Up and Vanished - S4E8: Back To Nome

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

In this episode Payne continues contact with Oregon Jon, visits Atlanta Department of Public Safety in Anchorage, heads back to Nome to speak with the Alaska State Troopers and begins looking further into the case of Joseph Balderas. 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

This NBA season, make every three-pointer alley-oop and buzzer-beater even more exciting with FanDuel. Download the app today to see why we're North America's number one sportsbook. 19-plus and physically located in Ontario. Gamling.com call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is released every Friday and brought to you absolutely free. But 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. Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do Da-da-da-da-da-da-da Going into this season, I told myself I need to step out of my comfort zone and do whatever I can within my legal and own moral bounds to help find the truth about what happened

to Florence Okpialik. All roads led to a man with the nickname Oregon John. He's got a very bad rap sheet, charges that include assault, sexual assault, and cruelty to animals. And as far as we know, Oregon John is the last person to have seen Flo alive. In an effort to find the truth, I catfished Oregon John on Facebook, pretending to be someone else. Our conversations on Facebook Messenger eventually led to an in-person meeting at a bar in Ketchikan,

Alaska. I met John face to face and pretended I was somebody else. And over the course of about two hours, we learned details that in my mind seemed to paint John as an even more suspicious character. He had a bad answer for everything. In his own tall tales about how Flo was murdered by another man and put inside a barrel under a meth dealer's house in Nome. Was John actually telling the truth? If he was, he'd made no effort in telling the authorities this, something pretty basic

to do, especially if you're considered a suspect. Instead, Org and John fled Nome, and he's never stepped foot back there. Upon meeting John in person, arguably my biggest fear in the moment was whether or not John believed me. On more than one occasion, during our conversation at the Ketchikan bar, John mentioned that a podcaster was investigating Flo's case. I'm pretty sure he's talking about up and vanished. Through my own deductive reasoning, I surmised that Kelly, not her real name, the woman who

had texted people about Flo's murder, had somehow relayed to John that this podcast existed. It's my belief that John was likely made aware of this podcast the day before I met him, but he didn't do his research. And though admittedly he was a little dubious about who I really was, he'd already taken the bait. Had he simply googled up and vanished, he would have seen my face immediately. And I doubt our bar meeting would have ever even happened.

But it did. And I think that in that moment, John fully believed that I was who I said I was. But the whole thing is a complex mind game. But Partie wants to like play with fire. There's no rule book for this. There's no blueprint for how long I keep this ruse going. Did he know who I really was? And just met me to try to discreetly clear his name? Well, if he did, he failed. And none of what he said seemed to redeem his character at all. I tend to believe John may have had his suspicions about me, but his own narcissism got in the way.

And on the off chance that I was in fact this podcaster, he probably believed he could talk his way out of this. But he failed. Instead, he walked into my trap, and he exposed his true character. The clock is ticking because sooner or later, just about anyone can figure out that I'm doing a podcast about this case. Is there value in seeing how he reacts when I tell him that I tricked him? There's a little bit of a danger element there I'm kind of worried about to be honest.

What are my options here? I can keep playing along as this catfish, but for how long? Maybe he smartens up. Or maybe he just shows us his true fucking colors I almost want to take a bolder stance here It's just unknown territory But if I just pull the cat out of the bag in front of him, this guy is the biggest, most annoying enigma. Do I push Oregon John even further?

Do I continue catfishing him? Or do I tell him who I really am? If this guy became convinced that he was going down, I think he'd feel very threatened by that. That shit is concerning. I went two months with no contact. Then I opened up my fake Facebook account and took another shot in the dark. He hadn't messaged me in two months either. What does that mean

exactly? I took Andy's advice and I messaged him again as this fake person. Okay, here goes nothing. I said, I looked up that missing girl on Google, and it says they didn't find her yet. Did the FBI keep it a secret? He read it. He's online right now. And in no time at all, he read it. He's typing. He simply said, I don't know. Well, OK.

Now what do I say? I don't know. Well, okay. Now what do I say? I replied and said, I feel like the known PD is in on it or something. I couldn't find anything about the barrel they found under the house. Are they the ones who found that? He read it, but didn't respond. I said, what you think?

Read it, no response. Feels like the tone is changing a bit. I sent him a GIF. It's a black and white video of a kid from what looks like a 1940s movie just tapping his fingers waiting. No response. Well, this is going nowhere. Let me send them a screenshot of one of Kelly's messages that mentions his name. He read it.

Now my messages aren't going through. He blocked me. Classic. In Nome, Alaska, there's a long history of mysterious disappearances, unlike any other place I've seen, statistically an anomaly. In 2016, four years before Flo went missing, 36-year-old Joseph Balderas also vanished in Nome, and eight years later, his case remains unsolved. Next to almost every missing poster for Florence in Nome is also Joseph Balderas. Two unsolved cases that continue to haunt this place.

Andy Klamzer, the private investigator, has spent years looking into this case. One of Joseph's friends contacted me early on. Everybody was pretty consistent about what they said about Joseph. They described him as a very charismatic, smart guy who loved Alaska and had, you know, a lot of plans for the future, had met this woman in Juneau, Megan Ryder.

They were planning to get married. He had spent several years working as a law clerk to judges, and he was ready to transition from that kind of work into a law practice. So he was gonna open a practice in Juneau, and he and Megan were gonna get married. There was nothing negative that I found in researching Joseph, nothing that raised red flags for me.

He just seemed like a super nice guy that everybody liked, a guy with a lot of plans and a lot of stuff going on. You're dealing with basically a successful professional person who just vanishes. After talking to friends of Joseph's, it wasn't making sense. His fiance was alarmed right away. His usual practice was to stay in touch with her multiple times a day.

Joseph wasn't responding to anything and nobody had seen him other than the roommate. So for him to not respond to her messages was very unusual. On June 26, 2016, 36 year old Joseph Balderas dropped off the grid entirely, and he's never been seen since then. Right up until his disappearance, he had been communicating with his fiance, Megan, who was staying in Juneau, Alaska. Joseph had informed his fiance via text on WhatsApp that he was driving out of town to

go fishing. And since that moment, on June 26, 2016, Joseph has never responded or read any more incoming messages. Two days later, on Monday, June 27th, Joseph didn't show up for work, and his coworkers began looking for him. Eventually, Joseph's truck was found 44 miles outside of town, parked in a strange position on the side of the road. No sign of Joseph anywhere, nor his wallet, backpack, or cell phone. These items have also never been found.

His truck was found parked back into a pullout. It became a very big deal in Nome quickly. Joseph's family made the trip to Nome from Lubbock, Texas. They launched the largest search effort in Nome's history. Helicopters and airplanes. I think they had the Coast Guard helping. They had helicopters, ATVs, and cadaver dogs. And after weeks of searching, they found absolutely nothing. The state's conclusion,

he had been attacked by a bear or had some kind of accident and they just didn't find the body. Very early on in the investigation, the Alaska state troopers seem to believe that Joseph had fallen victim to a bear attack. Given the fact that bears do exist in Alaska, especially in the sub-Arctic region, this is certainly one possibility. But by the river where Joseph would have been fishing, there was no trace of anything. No signs of a struggle, no pieces of clothing, no blood, palm marks. If Joseph was killed by a bear in this area, then where is anything? Did the bear eat his shoes and his cell phone?

It's just plain odd. So there's various possibilities, and it is possible that something happened that he was running out there and he had an accident and they just didn't find him. It's possible that a grizzly bear attacked him and cached the body, but it's really unusual to not find the body, especially since they had a half dozen different teams of tracking dogs out

there. That would have been, you know, if you got attacked by a bear that would have been super messy. You'd think that the dogs would have found that. And bears don't eat backpacks. This didn't sit well with the family or Andy Klamzer. Those pieces weren't fitting together. That scenario that he was attacked by a bear, somehow the body was hidden, it just seemed unlikely. And so it was worth looking into. The more you look into it, the more unanswered questions and red flags there were.

There's some very suspicious things. Joseph lived with a roommate in town who was a lot younger than him. They were just thrown together. They didn't know each other. They were roommates, but they really didn't communicate. Joseph was older and they really didn't seem to have a lot in common, so they would say hi in passing, but they didn't share personal details of their life. They didn't socialize together. There's other things that point in another direction. The roommate had lied about his whereabouts on Saturday night, had texted his friends trying to create an alibi.

He had very inconsistent statements about what he was doing Friday night, Saturday night, and with whom. Lied to the troopers and tried to get his friends to create an alibi for him. When you look beyond the surface, Joseph's case starts to become very strange. His roommate is also the only person

who claims to have seen Joseph that Sunday, nearly 24 hours after he stopped responding. The roommate claims that he saw Joseph at his house, 44 miles back in town, not where his truck was found. So that would mean Joseph went fishing on Saturday after he texted his fiance, then went back to his house in Nome, went to sleep, then left again to go back out there on Sunday afternoon. In the whole time, he never opened or read the last messages from his fiance. That's pretty weird. The troopers now have a new Missing Persons website set up for the state.

Joseph Balderas is listed in the category of missing and presumed accidental death. He's not in the category of missing under suspicious circumstances. I don't know how you could possibly not say this is a missing person under suspicious circumstances. It was starting to feel like my investigation into Flo's disappearance was now dovetailing into the disappearance of Joseph Balderas. Gnome is tiny.

The same police force. The same investigators. The same court system. And potentially, the same pool of suspects in a murder case. My producer Mike and I flew to Lubbock, Texas to meet Joseph's mother and his sister, Selena. Hi. Hey. Yes.

Oh, your hair is long. It's so much longer now. This is Mike. This is my mother, Nelda. Hi, how are you? How are you? So Florence, I don't even know her, but some of her family members have reached out

and have told me how they feel and how we connected like that. I remember every time we put Joseph's missing person up, she was right there. Remember how they found her stuff outside his tent? The guy that supposedly she drove off on the ATV, right? He talked to him. He catfished him.

You know what catfish means? Yeah, yeah. Dang, you're somebody else. Yeah. It's the craziest thing we've ever done. He pretended he was a young hot lady. And he just started talking to me. I just...

I thought he did. Somebody did harm to him. It was no fair. He didn't get lost. He didn't just go off. Somebody did harm to him. That's all I can think of. The time Joseph went missing,

there was a wedding, and there was a lot of traffic there. Sometimes I think, what if it was a party, it was a wedding? Sometimes I feel like maybe it was just an accident. Maybe somebody was drunk after a big party, wedding and all that. Somebody might have hit him and got so scared that they just picked him up and put him somewhere else. But actually, I feel like somebody was just a single, okay?

They all used to go to the bars and stuff. Things happen. I know my son, you know. Yeah. But something might have happened that somebody maybe was jealous of him if he went with one of his girlfriends or... Right. You know. We came back without my son. I went in there crying, left crying, you know. It was just sad because we came back without my son, without any answers, not a hint about what could have happened to him. I mean, he's a family man.

He would always call. He's a family man and he was always calling us and he would not commit suicide. I want you to find him every night, every morning, every day. Because you think of all these scenarios that might have happened to him and then you think, I should have been stronger, I should have said, we need to find out what happened to him, who did this to him, why did they do it to him? I just want answers.

They can have the reward, I don't care. I barely even watch TV unless it's like cartoons or something with my kids. It was my first time listening to a podcast, which was your podcast. We didn't want to do anything that people are just going to put a story out there and make money. We had a lot of people coming to us in the beginning a lot. You actually go, you actually look for answers. So that is the only reason why we decided to do this podcast.

I want to find my brother. I know he's murdered. I know he is. I know a lot of people know what happened to him. Everybody's scared of law enforcement. I know he is. I know a lot of people know what happened to him. Everybody's scared of law enforcement. They do away with people all the time. There's so many missing people in Nome. And it's easy to say Alaska is a very scary place.

If you get lost, things can happen. The Bears got them. I do not think at all that Joseph's death was an accident. No that he was murdered. Why did they not look into everything? There was a very extensive search where his truck was, to me, planted. But nothing else was looked into. It sounds terrible.

Sometimes I feel like law enforcement knows what happened. Why would they not be telling you? They don't want to step on anybody's toes either. They don't want to step on anybody's toes either. Sometimes I feel like some of the troopers did think that he was murdered. Are they really going to put in the resources to look into this? It seems like nothing is really done. If you don't press and press and press and fight for them to look into something, they won't look into it.

We don't even call anymore, because there's always nothing. It's very terrible, and I feel bad, because I love my brother so much. For a while there, it really was hard to live life. It was just constantly in your mind, and you just feel so guilty that you know that something happened to him and there's nothing we can do. We can't find him. We've gone to

the governor, we've talked to the FBI, we've gone everywhere, we've talked to representatives, we've done so many things and it's always a dead end. My mom cries for my brother every single day. I do feel like all the answers are there, but we don't know how to find them. We need somebody like you guys to put the pieces together. Because Joseph's truck was found 44 miles outside the Nome City limit, this jurisdiction belongs to the Alaska State Troopers. They're in charge of the investigation.

Joseph's mother and his sister seem concerned the Alaska State Troopers. They're in charge of the investigation. Joseph's mother and his sister seem concerned the Alaska State Troopers weren't following up on obvious leads here. Leads that may suggest a homicide. They felt helpless to the point they don't even call them anymore. So what is actually going on here? Is there any investigating at all? Fingers crossed, they're nothing like the known PD. We were back in Nome again and I stopped by the local Alaska State Troopers office. State Troopers? What's that say? Walking hours till four?

You're kidding me. Just how long is it? Is it four? It's 430. That sucks. I'd seen enough peculiarities in this case that warranted further exploration. What's the status of the case now? Hi, can I help you? Hey, is Sergeant Gross in today?

No, he retired. Oh, we knew it was one or the other, okay. Yeah, he retired, what, 2018, 2019? Okay. Is anyone left on the force that was a part of the searches for Joseph Boldaris? Well, like, I was working here at that time but I wasn't involved in that. I was doing other cases. Okay. Do you know of any people on the force who were working? The case officer, he quit, so he moved to the Midwest, and everybody else transferred out.

What is the trooper's affiliation with the case now? Have you guys handled the case, or? I don't know what you mean. Investigated? Well, yes. I mean, it's our case to begin with, so if we have any new information or new leads, we'd investigate those. Okay. I guess who from the troopers here in Nome could speak to us, or journalists from Atlanta, about Baldaris' case? I mean, I guess I'm not sure. I mean, any one trooper can talk to you, but I don't know how productive that would be.

You know what I mean? We're not... I don't know how productive that would be. You know what I mean? We're not... I don't even... I remember it happening but I don't... I wasn't paying attention because I was strictly involved with investigating other cases. Sure, but I mean more so like any notes that were taken down about where you guys actually searched back then and if it's still the trooper's case I'd love to speak to someone who could... Do you have like a card or something? Yeah, a card. something yeah yeah yeah cool

I'm not sure I don't know how much of a quality interview any of us get really I mean I'm assuming that when it happened even though those guys are retired or moved on to other places now when the searches were being conducted, somebody put down information somewhere. It's all in the police report, yeah. I mean, it's a pretty big police report. I mean, it's big. Yeah, I'd love to discuss that, the actual police report on Joseph. Okay, cool. Hmm. I guess, like... I guess a FOIA request would be a good start, wouldn't it? Otherwise, you know what I mean?

We could do it that way, but if we were here already, I'd love to just be able to do it here, given that this is the agency technically in charge, if there was new information coming in, just to speak to what is happening today or what happens next here? Um, yeah I kind of see where you're going. Hmm. Yeah, I can see what I can do and give you guys a call how long you went down for. We're leaving tomorrow night. Yeah, I don't.

Well, I can, since I have your handy-dandy business card, I can figure out, so you just want to speak to, you just want to talk about like the investigation, what happened back then, and then what's happening now in regards to it? Yeah. Okay. Is there like a particular agent who is in charge of this case now?

There's no case officer anymore, really. I mean, it kind of depends. If a call comes in and someone has information, then it would usually come either... Well, it depends on who gets it. I mean, and then we would follow up on the information that's provided. You know, if they say, oh, this person on who gets it. I mean, and then we would follow up on the information that's provided. You know, if they say, oh, this person was talking about it and they live in

Nome, then we would track down that person and interview them. But if somebody says something happened in Anchorage or then it would be an Anchorage trooper that would track down most people and interview them. So there's really no case officer per se anymore. Okay. Okay. Gotcha. So yeah, it's not like one trooper, one investigator type of thing. Okay, gotcha. So, what brought this on so many years later?

So we have a podcast called Up and Vanished. It's an investigative podcast. We look into missing persons cases. Either way, we're doing our own investigation and we'd love to be able to have that report with you guys anyways. I think that... Well, yeah, if you find something out, I'm kind of curious. How many troopers are at this office?

Right now, I have... there's... a drug sergeant, a drug investigator, four troopers and a sergeant. Okay. So there really isn't an investigator here for cases like that? No. Okay. interesting. No, we just don't have the people or the housing. Which is one more reason we should be friends then. I think they're working on it but right at this point it's just

troopers and a sergeant. Mm-hmm. Now what is your podcast called? It's called Up and Vanished. Up and Vanished. We'll be around a lot this summer. Dig up some new information. We have some good shot in the dark leads. Yeah, you're all the conspiracy theories and all that stuff too. And so I'm kind of curious. I've heard all kinds of stories or theories about what could have happened to him. Some are really entertaining Did you have you heard about the alternate dimension that opens up in that area at a certain time and that he's in there? Oh That one I've not heard yet. Yeah, I heard that one and that's stuck in my mind. Wow

Good luck. That's pretty interesting. I've driven around there a lot. It's never happened to you? No, I've never seen the alternate dimension at all. So I feel a little left out. I mean you should drive out there. Just, you know, walk around. Well, if you don't come back, don't go into the alternate dimension. But yeah, you guys should definitely go out there. I mean no one really understands until you're out there walking around. Well, if you miss your plane tomorrow and you don't return the rental car, then we'll hear about it. I'm sure you will. Yeah. And I'll know exactly where to go find you. Will you though?

Well, of course. How fast could you find me? Depends on, well, what happens. I mean, if you decide to go give a bear a hug, I probably won't find you. The whole digestive process and all of that. When they leave little bits and pieces somewhere or just, you know. Maybe, I mean, cause they do drag them off and like stuff them places and then go back and feed.

That's what I understand. I don't know, I'm not a wildlife trooper, so I don't really know well that, well it's a lot of wildlife stuff, but. So yeah, just be careful. Okay, I will. Okay. All right. Well, thank you again. Hey, no problem. You guys have a good day. Appreciate it. Appreciate it too. Thanks so much. Nice to meet you. It didn't appear there was anything active about the investigation at all, at least by the state

troopers and NOME. But this is a state agency, meaning other people oversee them. I went to the Alaska State Troopers website and found this case in the state database. On its missing person flyer is a contact number for something called the Missing Persons Clearinghouse, a division of the Alaska State Government that apparently oversees all missing persons cases led by the troopers. I arranged an in-person on-the-record meeting at the state troopers' main office, specifically to discuss Joseph's case.

So we just want to set up some ground rules here. Understand you guys are running a few minutes late. We still have hard stops coming up, so we won't be able to add additional time. For Malia, she's the Missing Persons Clearinghouse Coordinator for the State of Alaska. She can talk about the data. She can talk about the numbers. She can talk about how the Missing Persons Clearinghouse works. She can't talk about specific cases.

She's just the data manager. She's not the investigator for State Trooper missing persons cases. So it all makes sense and kind of in line with what you guys were expecting? Yeah. Perfect. All right. I guess what are you guys asking?

Florence Peelek and Joseph Balderas in Nome, Alaska. We'd have to do some research. Florence, though, that was a Nome PD case. That's a Nome Police Department case. Joseph, I believe, is state trooper's. That one is, yes. Yes. Did you meet with Nome PD at all about her?

No, I tried. Yeah. I think they're really busy. Yeah. So I know Alaska is obviously an enormous state here. And I think given some of the circumstances of, you know, like just logistically trying to solve a case, you got different departments that help each other out. And just on these particular missing persons cases, I noticed that there was a, like your name was on the file as a contact, instead of missing persons clearinghouse.

I was like, okay, what actually is that? I realized I didn't really know exactly what that term meant and what that department is, I guess, in charge of doing. The clearinghouse is like a central repository that tracks all missing person cases across the state, regardless of the agency who holds the case. So we just track, I'm sure you found my information on the website, so that's where the list is,

that we have it updated every morning at six, that lists every known reported person that's missing. What is the overall mission of the department that you work for? It's just keeping the cases active and following up with family and getting dental and DNA records and just making sure that they're still listed as missing

and funneling any leads that may come in to us, to the investigator. What do you think is the correct path forward into closing cases that have gone cold again and the agency assigned to the cases is swamped with other local issues and may not have the resources to actually actively investigate a case? Okay, go ahead.

So let's try to keep it back to, so Malia Splishin here is not as an investigator, right? She is data collector, generates bulletins, keeps the website up to date, collects the dental records, DNA piece. She's not in the position to speak about the investigation piece. So we can keep our questions a little bit more

on the data piece. So I'm just curious from your perspective, as a resource to the families and everyone else, what do you think is the best path forward when cases stall out like that? Or is it just a sit back and wait game? Since I'm not involved in the investigative part, so I mean, other than keeping them open

and working with families if they don't have DNA or dental on file, then getting that information uploaded. But as far as investigative side, we have a cold case investigator and we have four now that have been assigned for MMIP. So they're actively working on these cases that are older and that have, you know, working up on new leads if they have any or investigating that side of it,

but I'm not involved in that. The person who is in charge of the MMI cases or just that whole initiative, can you just talk about what that is and what that's about? We have four investigators now that are assigned to it. Two just came on board. They're all retired troopers.

We have two in Saldotna. One is going to be in Palmer, I believe, that just came back, and one in Fairbanks. And what is their general role? They're retired troopers, so they're investigators. They're actually commissioned troopers. For cold cases, or? Yes. Okay.

So I don't know how they're choosing the cases that they're working on, but they are investigating ones that have gone cold. Either missing or murdered people that they know that they've found somebody that's been murdered, but it's a cold case. So they're investigating those as well. Do you know just typically speaking when a case is usually classified as cold now? Is there like a protocol to that or? Not that I'm aware of. Just kind of just circumstantial for each, you know, individualized for each case?

I mean, there's not like, oh, nothing's happened in 30 days. We're not going to look at it. So it just probably depends on the leads and the evidence they have. Some of the cases that I've covered, I've seen a positive response when attention is brought back onto a case,

then it's kind of got people talking again. Mm-hmm. Have you seen value in that in some of the cases that you've overseen? Yeah, it's always, I mean, I've not really been involved in a lot of ones that have been solved but that's more been the investigators and, but there's always, it's always good to get the word out to show that when we do solve a case that, you know, we do care and it's not just forgotten. When someone goes missing from a really tiny place in Alaska, which is different than probably

most other places in the lower 48, do you see those factors having an impact? Not that I've noticed, no. I'm sure having limited resources does affect it, but as far as my role, I'm not involved in that part of it. So I don't hear about it, I guess I should say, that nobody comes to me saying that if they need more resources, they can certainly reach out to the troopers to assist if they're in that area.

But as far as what I am involved in, I can't really speak to that. OK, so you've never seen that be an issue? No. And it can be difficult even for our own cases, you know, with weather or, you know, can't get into the area. So it can certainly affect those for sure. How would you define a cold case? I don't know how they'd classified if they've put in so much resources or anything. I'm not sure. We have a classification in our records management system that they can code it as a cold case. But as far as how they determine, you know, when it goes cold, I'm not, I can't speak to that.

An investigator would determine that. I don't know if there's a length of time or anything like that, but sort of not on the investigative side. Is it well known that Alaska has more missing people cases per capita than other states in America? I've heard that, yes, I've heard that. Because our population is a lot lower than, say, like California.

How many years have you been dealing with the missing persons cases part of this? Since February of 2017. Okay. The six years that you've seen all these different missing persons cases entered into the database, and you've seen some be cleared,

some stay stagnant. What's your thoughts on how these things can not go cold like that? What's the trick? For how to not be a cold case? Yeah. I don't know, I guess just to keep it active, but I would say that that would be more

an investigator question. I'm sure you've seen some cases be entered and then maybe they're solved kind of relatively quickly and then some kind of stay there and those ones that were solved in the earlier stages and it seems like it just had a resolution. What were the differences in those? Is there a pattern that you've seen with that? I would have to say probably case by case basis and a lot of the other agencies I don't

necessarily get their reports so I just see that they're cleared out and but I don't really know the details of it. I would get the message that they were located and so that's when I could I would know that they were cleared out of the system that they're no longer missing but it's literally just a terminal message it doesn't really give any details so it doesn doesn't really, you know, it's not, I'm not getting a report from the other agencies every time somebody's entered or removed. Right.

So. Do you think, in your professional opinion, anything could be improved to up the rate of how many cases in the database were being solved? I can't even think of an answer for that. I guess just keeping the public aware would be a good one. Just any leads that come in. Somebody, you know, being on their mind and them saying, hey, I heard this or some missing piece or something.

Do you have anything that you would like to add for that, the media side? No, I mean, I'd be happy to, once you're done with Malia, talk on background with you guys for a few minutes, and then maybe, I'm the spokesperson for the whole department, including the state troopers, ABI, I may be willing to provide some additional on-the-record commentary about the investigation piece. It seems like that's something you guys are missing.

I left their office in Anchorage with an overwhelming lack of confidence. Investigation? What investigation? There isn't any. Just like Flo's case. In hearing the frustration from Joseph's family and their struggle to find answers, and what seemed like obvious red flags in this case, going completely ignored, I wanted to keep

pressing on this. Before I knew it, I was basically investigating the case of Joseph Balderas, right alongside Florence Okpialik. Two bizarre unsolved disappearances in Nome, Alaska, that clearly are not being worked on by the authorities. And if you're listening, please feel free to reach out and correct me. I won't be holding my breath though.

We'll never forget him. It'll hurt the rest of our lives. And I hope you get some kind of answers. I didn't even know you. I just know your name was Payne. Payne finds answers. Bad start. Payne and what was your name? Mike.

Mike. Mike. Okay. A little less threatening. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate you guys letting me in your home and talking to us. You made us feel more comfortable than what we thought it was. I'm not good at talking, mother. Yes, you are.

I know she is. The first time I called her, she's been good at talking. Because before you guys were coming, I was like, I have to go hit up dad's medicine cabinet because I'm getting an anxiety attack. Kick a little bit of that off. I saw the fireball and went like this real quick. This little, yeah.

Always here. I don't know why, before I never would be nervous. I felt like I could talk all the time and be, now I just. I was nervous too. Since day one, nearly eight years ago now, Joseph's friends and his family have put together their own investigation. Andy Klamzor himself has interviewed dozens of people,

and his sister, Selena, and mother, Hilda, have kept meticulous records of every single finding in this case. With all this information, I was starting to become convinced that somewhere in here lies the answer. Mama, you have Joseph's bank account statements? That would tell us if he's dead or not.

He was trying to save up to open up his own practice of whatever. It's amazing how well you guys have kept up with all this stuff. Really. — There was two credit cards. This is what this is. And, of course, they couldn't give me too much information. — But they felt bad for her, and they gave her a little more than what they were supplied to. — I first checked the bank statements, starting in May 2016,

roughly two months before you went missing, on June 26. For the most part, everything seemed pretty normal. He wasn't really a big spender. So Mom called the credit card company. Whenever she first called, you had to get a death certificate, so we had to go through that whole process. And then she was able to obtain those. His mother, Hilda, had made a phone call

to Joseph's credit card company. And after jumping through many hoops, securing a death certificate, and pleading for hours with customer service, they sent Joseph's family a list of all of his credit card transactions, charges that they couldn't see before. Some of those dates, it takes a few days for the transaction to go through.

Joseph Balderas went missing on June 26, 2016. And the last charge on his bank statement is the exact same day. But his credit card statements tell a different story. Here's something weird. Joseph's personal credit card, along with his cell phone and other personal belongings, have never been found. But on his credit card statement, there are charges on July 8th, 9th, 11th, 13th, and 14th. These credit card purchases were made in person in Nome at a convenience store called Bonanza Express.

And the last purchase was made 18 days after he went missing. 18 days. This is like weeks after he went missing. Way after. Okay, so maybe there's an error here. Or the dates are a little off because processing time, right? Wrong. Joseph's mother went and tracked down the actual physical receipts from the convenience

store itself, and they align exactly with these statements. We found every person in Gnome with this birthdate, and now making purchases literally while they were doing the biggest search effort in their history. For obvious reasons, I'm not yet going to tell you what they purchased, but all the items were consistent. The same person, or the same group of people. Unfortunately, the store's security footage is now long gone. But all hope isn't lost here.

Some of the items they purchased required a proof of age, meaning they had to give the store clerk their driver's license. And on every one of these receipts, it lists the date of birth they punched in. Holy shit. Is this the person that murdered Joseph Balderas? How did they get this card? Did they find it out there somewhere? This to me is like a smoking gun here. Holy shit. Well shit.

Someone using his credit card after he's missing. They were using his credit card while the search was going on. Everything about this points to a homicide. I'd talk to the people whose birth dates match. We did. We found every person in Nome with this birth date. And now I know where they live. It's time to go back to Gnome. But this time, I'm here investigating two cases. Florence Okpialuk and Joseph Balderas.

Since episode one this season, our prior research and investigations have now come full circle back around to real time. And we're just getting started here. our prior research and investigations have now come full circle back around to real time. And we're just getting started here. In June of this year, Up and Vanished and The Midnight Sun will return with eight more episodes. The cat's out of the bag now. And anyone involved in these cases likely knows that I'm investigating. This changes the landscape, but I plan on using that to my advantage. In downtown Nome, we installed a large metal drop box.

On it are the missing posters for Florence Okpialik and Joseph Balderas, with an anonymous tip line and a $50,000 reward for information. We're going to find out what happened to them. For now, this first chapter is coming to an end. But this is really just the beginning here. And this June, we're coming back with eight more episodes. Just a few days ago, I logged into my Facebook. My real Facebook. And Oregon John had blocked Payne Lindsay.

Well, looks like the jig's up. No more catfishing. He blocked me. Like my real account. My real Facebook. I guess I have to call him as me. Hey John, this is Payne. If you want a full breakdown, go right now to my weekly show called Talking to Death, where I break down this entire episode in great detail. Things in this case are shaking up, and this is a real-time investigation.

And if you'd like to follow it more closely, go listen to the latest episode of Talking to Death. Hey, Up and Vanished listeners. This is Mike Rooney, lead producer of Up and Vanished. I'm excited to tell you about a new podcast brought to you by the Up and Vanished team. It's called Status Untraced. In 2016, adventurer Justin Alexander was invited on a trek by an Indian holy man. They headed to a spiritual ground in the Himalayan mountains, a place beyond civilization. The holy man returned and said nothing, but Justin was never seen again. Check out this trailer. 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 this 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 is a string of disappearances, many foreigners, and nearly all of the cases unsolved. Bruno Musialek, a Polish national, is missing. Odeta Houghton, 24, from Canberra, Australia, 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 or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 Orin 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. Imagine you're a fly on the wall at a dinner between the mafia, the CIA, and the KGB. That's where my new podcast begins. This is Neil Strauss, host of To Live and Die in LA, and I wanted to quickly tell you

about an intense new series about a dangerous spy taught to seduce men for their secrets and sometimes their lives. From Tenderfoot TV, this is To Die For. Coming March 26th on Apple Podcasts.