Up and Vanished - Kristal Reisinger: Part 3 - Dead Men Still Talk

Episode Date: March 15, 2025

Two of the most notorious figures in Kristal Reisinger’s disappearance—Dready Brian and Catfish John—are dead. But their deaths don’t close the case; they open new doors. Payne Lindsey unearths chilling messages from beyond the grave, revealing confessions, threats, and cryptic warnings that point to something even darker lurking beneath the surface. As new testimony emerges from someone who claims to know exactly what happened to Kristal, the story takes a shocking turn. Is the truth finally within reach, or is the mystery only deepening? 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

You're listening to a Tenderfoot TV podcast. TD Direct Investing offers live support. So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count. And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for total fund savings adventure, maybe reach out to TD Direct Investing. A baby girl vanishes from her crib, from her home in the middle of the night. It's a horrifying mystery that's never been solved. More than a dozen years later, the case of baby Lisa remains open. But next week on The Megyn Kelly Show, we take you back through the story like never

before with all new exclusive interviews and shocking new developments. Next week on The Megyn Kelly Show, we take you back through the story like never before with all new exclusive interviews and shocking new developments. Join me for Megyn Kelly Investigates, our subject, the disappearance of Baby Lisa. Our five part series begins Monday, March 10th and airs all week on Sirius XM Triumph Channel 111 at noon East on youtube youtube.com slash Megan Kelly, and on all podcast platforms under our Megan Kelly show feed. For ad-free listening and exclusive bonuses, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple podcasts.

Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is intended for mature audiences and may include topics that can be upsetting, such as emotional, physical, and sexual violence, rape, and murder. The names of survivors have been changed for anonymity purposes. Testimony shared by guests of the show is their own and does not reflect the views of Tenderfoot TV or Odyssey. Thank you so much for listening. From Tinderfoot TV in Atlanta, this is Up and Vanished. I'm your host, Payne Lindsay. In the last episode, I dropped a few bombshells on you there at the end. The two main suspects in this case are now deceased. Dready Brian, aka Brian Otten, has died, and Catfish John, John Keenan, are now deceased. Dreddy Bryan, aka Brian Otten, has died and Catfish John,

John Keenan, has also died. On the evening of May 16th, 2020, a man named Lance walked up the winding staircase of the starlit hostel just 15 minutes outside Crestone. That's when he saw him. Brian Otten, better known as Dready Brian, was lying on the roof deck. His body was still, his skin was purple, and he wasn't breathing. There was a dog leash wrapped around his wrist, Lance's dog, and next to him, a mix of orange peels, vomit, and a strange white foam seeping from his mouth. Immediately panic set in. Lance bolted down the stairs, yelling for someone to call 911,

screaming, I think he's dead. The hostel owner, named Doug, eventually made the call. Another guest also went up to check on him. Around 20 minutes later, an ambulance arrived, but it was already too late. Two sheriff's deputies showed up soon after, and EMS confirmed that Brian was gone. At 7.52 PM, the time of death was officially called.

Three days later, the autopsy report came back. Heroin, oxycodone, kratom, nicotine, and marijuana. No fentanyl, no meth, no signs of choking or asphyxiation. The official cause of death, heroin, and metragyne intoxication. It was a cocktail of depressants and a mix that can be lethal. And that's when all the speculation began. Brian wasn't just some guy in Crestone. He was one of the key figures in Crystal Risinger's disappearance.

One of the last people known to have seen her alive. And now, he was dead. Just two days earlier, Brian cashed his $1,200 stimulus check. Typically broke, he had been working odd jobs at the hostel, mopping floors, washing dishes, just to have a place to stay. But when he got that money, he went on a bender. He and Lance had driven to nearby Salida. Brian drank heavily, rum, beers, 40s, more than usual.

He got belligerent, kicked in a windshield, and eventually passed out in a sleeping bag. The next morning, hungover and sick, he needed something to quote, feel better. That's when he got on Facebook Messenger, using his friend's phone, and messaged a guy for heroin. The next day, Brian stayed behind while his friends went to town. From morning until late afternoon, he was alone. No one checked on him. Then around 6pm, Lance returned. At first he just thought Brian was laying there, but something fell off. He stepped closer and realized his dog was still tied to Brian's wrist. Then he saw that Brian's skin was purple and he wasn't breathing.

Later that night, after the sheriff's deputies and EMS left, Lance and a friend went back upstairs. And that's when they found it. Brian's heroin spoon and his needle, still sitting in the bathroom. Somehow the deputies had missed them. Then Lance checked the old phone Brian was using, his cell phone, and he was still logged in.

The one that Brian was communicating with me on, right when I thought I was about to meet one of the number one suspects in this case, just like that, he was gone. Right when I thought I was about to meet one of the number one suspects in this case, just like that, he was gone. Brian Auden, one of the last people to see Crystal Rising are alive, was dead. And whoever sold him that heroin, is still out there. And Freddie Brian isn't the only person to die in this case.

For years, John Keenan, better known as Catfish, was the shadow lurking behind the disappearance of Krystal. He was a known drug dealer, a violent presence, a man accused of holding women captive, and now he's dead too. On September 22, 2022, the police in Raleigh, North Carolina found Catfish John unresponsive in an apartment. His friend Tyler was on the scene. According to witnesses, the place was littered with drug paraphernalia.

Lieutenant Morrison of the Raleigh Police Department officially confirmed his death. There weren't many details, just that it ended the way a lot of people expected it to. Six months earlier, on March 29, 2022, Catfish was arrested in Raleigh. Possession of a stolen vehicle fell into drug charges with intent to distribute. The drugs likely included cocaine, meth, fentanyl, Xanax, Ambien, Valium, all things Catfish was used to using. And this wasn't his first run-in with law enforcement.

Back in 2019, he was also arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and meth possession. And in 2020, during my own bizarre confrontation with him where I met him at a bar, the man threatened me, tried to attack me. Literally threw a punch. Missed though. Crystal Risinger had told several people that she was drugged and raped at Catfish John's house in Crestone in July of 2016, and just a few days later, she vanished. And Catfish, well, he was always at the center of it. Then, there were more women. After my investigation into Catfish, well, he was always at the center of it. Then there were more women. After my investigation into Catfish,

another survivor came forward. I'm going to keep her name anonymous, but she had filed a police report in Raleigh, North Carolina back in 2013. Rape by force. She didn't know his name then. She had met him at a bar, didn't drink, was completely sober, but she kept seeing him at a bar, didn't drink, was completely sober,

but she kept seeing him at every bar she went to that night. Catfish was following her. Later, when her friends went back to her place, Catfish tried to tag along. He offered to make her a drink. It was the only drink she had that night. The next thing she remembers, she woke up in her bed. Catfish was on top of her, naked and raping her. She fought him off, screamed at him for 15 minutes on the balcony, before he finally left. She called the police, but like so many cases, it went nowhere. This sparked a snowball of more women coming forward. Other women, who said that Catfish had abused them, held them captive, drugged them.

One of them told me that Catfish had locked her inside his house for three days, and when she finally got out, he bragged to her boyfriend that they had been together sexually. She had no memory of that at all. And two other women described similar experiences. Being trapped inside Catfish's house. Even held at gunpoint. For years, the people of Crestone truly feared Catfish John. And well, for pretty good reason. This guy was awful. Evil.

And all these years later, even though Dready Brian and Catfish John are dead, the most important question still remains. Where is Crystal? In all these years later, even though Dreddy Bryan and Catfish John are dead, the most important question still remains. Where is Crystal? After you spent 10 minutes looking for keys you were holding the entire time, and before you went in for a hug while the other person went for a handshake, there was a moment when everything went just right. The new cinnamon swirl from McCafe.

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Around the corner and around the globe. We'll keep you moving forward. Enterprise. Her lives in drive. What was it like confronting a person of interest or just going into these different communities? I'll be honest, like every single time it was pretty scary because you just don't know what's going to happen. Just the sort of element of surprise kind of gets your adrenaline going. Was there a lot of people that were willing to talk, willing to speak out? Surprisingly, yes.

I actually think that some people knowing the podcast made them a little more comfortable with us as a team. In a lot of ways, people were open to talking. It's true. It's just funny. I'm not just a bright side of the road friend like I am now. I'm a bright side of the road person, but I'll be on the shady side too, right? There's something very unsettling about reading a dead man's messages, like a ghost reaching out from beyond.

Just a couple days ago, I got access to something that I never expected. Direct messages from Dready Brian. Not just old screenshots, but his real conversations, exactly as they were, completely untouched. A local woman, someone deeply embedded in this community, reached out and gave me her Facebook login. She wanted me to see what she saw. And what I found was chilling. In these messages, Brian wasn't just talking, he seemed to be confessing, lashing out, threatening, and hinting at something much darker, something only he and a handful of other people probably knew.

And now, for the first time, you get to hear them too. How you holding up? I'm good. I'm in Crestone now. I'm at Nate's house. don't remember much of last night. Got a fat lip, gnarly nose, slightly crooked smile, but life goes on. How funny.

I'm in Moffat heading to Crestone later. Josh is getting a place in Salida and he's making payments on my RV. Once he moves in, I can get my RV back. You looking for a temporary roommate? Did you just message me? Yeah. Did you read it? Should I have my secretary fax it to you? Loel, you still in Crestone? Yeah, not enough work here. Wish I had wheels. I got a place in Salida. It's temporary until HUD helps me get something bigger. By the

library. Small, but I like it. I could probably grab your stuff when I make it to the hospital. You at Nate's now? I can't go there. Got a restraining order on James. Don't know if he still hangs around, but I'm not taking chances. Good call. Fuck all the violent toxic bullshit. Love and light. Who's Catfish? Catfish. He stalks people on Facebook.

Dude needs a hobby. Oh. Catfish was the last person Crystal talked about before she disappeared. She told me and others she thought he drugged and raped her. Still don't know if it's true, but that's what she said. Hmm. Yeah. Jesse's staying with me.

Fuck. So that's a no-go for me staying with you? James said I'd end up homeless in Salida with you if I left him. Not letting him be even half right. Yeah, I hear you. Been testing people, feeding misinformation to see who it gets back to. Shawna blocked me real quick. That's all I needed to know. I don't talk about you. Don't worry.

Tell James to call me. What? Tell that bitch ass pussy to be a man and own his shit. He threatened my family. Excuse me? Tell James to hit me up. Now. I swear, if he's hiding, I will find him.

You're threatening me now? No. Just need to talk. Try calling Nate. Nate lied. Said James was with you. We are not together. Fuck him. Tell him I said he's a f***. You are threatening my life. You're expendable. I'll end you. Brian, stop. Biker gangs collect on this shit. I will ruin you. These messages will be used against you. I'm forwarding them.

Go fuck yourself, hillbilly c***. Fuck James. Fuck you. Brian, you need help. I will murder you. I don't remember last night at all. Apparently, you and James are part of a white power biker gang. But if you were, you'd never call the cops.

Good to know you're both full of shit. You need help. Tell the cops to call me. I'll tell them everything I know. You have a warrant now. You're just a junkie meth dealer. Josh is probably getting evicted because of you. If you thought Treddy Bryant's messages were disturbing, these are something else entirely. This same woman, who gave me her Facebook login, also had messages with Catfish John, the man at the center of everything. Now Catfish wasn't just paranoid, this guy was unraveling.

His words read like the ramblings of someone who knew their time was running out, someone who knew way too much, and yet he still couldn't stop talking. What he says in these messages is the kind of thing that makes you stop scrolling. Makes you re-read it. Makes you wonder, is he confessing? Is he warning us? How many things are wrong with this guy? Either way, it's dangerous. again. Every time I get happy, I get slapped down like I'm banned from Disneyland without love, without real friends. Is this even a life worth living? I don't know what happened. I didn't turn on you. You flipped on me. It's not about blame. Just trying to find my people again. Me too, John. Me too.

Fucking Katie's mom came banging on my door, freaking out. Everyone is afraid of you. Why am I not? Have you even asked yourself that? I know why Crystal had to run. I could expose it, but that wouldn't help anyone. Wait, what? Do not make me state the adjacent street name, IP address, and proof of her life today. Respectfully, fuck the global powers. If I die, contingency files drop across every major server.

What are you talking about? They told me to stay quiet. FBI said don't mention her real name. John, slow down. Payne's friends killed her. But south of Mexico, they think she took the weight. Wait, what? They are watching me. Watching you now too.

I have names, but you don't need to know them. If they kill me, I promise you, I'll still get the truth out. I shot the deputy, not the sheriff, and he covered for me. That's real love. Jesus, John, do you hear yourself? I know my people, I know my enemies, and I see you choosing sides.

I haven't chosen anything. You're either with me or you're against me. You need help. I need revenge. I am a soldier with no gun. They don't understand me. I am the last line of defense. Who is they? The ones who took Crystal. The ones who took everything. They think they're safe. They're not.

You're scaring me. You should be scared. I'm done. Catfish is dead. Dreadie Bryan is dead. For some people, that might seem like the end of the story. But for me, for Crystal's family, for everyone still searching for answers, it's the exact opposite.

Because if their deaths proved anything, it's that the people in this town knew something, and some of them are most certainly still alive and capable of talking. Back in 2017 and 18, when I was deep in this case, I had phone calls with dozens of locals, and two men in particular stood out. They weren't just speculating. They weren't just repeating rumors. They claimed to have direct knowledge of Crystal's murder. And when I finally got the chance to speak with them, I thought I was about to hear everything,

finally get to the truth. But let's just say that didn't go as planned. Can you tell me what you know about how she was killed? I don't know. I don't know. It's like, ready to talk about it over the phone, kind of like I told you last time, man. You said what?

I said I don't really want to talk about it on the phone, like I said last time. I know that your brother was taken advantage of in some way, and I know more about Catfish's involvement in that, and I also Know that you had nothing to do with this and so I have no interest in trying to bring anybody else into this Just trying to figure out how to close this thing out. And so It would help Why don't you tell me what you know, and then we'll see if I feel comfortable enough

to tell you whether you're right or wrong. Catfish dosed your brother. Yeah. They did that to a lot of people for the past 20 years. It's fucked up, man. Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, that's what they would do. And fucking, tattoos would pay people to dose people. Or he'd, you know, set things up.

Set like, he would dose like some pills or something. And leave them out. And then someone would take those pills from him. Because his house was a fucking mess. And... Basically, you know, fucking people would find shit and take it

because he wouldn't know the fucking difference. Yeah, exactly. He wouldn't fucking know shit. But he's laced those drugs with, I mean, all kind of shit. And like, it's permanently fucked people up, man. And so yeah, they were poisoning people for a long time. And it wasn't just with like acid. You know, there's other chemicals they use I Mean I know the story could you tell me your version of the story?

I'll tell you my I'll tell you if it differs from mine No Why not? Fucking like I'm listen. I'm, my story, my story is, people already, people already know my story and that's why I'm asking you what you gathered, if, I mean if you want, if you want to hear what happened then, I mean, tell me, tell me what you got, that's basically it man, like tell me what you got that's basically it like tell me what you got I'll tell you if you're right or wrong and if I feel

comfortable enough okay okay okay I've heard that there was some sort of incident where she was shot and in some way or another they burned her body. Yeah, what caliber? You take all that gas, man. What caliber have you heard? I heard it was a revolver. I don't know. I don't know I don't know

probably wasn't even a fucking real gun was it a high caliber airsoft gun? It could be like a seventeen hundred dollar nice one yeah more than likely sounds about right did it occur at catfish's house? maybe, um

so what else you got? you said her body got burnt huh? that's what I heard. Yeah. Is that true or no? Who knows? Who knows? I mean, like, is that what you heard or no? That kind of, that kind of leaves room for fucking, you know, finding bones and ashes.

I also heard there's something about a hot tub. A hot tub? Oh, yeah, I don't think anybody around here has a hot tub, no. Robert, can you help me or can you not? Yeah, I can, but like I told you a couple times already. We've been talking for like 30 minutes and you haven't told me anything. What do you know, what's the story that you know about what happened to Crystal? You know what I have told you, Space?

Indirectly. Who killed Crystal? Just tell me. Please. Who killed her? Yes. No, see, that, that'll tell me. Please. Who killed her? Yes. No, see that won't get me paid. Or fucking murdered.

Which one do you want? Fuck you mean, homie. I mean, what do you need for this information? I need money. need for this information? I need money. Every time I've ever thought this case is over, something pulls me back in. Every time I feel like I've hit a dead end, someone new comes forward. And that's exactly what happened next.

A local reached out to me. Someone who wasn't just repeating hearsay, someone who I very much trusted. This was different. This person made some of the boldest claims I've ever heard in this case. And all these years later, being able to scan back through everything I know,

listening through all the tape, it's starting to paint a pretty clear picture. Allegations that could change everything we know about what happened to Crystal. And the moment I heard them, I knew I had to record it. I had heard the rumors about Catfish at this point. And they were all rumors to me. I didn't see this guy ever hurting a fly. So, you know, I thought the rumors were just rumors at that point.

Normal day, doing my shit. I get a call from Cap. Normal erratic. I really need you over here, man. Like, I need you over here, this, that, that. Fox News did a report again a year after her missing. Uh so which might have you know got his uh conscious kicked it kicking in again or or I don't know what. Really need to talk to you about something man. His normal rambling.

Didn't make it over there until probably later that evening. He had just seen more mellow calm down, but still all over the place. Five minutes being there, you know, I smoke weed and I drink beer. That's my fix so he did his thing you know cracked open his you know his famous Stella Artois I packed a few bongs and we sat down where we usually sit I grabbed one of his laptops started fucking around he started talking to me and he started talking to me. And then out of nowhere, he opened up with a question

and asked me, if someone was suffering in front of you, would you help them out? If someone in front of you was suffering, would you help them out? He's like, what do you mean, Kat? I was like, no shit. Why? Are you overdosing? I thought, are you okay? What's going on? He's like, no, I'm asking. I was like, yeah. He's like, not the way you're thinking. And that's where it started.

not the way you're thinking. And that's where it started. There's five. There's five. I'm not sure who's involved in what. I do know who's involved in some things, but I do know that there is five total. Judd E. Brian, Kat, there was a guy.

Rice, Rice came to my name, uh, as his name, uh, he drove a blue pickup truck with a green patch on the side. He lives right down the street from Kat. I'm sure you've heard, uh, Rice, I'm pretty sure it was rice. Uh, I never heard how he got they, sorry, they got her back to the house. But she was there. He had said they had kept her there for a while, two days, and sexually abused her for a while. Apparently one day she came to, he said,

I don't know how he worded it, came to, or tried to escape off the drugs there and that's when his rice like I don't know why I keep saying rice shot her and it raised her and she didn't pass right away, is what he said. And that's what he said, that's what I meant about the question. That's when Kat said he helped her when she was, you know, still alive after the first shot. It was Rice who pulled the trigger first.

The guy I'm thinking of, yes, let's call him Rice. The guy with, if I was there right now, I will never set foot in Colorado again. But I could point where he lives, his car, his girlfriend. I just can't, the names, the names, it's very traumatic out there for me after all this. So the names, that's what he said. He said that it hit her, but it did not kill her. That's what he said. He said that it hit her, but it did not kill her. She was on his floor. And he said it felt like an hour, but it was only a few minutes until he had decided to do what he did. Did Catfish tell you that he killed Crystal? No. In those words, no. Did he tell me everything that happened to her leading up to the night that she passed

and how she passed? Absolutely. And where and how they did hide her? Yeah. He originally asked if someone was suffering, would you help them out? And then told me what happened and told me that he helped her. And then that was it. Then that's when they went ahead

and had to do what they had to do. So yes, I guess he did pull the killing blow. He shot her. He called it helped her out. And I knew what he meant. He called it helped her out. And I knew what he meant. Traya told me that he, I must have looked, I don't know. He didn't go into too much detail

after what happened after, like what they all did. He did tell me what that they did. Oh shit. They did separate her and place her in different places. His exact words were that they cut her apart and spread her through the mountains. On my end, I'd have no problem testifying in court or whatever I would need to do. Stay tuned next Friday for the final update episode on Crystal Risinger's disappearance

from season two of Up and Vanished. And learn how you personally can help us solve this case once and for all. 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. Lead producer is Mike Rune, along with producers Dylan Harrington and Cooper Skinner. Editing by Mike Rune 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 Set. 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.

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