a lot of suspicious circumstances there. And it's a deep dive investigative show put together by the same producers of Up and Vanished and it comes out April 17th. I will play you a trailer for it right now. One guy he went missing for 30 years. Why he was hiding himself, why he disappeared, nobody knows. At the northern edge of India, attracting thousands of tourists every year, is the Parvati Valley.

Many come for the beauty of the Himalayas, others to party. But then there are some drawn in search of enlightenment, and this place changes them. There are stories from that part of the world where they'll say like, oh, the person didn't come back because they didn't want to come back. Just to create a story and a scene, he threw all his stuff along the river and then he just vanished.

The phenomenon, called India Syndrome, could be chalked up to the valley's spiritual allure. But something else is going on here. There's a string of disappearances, many foreigners, and nearly all of the cases unsolved. Bruno Musialek at Polish National is missing. Odeta Houghton, 24, from Karela... ...were mercilessly beaten to death. Said he befriended a Baba. Shortly after, Ian disappeared.

That valley is beautiful and enchanting, but it's very dangerous. Nefarious things happen there. I fell upon one of these cases of an American world traveler gone missing. The circumstances of his disappearance were suspicious. So I flew halfway around the world in search of answers. And what I found, I could have never imagined. You could read his posts about the guru.

He knew this guy was bad news. The guy getting hung out of nowhere makes you go, there's something else. You think he's like robbing them and then taking the stuff? He's basically murdering them. A new investigative podcast from the team behind Up and Vanished. This is Status Untraced. Coming April 17th on Apple Podcasts Paine, thank you so much for your time. I, like everyone else listening, cannot wait for the next installment to come out in June. This is an ongoing real-time investigation,

so if you have any information about either of these cases, please reach out to the show. ["The Midnight Sun"] Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your host is Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Payne Lindsay

with additional assistance from Mike Rooney. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Payne Lindsay with additional assistance from Mike Rooney. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. Lead producer is Mike Rooney, along with producers Dylan Harrington and Cooper Skinner. Editing by Mike Rooney and Cooper Skinner with additional editing by Dylan Harrington. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Additional production by Victoria McKenzie,

Alice Konick Glenn, and Eric Quintana. Artwork by Rob Sheridan, original music by Makeup and Vanity Seth, mix and mastered by Cooper Skinner. Thank you to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing, and the Nord Group. Special thanks to all of the families and community members that spoke to the team.

Additional information and resources can be found in our show notes. For more podcasts like Up and Vanished, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app, or visit us at tenderfoot.tv. Thanks for listening. Hello there, Tenderfoot listeners. Laura Benson here with some exciting news from the Tenderfoot TV team. We're thrilled to announce that five of our hit shows have been nominated for this year's 28th annual Webby Awards. This is such an incredible opportunity and we're honored that so many of our recent

podcasts have been recognized. Tenderfoot nominations include Dear Alana for Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Podcast, High Strange for Best Documentary Podcast, The Vanishing Point for Best Crime and Justice Podcast, Freeway Phantom for Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Podcast, and our show, Radical, for Original Music Score and Best Sound Design. We'd love to bring home the gold, but we need your help. Share your voice and cast your vote. Head over to our Instagram, at TenderfootTV, where we've shared the link to vote in our bio.

Or, for those of you with excellent memories, go directly to lnk.to slash tenderfoot dot webbies to vote now. Thank you for being a valued listener and again, head over to at tenderfootTV to vote for your favorite Tenderfoot podcasts today.