Up and Vanished - Q&A: 11.19.18

Episode Date: November 20, 2018

Payne and the UAV team answer listener questions. 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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Hey, Up and Vanish crew. This is Lexi from Kentucky. First, I did just want to say thank you for bringing some attention to this case and to Crystal. I had never heard of this case before I started listening to the podcast. And I really do think that she deserves that coverage and attention. And my question was actually if you think that this case can be solved. I definitely think Crystal's case can be solved. I think it's going to take some time, though. It will require the CBI interviewing and re-interviewing people that they may have spoken

to a few years ago when she first went missing, and maybe even comparing people's statements from the podcast to what they said previously. I think we've learned a lot at this point, but there's still a lot of missing pieces. And I think in a matter of time, we'll get them. Hi, my name is Jordan from Kennesaw, Georgia. And my question is, are you guys prepared not to have the same closure as you did with the Tara Grinstead case? And by that, I mean having an arrest in the case, kind of know what's going on. Also, when this podcast is over,

are you guys still going to go out to Colorado and see what's going on with Crystal as well as keeping up with Crystal's case? Thank you so much. I just wanted some more information on this. Hey, Jordan, that's a great question. No one, including myself, could have predicted how season one unfolded with Tara Grinstead's case. question. No one, including myself, could have predicted how season one unfolded with Tara Grinstead's case. The two arrests came out of nowhere 12 years later,

a complete shock to me and the whole community of Osceola. Obviously, I want the same result for Crystal's case, but there are so many factors that we can't control. One, I can't arrest anybody. All I can do is expose the truth, find new information, and hopefully just get people talking again. And in Tara Grinstead's case, that proved to be extremely helpful. I think now, in Crystal's case, most of the main players are talking, but there's still a few people hiding out there. After season two of the podcast ends, we'll always continue to cover Crystal's story. Whether that means going to Colorado, interviewing suspects, talking to her family,

we'll never stop exploring her disappearance. And I think now we may have a new opportunity with the TV show to cover it in a whole different way, which is what we're all hoping for. Hey, this is Austin from Warner Robins, Georgia. I've really been enjoying this season. I just had a question. I noticed that in Catfish's interview,

one thing that he repeatedly kept mentioning was that he hasn't listened to one second, one minute of any of the podcasts. I know you weren't even accusing him of anything, really. He was just trying so hard to convince you of his existence. And to me, that kind of made him look more guilty. And I noticed also that Marie Scott mentioned that someone who possibly is involved will try to distance himself as far as possible from the victim and the crime. So with him saying that he doesn't listen to the podcast at all, it's just trying to push himself as far away from the whole situation.

So anyway, I'd like to know your opinion on that. I've really been, again, I've really enjoyed this season. Can't wait to see more, and also can't wait to see you on TV this Monday. Thanks. Hey Austin, that's a great question. I don't really want to weigh in on whether Catfish is innocent or guilty, because I simply just don't know. I am thankful that Catfish talked to me on record because I think either way, people in the community of

Crestone got to hear his side of the story, however jumbled it may be, and in a way draw their own conclusions. I did find it interesting that he kept bringing up that he hasn't listened to the podcast. In my opinion, if I was him, I would want to know what people were saying about me, but that's just me. tail end of the mind search. And I'm curious if the cadaver dog was there the whole time or if the cadaver dog showed up towards the end with you guys. It seemed clear that the two or three minds that the podcast, you know, was able to record the dog didn't find anything, but I'm just curious, like what was the overall end result of that? Did the cadaver dog find anything?

Also, I really hope that you post the picture, the phoenix picture. I'm dying to see it. I'm totally into that kind of a thing, so I hope you share this. So great work. You guys are really trailblazing the reopening of cold cases. Keep it up. Thanks. Hey, Allison.

Earlier that day, Chris and his team had searched maybe a dozen mines or more with their cameras, and they extensively did this with their cameras, and they extensively did this with their equipment and essentially ruled out many locations. We arrived with Tracy and the dog Chance and explored several mines after that with Chris and his team, but many of them were really hard to get to and almost impossible to bring a body to, so many of those we wrote off. As far as the picture goes, you guys can check that out on the Up and Vanished Instagram, which is just at Up and Vanished. Hey, this is Casey.

I live in Mississippi, and I was just wondering if y'all took the dogs to Crystal's apartment and also to where the last drum circle was at. Thanks. Keep up the good work. Bye. So just to cover all the bases, we did take the dogs to the area where the drum circle happens. But we couldn't bring the cadaver dog to Crystal's apartment because there's current residents there. Experience basketball like never before with BetMGM, an authorized gaming partner of the NBA. Ready to shoot your shot? We've made the BetMGM experience more immersive and fun for all types of basketball fans. Being on the sidelines is one thing. This season,

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I do have a question. I was actually wondering about checking the mine shafts. And then it was interesting because I was thinking, you know, why don't they use cadaver dogs? Next thing I know, that's what's going on. But I also had the question that there was one episode, I don't know if I remember all the details, that somebody chased the, I think, orange van down whatever roads and ended up, it seemed like they were going towards a mine shaft. And I was wondering

is that one of the shafts that they checked? That was never mentioned in the episode, but to me it seems like that would be a logical place to check with the cadaver dogs and all that. So just was curious about that, wanted to see if I could get some answers on it. And again, I appreciate your show. Keep up the good work. And thank you very much.

Bye. Before we got to Crestone that day, we sat down with Tracy and made a hit list of all the significant locations that we've learned about throughout the podcast. Many of these places we did not mention in the podcast itself because we didn't want to reveal that we even knew about them. As far as all the places involved in the gold van story, we brought Chance there, but he didn't hit on anything. But I do want to mention this area is extremely hard to search. The terrain itself is almost impossible to navigate. And even though we didn't find Crystal this time,

Chris, Tracy, and myself were able to rule out a bunch of places. Hey Payne, this is Ray from Florida. Just had a couple questions, mostly to do with Crystal's background. I know she went to Crestone, and I'm trying to figure out why she left Akasha, at least partially, with her ex-husband. And I guess that was either to get away from the drugs or whatever. But it just seems strange that she would leave her daughter and then be hanging out with these sketchy people again. Anyway, I think that was the main question. Some more background information would be awesome.

That's a good question. I think an important distinction is that Crystal brought Kasha back to Denver. Kasha was with Crystal in Gunnison before Crystal went to Crestone. And Crystal was struggling at that time in her life. And so she actively brought Kasha back to Denver, where Kasha was born, to stay with Eli because she knew she was struggling. When she went to Crestone, I don't think it was her intention to be hanging out with, as you put it, a sketchy crowd. I think that's just how things played out from there. Hi, team. This is Lindsay from Kansas City, Missouri. Love your podcast. I've listened

since season one, and I'm enthralled with season two as well. My question is this. It seems like there are two Bryans involved in this case. Now, one, you guys have talked about being Crystal's ex-boyfriend or her Crestone boyfriend. But then it seems like in a lot of the interviews you have been doing that people have been talking about another Brian. And I know you don't like to release names until you have more information. So you're not accusing other people. But it seems like these two Brian's might be connected. And I just wondered if you could share more about that.

Again, thanks so much. Love the podcast. For clarification, the Crestone boyfriend is not named Brian. So I think you might be thinking of one Brian. There are some people in this case with similar names or the same name. But for clarification, the Crestone boyfriend is not named Brian. So I think you're thinking of just one Brian there. Hey, I've been vanished.

This is Natalie from Austin, Texas. I remember listening to another missing person podcast and they mentioned, well, one of the cases was about a man that had gone missing in Crestone. And I was just wondering if y'all, you know, how many other missing people are from Crestone, and if that's relevant to the case, I don't know, but I'd be curious to know, because it seems like it's happened more than once, you know, this is not the first time. Thanks, have a good Thanksgiving. As far as other missing persons in the Crestone area, from all of our research, it seems like most of them were hikers.

In these parts of the country, that does happen sometimes. The only other mysterious disappearance that I found was a guy named James Rowe, which I think is the one you're talking about. Hey, guys at Up and Vanish. This is Molly from South Louisiana. My question is about the mine shaft. What brought you to the mine shaft? I know that it's been discussed since early on in the season, but why at this time did you go to the mine shaft? What actually brought you to those, actually brought you to this to that area and my other question is the cadaver dogs that you had out there searching do they indicate on skeletal remains because I'm assuming at this point that that's the condition that Crystal's body would be in if she were to be found.

And so those are my two questions. Keep up the good work, guys. So from the very beginning, one of the most prevalent theories for where Crystal is is mine shafts. So Chris Halsney from Fox News in Denver compiled a list of mine shafts in the area that seemed feasible for someone to get to in a reasonable amount of time. And those are the ones that he searched. And we joined him for that. As far as cadaver dogs go, they do indicate unskeletal remains. Hi, this is Kathy. I'm an avid listener of yours from Massachusetts.

I'm an avid listener of yours from Massachusetts, and my question is, I thought, and it seemed to come up kind of quickly, which was the fact of Catfish's house being completely redone, and I just was curious as to what was happening with that. You know, were they completely renovating the entire house, and where was he living at that time? Just curious. Thank you. Great show. Hey, Kathy, great question. From what we could tell from the road, Catfish's house was being gutted in the sense of taking out the windows, all the furniture was completely gone. The first time we saw it, it had no windows on it. Then a few weeks later, they added windows. It seems like Catfish got kicked out or moved out, and whoever actually owns the property is preparing to sell it or rent it out to somebody else. But as far as the timing goes, having been there 17 or so years, as he says,

it's strange that he left now. I have a question. I know that Catfish had mentioned that she was larger than him and that he wouldn't be able to pick her up. Do we actually know what her height, weight, and if it was possible for him to carry her? According to her entry in the missing persons database, Crystal was 5'6 and 155 pounds, so she was not 200 pounds like Catfish was saying. Hi, Payne. This is Eric in High Point, North Carolina. I have a question regarding the eyewitness account a few episodes back when the

guy who said he was going home one night and thought he saw Catfish John in the pouring rain beside a van with a shovel and what appeared to be a body wrapped in sheets. The witness said when he got home, he and a friend took separate cars and followed the driver of the van onto a road leading into the valley but couldn't keep up. I wanted to know if investigators deemed this testimony credible, and if so, have they concentrated their search efforts in the area along this road and in any of the mine shafts that may be in close proximity to this road. I just want to say, Payne, that you and your team have done an amazing job on this case.

I really hope that we can get some answers and get some closure for Crystal's family. Thank you. Hey, Eric. As far as the gold van story goes, I initially learned about this from a screenshot of a message sent to Wayne Clark, the local deputy in Crestone. So law enforcement is definitely aware of this eyewitness account. As far as their own investigation into it, I know very little about that. I've talked to this person several times and tried to get as many details about this account as possible. But as far as how law enforcement is treating the situation, I don't really know much about that. Meredith and Payne, I just want to say great job on the show.

It is awesome. I love to listen each week and look forward to getting new episodes. I would love to hear a timeline again about what everybody thinks about Crystal's actual disappearance. So anyway, great job. Thank you so much for addressing this, guys, and for doing this investigative reporting. It's awesome. We'll be uploading a timeline on our website soon, so everything you've heard in the podcast will be laid out for you visually. Hey guys, this is Brad from Chicago. Love this show. I think I'm more addicted to season two

than season one, if that's possible. I can't believe we have to wait until season two to hear more about Crystal. I just wanted to give a shout out. I love this section of today's show or yesterday's show with the cadaver dogs. I think they're going to be the key to solving this. And I love hearing the whole backstory about the handler and the dog. So I'd love to hear more of that kind of stuff. And I really do think that dogs are going to be the key to breaking this case. Thanks. Keep up the good work.

Love it. Thanks, Brad. We think Tracy is really awesome too. And we hope that participation from people like her will really lead to some answers. Hey, Payne and the Up and Vanished crew. This is Ariana from Austin. My question about the case is, has anybody tracked the IP address for the Facebook logins of Crystal's Facebook or the messages that have been received since she's been missing? Or has anybody tried to track her cell phone since she's been missing? Okay, thank you. Keep up the good work. Bye. Crystal's family has tried several times to get into her Facebook, but they've had no luck. They had a series of password combinations that they were guessing at, but they weren't able to get into her Facebook whatsoever. Unless someone already has access to her Facebook, I personally can't get into it.

But I definitely think it's something that law enforcement should look into if they haven't already. And Crystal's cell phone is currently with the CBI. Hi, y'all have done an amazing job this season. My question is, in doing investigative podcasts, are you frequently asked for monies or bitcoins for interviews? In the episode Gone Fishing, Catfish repeatedly asked for money or bitcoin. And recently on the Facebook UAB discussion group, Catfish or someone claiming to be Catfish again requested Bitcoin. I'm wondering how common this is and how you respond to these requests. Great job this season. Bye.

Rarely will people ask for money, but occasionally it does happen. We don't pay for interviews, though. But as far as Bitcoin goes, this is a first. Yeah, this is Eric. I really enjoy your show. I think you may have addressed this in the first Q&A, but I was curious. Way back in the early episodes, it may have even been the first one, there was this story about Crystal warning her ex-boyfriend that he was going to be injured somehow or something was going to happen to him. She had empathic abilities that she knew something was coming.

That was kind of a proving point for them. And that was dismissed as non-connected. I'd love to know more about that. I don't know personally anyone in my life, 35 years old, who was attacked for no reason. I also don't believe the whole empathetic or empath thing. It makes me think that she had something to do with him being attacked. The line of thought there then could be if she hired someone to attack him, that they didn't actually finish the job and kill him or something,

and then she went to confront them, and they took it out on her because she didn't pay. I know it's kind of crazy, but if she had wanted to have sole custody of her daughter, it just seems because she knew something was going to happen and custody of her daughter, it just seems, because she knew something was going to happen and then he got attacked, that's the fishy part for me. So, I know I'm kind of taking it to a conclusion where she becomes a villain, and

I have no idea whether that would be true or not, but it just seems like that's something that you guys should maybe think a little bit more on. Something's really fishy about that. And I don't remember hearing an explanation for why that was excused. Thanks. Hi, Eric.

From Eli's story, it really does sound like he was mugged. The area that he was assaulted in in Denver has a really high crime rate. So it kind of falls in line. We've been told that Crystal had premonition sometimes or, you know, deep gut feelings that ended up coming true. But from the timeline, it doesn't seem like that this was related. He was jumped much earlier in June. Eli said that because he had such a bad concussion from the incident, his memories are fuzzy from that time period. So he actually thought that his assault was closer to the time that Crystal went missing. But really, it was about a month and a half, maybe more before Crystal went missing.

And definitely about a month before the alleged sexual assault. Hi, Emmy calling from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Really enjoying both season one and two. Thank you guys for sharing the stories. When you guys spoke to Catfish, he was mentioning that Crystal was a Rainbow sister, and I just wanted to check, did you confirm if she ever was a part of the Rainbow group for sure or not? Just the way that he was referring to her made it sound like it was. Thank you. Keep up the great work.

From all of our research, talking to Crystal's friends and family and locals in Crestone, to our knowledge, Crystal never attended any rainbow gatherings whatsoever. When Catfish called her a rainbow sister, I didn't really know what he was talking about. Could just be the way he talks about his friends or his female friends. I'm not sure. Hi, this is Mandy. I'm calling from Texas. Thank you so much for all the work

you're doing on this case. I did just want to make a comment more than a question. I loved hearing about Trace and her dogs and all the work that she is doing in the community and would love to hear more from her. Thanks. Bye. Hey, Mandy, we love Tracy Sargent. And there's actually another interview we did with Tracy for season one, Tara Grinstead's case, available now on the podcast feed. It's a bonus episode for the Oxygen TV special. And she goes into great depth about what she does and her personal involvement in Tara Grinstead's case. Thank you.