We're All Insane - My Grandparents Were Murdered

Episode Date: June 9, 2025

#podcast #truecrimecommunity #mentalhealth #trauma 20% off: https://www.Piquelife.com/INSANE Tatiana shares her personal story about why she believes her grandparents’ deaths weren’t accidental — but murder. What begins as a tragic loss unravels into a web of unanswered questions, suspicious circumstances, and haunting details that have left her searching for the truth. Tatiana's Links: IG: @tatianaalexandra_ Tiktok: @tat.ale 00;01;48;12 What's it like learning that your grandparents are gone?00;07;44;15 What's it like telling your parents that their parents are dead?00;14;47;17 What's it like seeing news coverage of your family member's murder? 00;15;43;06 Why does the news make up stories? 00;17;13;14 How are crime scenes handled differently in other countries?00;19;03;12 What's it like walking into a crime scene? 00;23;57;02 How can a crime scene feel spiritually? 00;30;36;06 What's it like having the police not investigate? 00;35;29;21 What are red flags from people in a murder? 00;42;01;11 What's it like going to your grandparents' funeral? 00;43;47;21 What does an open casket funeral feel like? 00;53;08;29 What happens when you think someone has been poisoned 01;01;27;11 What is strange behavior after a funeral? 01;06;45;23 What is visiting a medium like? 01;15;45;00 What is it like to not process grief well? 01;33;09;17 What's it like knowing someone will pass away soon?01;43;25;29 What's it like knowing someone got away with a crime? Topics: Family Tragedy, Grandparents, True Crime, Unsolved Mystery If you have a unique story you'd like to share on the podcast, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/ZiHgdoK4PLRAddiB9 or send an email to [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, it's me Devorah. I just dropped an all new bonus episode inside my new subscription channel, We're All Insane Plus. This week's bonus episode is called My Brain was slipping into my spine. Listen now by subscribing to We're All Insane Plus inside your Spotify or Apple Podcasts app or go to we're all insane.com. My name's Tatiana. I'm here to share the story of what happened to my grandparents. Crazy story. It's going to sound like a documentary. I'm excited. I'm ready.

Bear with me. A little background on my grandparents. They're my paternal grandparents. Since I was born, they lived here in the States. Up until I was 16, they had moved back to Portugal to retire. And that's where they're from? Yeah. Okay.

So that's where my whole family's from. But my grandpa was like, I need to go back. Can't be here anymore. Whatever. So they went. They sold their apartment. But them being here, My grandparents were, I'm one out of seven grandkids.

So I feel like my siblings and my cousins might be like, bitch or lying. But I was probably one of the closest grandkids to them. I mean, I remember going every Sunday to church with them. I would go to my grandparents' house when I was in trouble to hide from my parents and be like, hey, grandma, can you help me? You know, I would do their nails. Like, it was a lot of bonding with them. So they were my people.

Yeah. And when they went to Portugal, I was like, damn, like, they're not going to be here anymore. Right. And how old were you when they went back? So I was 16 when they went back. So I was freshly in high school, basically. I think I was a freshman or a sophomore. And were you planning? Had you ever been over there? I have. Okay. But I wasn't, we weren't going every summer. Like, there's families that go every summer. It's just expensive. We're a family of five. Like, each ticket is like $1,400. So, you know, we would go every so often. So from 2016, we didn't see them up until I think it was 2018 when we saw them again. They had came here and then that summer we went and surprised them. Okay. Most beautiful moment of my life because, I mean, they're so dramatic.

My grandma's a very dramatic cryer. Like, she was like, oh, my God. Almost passed out. Stop. I'm like, girl, relax. Like, it's not that serious. Yeah. But they ended up moving back.

And, you know, our routine to keep in touch with them is we had gotten them an iPhone. One of the last times they were here so we could face it. time every Sunday. And this plays a part into like how everything broke down. But Sundays were our day. Like we would FaceTime them. We would catch up. My dad was very like specific.

Like I need to see your face every Sunday to make sure like I can, you know, speaking on the phone and somebody across the world, you can't really tell if they're faking it. If they're okay, if they're not. But you know, face time and you can be like, okay, like you look a little sick. You know? You can see their facial expression. Right. Right.

Yeah. So they ended up going. And then fast forward to January. of 2024. It was my, the last time we had spoke to them, I want to say, last time I had spoke to them was January, I want to say the 16th, they're on my dad's birthday, because it's my dad's birthday, then my grandpa's birthday, then my grandma's birthday, and my aunt's birthday. All in a row. So everyone's on the same week. We had called them, said happy birthday. And then, you know, weekends went by where my dad would call them up until February on Sundays, but I wouldn't be

home. I'd be at work. Um, so it was the week of Valentine's Day. So that Sunday before was, what, like February 11th? My dad had tried to call them and nobody answers. And my dad's like, okay, that's weird because usually, like, they'll call back. We never got to call back. My dad's like, okay, maybe it's because that weekend is like Mardi Gras in Portugal. Like, it's carnival weekend. Like, everyone's out.

Everyone's at the churches, like doing things. So my dad was like, okay, like, I'll just call them next Sunday. Like, no big deal. Wednesday comes around. I think that was, if I'm getting my days right, it was Valentine's Day. Okay. And my dad's cousin, Isaac, he had called them. He lives over there.

He's an EMT over there. He had called them just checking up because he lived around the corner so he would, you know, just see if they needed anything. Nobody answers, okay, this is a cousin that we're very distant with. We weren't close at the time. Friday comes along. I'll never forget. I wasn't sleeping at home. I was out sleeping somewhere.

And my mom calls me at 8 a.m. like repeatedly and I'm like okay like you know she knows I'm not home like why are you calling me at 8 a.m that's so weird knowing that I closed the bar the past week the past day you know and I woke up and I'm like hello my mom's hyperventilating like couldn't even get a word out and I'm like hello like hello and she's like the Tiana and I'm like yes like what's going on like I instantly like heart dropped to my stomach I was like something's wrong yeah like you know you know and she's just like you need to go find your dad. And I'm like, what are you talking about? I'm thinking my dad's a truck driver. So I'm like, holy shit, like dad probably got into a car accident. Like he probably flipped

the truck. Like, you know, just so many things are running through your head in that moment. And I'm like, mom, like, why? Like, what's going on? Like, you need to tell me. And she just like is panicking. Like, you couldn't even get a word out of her. Now, is it her parents or your dad's my dad's parents? Okay. So I'm over here like, okay, she's like, and she just kept repeating, you need to go find your dad. You need to go find your dad. I'm like, okay, mom, I'm the only one that has a location. So I'm like, okay, like, I'm going to go see where I can find him. And I'm like, but what's going on? I'll never forget. I was getting out of the bed and walking to go see my friend that I was with at the time. And I'm leaving the room and my mom's like, your grandparents

were found dead. And I was like, what? And I'll never forget. It's like weakness just went through my body and I fell. And I'm like, what are you talking about? She's like, both your grandparents were found dead in their home this morning. And I was like, what? Like, what are you talking about? And I just lost words. Like, I broke down for maybe not even a minute. Like, everything came out. And then I just heard my mom again say, you need to go find your dad. And I instantly was like, okay, I'm going.

And it's like I snapped back. Like, I was just like, okay, like I was on go time. Like, let me go find him. Like, you know, he's by himself in a dump truck in the middle of nowhere, you know, dropping off dirt or whatever he was dropping off. But, you know, he's by himself. And I'll never forget the drive there. I'm like driving down the highway.

just like, fuck, like there's no way. Like, someone has to be joking with me at this point, you know? Like, this can't be true. It also just, like, doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. Yeah. Because they were healthy. My grandmother was 74.

My grandpa was 81. But, like, they were full of life. Like, I'm not even kidding. My grandma, you talk to her at, like, a restaurant. She sees, like, a fine man. She's going to be like, yeah, that's my man. Like, in front of my grandpa. Like, she was just all, like, shits and giggles.

Like, didn't care. And my grandpa, like, he was a very tiny man. five foot, very petite, like just a cutie. He just would laugh. Like, he was just there, you know? So they had full of life, no illnesses. I mean, they were healthy. So I'm over here, like, processing my head, like, what the hell happened?

You know, like, because we're not there. It's eight hour flight away, you know? Like, what could have possibly happened for this to occur, you know? And I remember getting to my dad. And my dad is, like, in his truck and he gets out and I'm just, he just, I can't even explain his face. Like, it was just broken. And somebody had already told him. Yeah. So I asked, so then, you know, I didn't know who had called. Yeah. So I had asked my dad. I'm like, what happened? And he's like, Isaac called me. And mind you, my dad has probably spoken to this cousin,

maybe like two or three times in his life. He's a younger cousin. And I'm just like, what do you mean? I'm like, you know, at the time, I didn't even know who Isaac was. So I was like, who's Isaac? And my dad's like my cousin, like you don't know him, but he's this and this is like little brother. And I'm like, okay, so what happened? My dad was like, he called me and I thought it was weird that he was calling me so early because the time difference, 8 a.m. here is like 1 p.m. over there. Time difference. I'm not even doing math correctly, but like five hours, six hour difference. My dad was like, I thought it was strange that he was calling me so many times. So I answered. And he told me that he was outside of the house and they walked in and grandpa and grandma were dead.

And I was just like, what? And my dad's like, I thought he was calling me to tell me they were like an accident. Because, you know, he's an EMT. Yeah. Not that they were found dead in their home, you know. So my dad couldn't talk to the whole right home. Like he just was breaking down. It was a very silent 45-minute drive home.

We get home. My sisters are home. My uncle's there. My dad and his brother are the only two kids. 11 year age difference. So my dad's the older brother. So he took it very hard. We get there and, you know, we're just all trying to figure out like, what the fuck happened, you know, because nobody has any explanation for us.

So eventually, Isaac ends up calling my dad after we're a little bit more like calm down and he's like, I'm going to explain to you like what had happened of what we know. So it's my grandmother's house and then there's a lady that lives in front. Her name's Amelia. She's my grandma's best friend. I mean, they've known each other way before my dad and my uncle were born. So on Fridays, she would go and help my grandma clean the house because she's a little younger. So she has more like strength. So she would go on Fridays to help.

She had went that Friday morning. She was knocking on the doors and nobody was answering. And she was like, what the hell? Like it's 9 o'clock in the morning. Why isn't anybody answering? My grandparents were early birds. Yeah. So she ends up popping like the fence.

It's like a gated house or whatever. So she ends up popping the fence. She's banging on all the doors. Nobody's answering. she finally comes around to one of the windows. And she peeks in. It's the closet, my grandma's closet. And she sees my grandma's legs.

And she's like, oh, my God, she collapsed. Like, instant thought. Like, oh, my God, she fell down, you know, because you can't see a face. So she had called, you know, the EMTs. And she was like, you guys need to hurry up. I think she collapsed. So that's how Isaac comes into it. Yes.

Okay. So then, you know, she's continuously banging. She's like, but wait, like, where's Antonio, which was my grandpa's name? She's like, that's so strange. Like, he would have been the one answering the door. Why isn't anybody answering? And then she had called back and she was like, no, I think you guys need to hurry up. Because in Portugal, they take like 20 minutes to get to you.

They're not very urgent. So she was like, you guys have to hurry up because I think something is actually really wrong because the husband isn't answering the door either, you know? So eventually they come. God knows how long it took them. They end up breaking one of the doors down. And from what Isaac told us, he was. wasn't allowed in the house physically because once they put two and two together, they're like,

no, this is your aunt's house. Like, you can't go in, but you can stay outside. He said they weren't even in there for more than like a minute. They walked in. They came out and they're like, there's nothing we can do. So how long had you not spoken to them again in between? I didn't speak to them for a few weeks. My dad didn't speak to them for one weekend, which was the weekend prior. And he had tried to call, right? Try to call them that Sunday. Yeah. Okay. Were they okay? then? So nobody answers. So from the back story, you know, we asked the neighbors when we got there like, hey,

you know, when's the last time they were seen? And Amelia was like, well, I saw them Sunday. There was the party up the street. It's a very close range as to where everything is. She was like, they were up there. They went and had lunch. My grandma has three dogs. They are her kids.

Okay. They're so spoiled. Sundays, she would buy them like a whole grilled chicken and feed it to them. She was like, she bought the chicken. she was walking home. And as I saw her before she went in the house, she stopped by Amelia and was like, hey, like, you know, me and Antonio are going to go to the bank in the city. Red flag because that was very random. But I need to ask you a favor.

And Amelia is like, okay, like, what is it? And she's like, if anything happens to me, promise me you'll take care of my dogs. And Amelia is like, what are you talking about? Like, you know, thinking, okay, my grandma is supposed to have hip surgery the week. after, she's like, Maria, what are you talking about? You're just having hip surgery. Like, you're going to be fine. Like, you're being dramatic. And, you know, that's what Amelia thought. Like, okay, maybe she's just overthinking her surgery, you know? And my grandma was very adamant. She was like, no, promise me you'll take care of my dogs. And Emily's like, okay, but like, is

anything wrong? And my grandmother was so good at hiding, like, the truth. Like, she could really put in, like, a straight face and you would never tell, like, if she was lying or not. And she was like, no, everything's fine, like, just promise me you'll keep that promise. Like, because, you know, my dogs are like my world, you know? And I'm always like, okay, like, I'll do it. Like, you know, like, whatever. I'm not going to fight you on it. And my grandma's like, okay, like, see you later. And they proceeded to go home. That had to be around maybe three, three, four o'clock in the afternoon for my grandfather to drive after 4 p.m. Very rare. Because, you know, he's at an old age. He hated driving at night, even when he lived here, you know, it was very not like them.

So Amelia was like, I didn't think anything of it. I just thought, you know, they were going to go to the bank and they were going to come back home. From Sunday, they were never seen until they were found on Friday, which is like, it's something that pissed me off too because it's like all the neighbors around there, they're so nosy. They're in everybody's business. They walk past everybody's house to see who has guests over, who's doing what. And it's like one thing that the dogs did, it's like an open patio, right?

They tore up all the couches, newspapers, anything they found, they tore it up. And it's like they were signaling somebody to come. Nobody noticed that the blinds were never open. The blinds are like a wooden panel. It's very old school. Nobody opened the windows in a week, almost a week, you know? No one noticed the red flags. And it's just like everybody is usually nosy until it was actually necessary.

to be nosy. So they weren't found up until Friday. So even till this day, we don't know the time frame of how long they were dead for. We just know they were last seen on Sunday, and then they were found basically five days later, you know. So backing up to when the paramedics went in, they came out and they were just like, no, it's, they're long gone. And Isaac's like, okay, and that's all Isaac knows, and that's all he had told my dad. He was like, that's all I know. They won't tell me anything.

You know, like the FBI, their form of FBI agents are there. And, you know, the police are there. Like, you know, they're going to investigate. So my dad's like, okay, I guess we'll just see you tomorrow. Because me and my dad were first flight next day. And so we're watching the Portuguese news because, of course, something like that so bad happening. Everyone's going to be nosy. Yeah.

News reporters came. I'll never forget. The first time we saw it on the news, It was a picture of them. And they had said the first storyline was that they had committed suicide. And I was like, excuse me, my grandparents were very religious. Like, I'm talking about my grandma worked in the churches all my life. My grandfather's Bible was like this big.

Like, I'm talking about very religious, okay? They would never do such a thing. And I was like, no, no, no. So my mom's best friend had reached out to the reporter and was like, you need to take that story down. Because why are you making something? something up like that. Like, that is very malicious. Like, why would you do that?

She was like, oh, it's just something that we heard from the neighbors. What? Right. Like, you know, that makes no sense. She ended up taking it down. Then a few hours later, they post the picture again. They're like, oh, yeah, it was a gas leak. And I'm like, what's the point of just like?

Exactly. Making up stories. Yeah, I guess because they figure people want answers and it's just easier, but still. But it's just like you're kind of just making everyone spiral at this. Right. You know. And especially it's not fair to the family. Not at all.

Even to the point where no one, not even the cops had contacted us. No one had contacted us while they're doing all this. If it wasn't for Isaac being our family, we would have never known. Yeah. God knows how long, you know. Probably until you saw the news. Yeah. And it's crazy because then the second story of the gas leak, they had said that Amelia said that she smelled gas.

She was like, Tadiana, I never smoked gas when I went over to the house. She was like, so I don't. so I don't know where they got that from. So it's like not only are you lying about a story, but you're lying on people's names. You know what I mean? Like that's just not right. Then my mom's best friend talks to the lady again,

and she's like, what are you doing? Like really, what are you doing? She's like, oh, that's just, you know, what the firefighters told us? And it's just like, okay, that's the third story. Like, whatever. Third story comes out, it was carbon monoxide poisoning. And this is the story that they stuck with. And I'm just like, okay,

Like at this point, like, I'm ready to go there. Like, I need to see it with my own eyes. Because at this point, it's too many, too many words in the pot. Like, what are we doing? You know? We end up getting there the next day. You would think, okay, two people are found dead in their home. You would think the house is going to be taped off.

Yeah. Like, no one's, no. After they removed their bodies, the house was open to the public. Whoever wanted to walk in there was allowed to walk in there. And it's kind of just like, you know, seeing how crime scenes are dealt with here. and over there, it's two different worlds. Like, they don't give a shit over there. Yeah.

You know? Were you guys allowed to request an autopsy? So we did. Okay. We only got it back, like, last month. And it's been a year in, like, two months. So there's just, like, no sense of urgency over there? No.

Not at all. Zero. Mm-hmm. Especially when you're an older person. Yeah. You're just swept under the rug. Like, they don't care at all. They're just like, oh, you're old.

Like, you know, no one really cares. about you. But they kind of messed with the wrong family. Because I was in like fight or flight mode. Yeah. Like once I landed, getting to the house, I was like, why the fuck is the door open? Like, where is everybody? You know, and Ameli is there guarding the house. But, you know, she's a little old lady. And the doors weren't even locked? So the door that they had broke, like it was a glass door. So that's really hard to replace. So, you know, we had to wait. Because once you, when you're in Portugal, I know a lot of foreign countries do this. When you die, your oldest child in, immediately becomes head of household of everything you own.

So you can only do anything with the head of household. Okay. So we had to wait until my dad got there to get permission to do X, Y, and Z. When we got there, we walked in the house. My dad was like, Tithina, I can't do it. Like, he walked in for like two seconds and he walked right out. He was like, I can't be in here. And I was like, okay, then I'll do it.

You know, my dad is, he has a very sensitive spot with me. Like, he's very close to my heart. Not my favorite parent, but I definitely feel more for him. him. You know, my mom's tough. Like, she's just like, whatever, you know. My dad's very sensitive. So I was like, okay, dad, like, you know, I'll bite the bullet. I'll go through the house. Like, you just stay outside. Walking in the house, it was, it was weird because it was just, it happened right at the entrance. So you walk in the front door and here's a restroom and then here's the closet. So both doors, like, kind of look at each other. My grandfather was found

dead on the toilet with a mask on his face. space. He had obviously, you know, used the bathroom. And he had thrown up in a bucket next to him. So obviously something was going on to the point where he, things were coming out of both ends, you know, which is like, how rare is that bizarre? Yeah, that doesn't happen. Okay. So I'm like, okay, weird. Where my grandmother was literally, they kind of died looking at each other because she had collapsed and she was like in an L shape and her head was like at the point of the door. She had foam coming out of her mouth when they like dried up foam there was a lot of like liquids so she had to like collapse and just die instantly um my grandfather i'm assuming he was sick so then you know i'm thinking of this

i'm seeing the mark on the floor i'm seeing how the bathroom is you know what i mean the smell like it's just it's so many things going on and like homes there don't have like centralized units and that's like i feel traumatizing to a certain no it was it was traumatizing and all of that stuff at once It's just knowing it's from your family. Yeah, it was a big shock. I feel like I went into, I felt like I closed out my emotions in that time. Hey, I'm Jeremy Schwartz from American Criminal. On this season, robbery gone wrong or cold-blooded murder.

Either way, Boston will never be the same. Listen to American Criminal, the murder of Carol Stewart, wherever you get your podcasts. Or to get early ad free access, subscribe in Apple Podcast. Spotify or at Americancriminal.com. Because I felt like I've never been the type to cry in front of my family, speak about my feelings. I'm very, like, closed off. Yeah.

But I feel like because it was my dad's, like, you know, it affected him. I was like, no, I have to, like, be the big person and, like, you know, do this for him. Like, I have to take care of things for him, you know, and just let him really feel the feels. I can deal with my feelings later. Yeah. You know. But seeing it, it. It was just the house is cold.

There's no heater because everything's like fireplace or just no AC at all. You just have the windows open, you know? And I'm over here like, okay, like I'm walking around the house. I'm like, okay, what's standing out to me? There was a cup of wine that wasn't finished between their two little like lazy boy chairs where they would watch TV. It was like three quarters finished. One thing about my grandparents, they always shared one cup.

Like anywhere they went. They'd be like, no, we'll just drink out of one cup and share it, you know? And I'm like, oh, that's so cute. So I saw the wine glass and I'm like, okay, they probably had wine, you know, and went into their rooms. They slept in separate beds because, you know, they snored and they don't want to bother anybody's sleep. Both beds are unmade. One thing about my grandparents, clean freaks.

I'm talking about OCD, like, would never leave the house or even get out of their room first before making their bed. And I'm just like, okay, this is weird. Like, this gives me they got up in a hurry, you know? And on top of that, my grandmother can not see without her glasses And her glasses were on her pillow still And I'm just like, okay Like I'm trying to like put pieces together

Like what the fuck happened that night? Because it had to be at night They died in their pajamas Right? I'm just like, okay, that's odd Because they never stayed in them. Like once they got up, they changed And it was to continue the day.

They died in their pajamas. So I was like, okay, it had to happen either Sunday night or Monday night. But I'm leaning more towards Sunday because no one saw any movement on Monday which is weird. So I'm like, okay, they probably went to bed Sunday. They probably had a glass of wine. Now what's next? Like what else could have possibly happened? You know? I'm going through the house and one thing that stood up, stood out to me. My grandmother has the three or four. I think it's four deep

freezers. Okay. Mind you, my dad was just there previously in September. Those freezers were filled with food. When I went and looked at them, they were empty. The only thing that was in one of those freezers was my grandfather's birthday cake. And I was like, where the fuck is all the food? Like, they're not starving. Like, you know what I mean? This was just packed like five months ago, five, six, seven, eight, whatever how many months ago, you know? Like, that's so weird. And I immediately ran outside to tell my dad, I'm like, dad, there's no food in this house. My dad's like, what are you talking about, Tadviana? Like, my grandma was always known to have her house. I mean, whose grandmother doesn't?

Yeah, just stocked up. Yeah. Not even water bottles. No, my family loves Coca-Cola. No soda, no beers, nothing. Just that one glass of wine that I found. Everything else is empty. And I'm like, okay, this is very weird.

Like, very unlike them, like, what really happened? So I end up going through the rest of the house. You know, I'm just like, okay, like, what else stands up to me? In that moment, I feel like I was just too, how do I explain it? I was too blank. Like I was just like, okay, I've had enough for today. Can't do it. I'll be back tomorrow, you know?

So we went home. We ended up staying at a hotel because my dad's like, I can't stay anywhere near this house. Like, I just can't do it. And when you walked in the house, you would feel like a very strong energy. Like, I can't. I get too many, like, spiritual energies that I can feel. And it's like when you walked in that house, it was not only because it was cold, it's like you could feel something like telling you to get out.

Mm-hmm. You know? And when you were there in the past, you never felt that. Never felt that. It's like something was trying to talk to me, and I couldn't, like, pick signs up, you know? The next day, you know, I catch up on my sleep because jet lag was really bad. I go there first thing in the morning. My dad, same thing.

He's like, I thought the eye can't be here. And I'm like, okay, that's fine. I'll go through things. I'll go through their clothes, see what I can find. Our main priority was to see what was stolen. What could have been stolen out of the house? My grandparents had so much gold. My grandmother had, she was a jewelry person, like, loved it.

And I'm like, okay, she had her prized possessions, let me find them. Girl, I could not find them that first day. I was like, there's no way. There's no way I can't find it. Because she was really good at hiding things. And I was like, okay, maybe tomorrow I'll find them. But that whole day, I'm like running through their clothes. I'm talking about going through every single pocket of every gene, like anything that I could find I was going through.

couldn't really find much and I'm like, damn, like, this is weird. Because usually, like, my grandma would have, like, a few bucks here, maybe, like, a few hundreds over there, like, just hidden in different spots. Couldn't find anything. So I'm like, okay, like, were they robbed, you know? But the cops said there was no forced entry. I'm like, okay, during that time, during the first two days, one of my dad's cousins, we're going to name him Mark, because I can't say his actual name.

He, very weird guy, not a fan of him, never married, don't got no kids, doesn't have friends, very awkward. When you're around him, you're just like, you know, gives you an off feeling. He, the second day, was just, oh my God, just too much, too much, was following us around everywhere. And I'm just like, okay. And I'll never forget that day, the first day, no, the second day that I was in the house by myself. My dad's like, Dati, I'm going to be up at the cafe, which is literally like, you can see it from the house. He's like, I'm going to go drink a beer, like, you do what you got to do. I'm like, okay, I'm going to leave the door open because the doors there aren't a knob.

You just have to open it with a key. I was like, don't take the keys because then you'll lock me inside. And if I lock you from outside, then how am I going to know you're here? Yeah. You know? So I was like, I'll just leave the door cracked. I'm going through my grandmother's room at this point. And my back is against the door.

And I'm like going through her dresser. And I don't know what told me to turn around, but instantly, like, I turned around and there's Mark right behind me. No, hello, no, hey, I'm here, just staring at me. And I'm like, hello? I'm like, you couldn't announce yourself. Yeah, like, how long you've been standing there? And he's just like, oh, no, Tati, I was just checking. And I was like, checking for what?

Yeah. He's like, oh, no, like, just seeing. And I'm like, okay. I'm like, can you leave? You know, because this is my time. Like, you have no right to be in here. at all, you know. He's like, okay, I'm leaving. I was like, oh, okay. We end up going to dinner that night, just me and my dad, and guess who shows up unannounced? Mark does. He's like, oh,

like, you know, can I join you guys? And me and my dad are just like, okay. Like, this is a cousin like my dad's familiar with, but we've always had a very eerie feeling about him. My grandmother fucking hated him. Okay. So he didn't have any type of, like, close relationship? No, he was my grandfather's nephew. So when my grandfather's sister passed away, because Mark doesn't have any family, my grandfather felt the need to, like, take him in as a son, essentially, this grown-ass man. God knows why. So we were, I wasn't close.

My dad had been with him a few times, but my dad was always like, yeah, he's just whatever, you know. So we end up having dinner together and it's just like, okay, like, you know, I don't suspect anything. Like, he's just weird, so whatever. The next day, same routine. I'm going through the house again. I'm just like, okay, every day I'm just going to keep going to see what pops up. And every drawer that I had looked at the day before, something new appeared the next day. Like, there was this one chain that I was looking for that had a pro.

I'm not even wearing it today, but I have it. I was looking for it. The first day and the second day, couldn't find it. The third day in the same drawer, because I kept repeating my steps, like following them again, it would show up. or like the same jeans that I had just went in through, like the past day, I would find like $100 in there or like $20 here. And I'm just like, am I crazy? Yeah.

You know, like, things were just showing up. And I'm like, there's no way. And like my mom's very like spiritual. So she's like, who knows? Maybe your grandma's like placing things for you to find them, you know? And I don't know, just her telling me that kind of gave me some warmth. Like I'm like, okay. So I would like talk in the house by myself.

I'm like, okay, grandma, like can you put things where like I can find things? because this is hard and it's cold in here, you know? And the third day of me going through the house with the idea of carbon monoxide, right? I'm like, okay, let me look at the fireplace. Fireplace hadn't been used. So I'm just like, there's no way. Yeah. You know, there's just no way. Where would it have come from? There's not even a stove, a gas stove in the primary house. It's in an outside kitchen. So there's no way of any type of carbon monoxide growing in that house. Did they say that they tested for that or they just? No, they just assumed.

Okay. Yeah. They said because of the way they, the condition of their bodies were, that it was carbon monoxide. Okay. And how they didn't think it was odd, like where they died? Mm-hmm. Exactly. And I had told them, so the third day after I went through the house and found a few things,

my dad was like, okay, we're going to go to the detectives or whatever. And I was like, okay, let's go. We went. At first, they let me in the room until they, like, kicked me out and just kept my dad. But I had asked them, I was like, how are you going to say it's carbon monoxide poisoning? By the way, they died when a carbon monoxide poisoning, it's a silent killer. If you were asleep, you would have stayed asleep. You would be in a coma.

And then your organs, your body would just slowly shut down. I was like, you would not get out of bed, let alone walk that far across the house. They were like, no, it was carbon monoxide poisoning. And I'm like, but how do you know that? So at this point they weren't investigating it. No. They were just like, no, it was carbon monoxide poisoning? and that's it. They try to close the case right then and there. And I'm just like, there's no way.

Like, how are you going to sit here and tell us that it was one thing? If you haven't even tested for it, you know? And they were just like, oh, you know, we have better cases to work on. And I was like, excuse me? Like, oh, no, yeah, we have like bigger cases that are more important that need to be worked on. Like, your case is basically closed. Like, okay, that's a smack in the face. Yeah. You know? Eventually they had kicked me out of the room and they're just like, no, we need to speak to your dad, like, you know, since he's the son, like, we'll just speak to him. And I'm like, okay. And at this time, we didn't know they were interrogating anybody, but they had interrogated Amelia. And they had told her that we thought she was a person of interest.

And we're just like, well, she comes out. I'm sitting outside, you know, waiting for my dad. And here she comes shivering, like crying, like panic attack. And she's like, Tatiana, you thought I did something and I'm over here like what like what are you talking about she's like they just told me that you guys thought that I did something and I was like what I was like no never right like never in a million years what I have thought that she did something you know what I mean and she was like no that's what they told me like they interrogated me and thought and they were trying to blame me for something so I'm over here like okay if they're trying to say it's carbon monoxide poisoning why are you interrogating people it doesn't make any sense yeah it like does not add up at all so I had

stormed back in there and I was just like so you're interrogating people but you're saying it's carbon monoxide poisoning so what is it because it's not making any sense if it's carbon monoxide poisoning okay cool there's no you know there's no suspects no people of interest to look into but here you are questioning her just because she knocked on the door and called you guys and lying saying that you guys that we said it suspecting her you know and they were just like oh no like that's not true like kind of just like dismissing me at this point and I'm just like you know what before I end up saying something that will get me in trouble. Let me just walk out, pull down.

And I went and spoke to her and I was like, Amelia, never in a million years. Like, at this point, I see you as, like, my grandmother. Like, you were her closest person here, you know? Right. We end up squashing that. Moving on. She ends up going home.

And I'm just like, Amelia, you know, we'll pass by your house later and, like, talk to you. Like, just calm down because we didn't want her to have, like, a heart attack or something, you know? Yeah. But I had to, like, assure her that we never would have thought that it was her. So it gets to the point where my dad is just like, okay, like, you know, do you guys have any other people of interest that you're looking into?

And they're like, no. And my dad's like, okay. So we left that day, right? And we're just like, okay, like, who could have possibly, like, had access to them? Long and behold, Mark is the only person that has keys to every door of that house. And we didn't know this until, like, the second, third day. And that day when we had put two and two together, we were just like, what the fuck? Like, he has keys, you know?

And my dad had met up with him that night. It was just like, Mark, you need to give me the keys to my house. Mark's like, no, it's my house. I'm not giving you the keys. I can open the door for you, but I'm not giving you my keys. And my dad's like, no, you need to give me my keys. And he's just like, no, they're my keys. Because technically your dad would own it now.

Yeah. He's trying to claim that it's for him because he was basically the son that lived in Portugal. But it's like they're not even your parents. Right. You know? And it was, I'm not even kidding. I remember just watching this whole conversation. It was like maybe an hour and a half of fighting about these keys.

And mind you, this man is half the height of my dad. I just told my dad, I was like, why don't you just beat his ass? Because at this point, it's like you're making it hard. Like, why are you being like this? Clearly, like, there's something that you don't want us to know you're holding back. Because if you were really genuine, you'd be like, oh, here's the keys to your house. Like, you know what I mean? Like, not, why are you putting up a fight?

Yeah. It was just very, like, passive aggressive, like, what's going on? instant red flag. We go to sleep that night. And the next morning I, I, like, woke up my dad and I was like, no, something's not right. I was like, something about him is, like, driving me nuts. He's showing up everywhere that we're at. He shows up at the house unannounced.

He made a fight over the keys, for God's sake, and said that it's his house, knowing damn right, it's not his house. You know? So my dad was like, something's weird. Like, I don't want to be around him. I don't want to be near him. My dad's like, okay, like, you know, if we see him, you know, I'll just tell him to leave. I'm like, okay, cool. That same day, back to the routine, I went back to the house.

I, like, drove myself crazy for two weeks going through this house until my sisters got there because they didn't end up getting there until like two days before the funeral. So every day I was going to the house and every single day after that day after the keys were found, he would show up while I was in that house by myself. The same exact day would just show up behind me. And I'm just like... Would he ever try to talk to or say anything? No, he would never announce himself.

And then he'd be like, I'm just looking at what you're doing. So just hovering. Yeah. And I'm just like, for what? Like, what do you need? Do you need something? Yeah. Like, do you need food or something?

Because there's none here. Would he leave? He would leave after I would tell him to leave. But, like, if I wouldn't have, like, there was one day where I was just like, I was so out of it. I was mentally drained. I didn't even feel like talking that day. I saw him and I just walked right past him.

And he just kept hovering around me until I snapped at him. I was like, can you get the fuck away from me? Mm-hmm. Because it's just like, now you're following me. Like, you can be in the house. house, cool, I don't care. It's so uncomfortable. But stop following me around the house when it's just me and you, and I don't even know

you like that to begin with. It's also just, like, disrespectful to the family. Like, it's just like, what do you want? Yeah. You know? So I got to the point where my dad had confronted him. It was just like, you need to leave the gun alone. Like, stop showing up to the house.

Stop showing up unannounced because you're making her uncomfortable. Yeah. It's getting out of hand at this point. And he took it so offensively. And my dad was, like, nice about it, you know? Like, hey, just, you know, give her her space. like she's going through it, you know, very nice. I wouldn't have said it that way, but, you know, I give my dad props.

But he took it offensively and then stopped coming near us completely. And I was just like, okay, like, I didn't mean it that way, but like at least announce yourself when you're coming by, you know? Yeah. Because I'm already shit scared being in this house by myself. It's cold. The energy's weird. Like, I'm traumatized.

I'm trying to think about what happened in this house. And here you are showing up unannounced. Like, of course it's going to scare me and make me uncomfortable, you know? So he ended up not talking to us, the remainder of the trip. I was there for three weeks. So eventually my sisters get there and my uncle gets there. It's just them three that get there. And we're like, okay, you know, like the funeral is going to be, I can't even remember

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that not only has some flavor, but it doesn't have any added sugar. It will hydrate me and give me all of the nutrients basically that I need when drinking water. And these electrolytes have done just that for me. Not only do they taste so good, but the hydration is completely on another level. If you're tired of feeling depleted and want to finally nourish your body the right way, now's the time. Get 20% off plus a free rechargeable frother and glass speaker with my exclusive link. Peeklife.com slash insane. That's P-I-Q-U-E-Life.com slash I-N-S-A-N-E. Do not sleep on this. Your body and your skin will thank you. So, you know, leading up to the funeral, you know, we went back to the house so that my sisters can see it. My uncle can see it. Obviously,

it's like cleaned up and not like how it was when I got there. And they, I guess because it was cleaned up, it didn't. I don't know how it affected them because honestly none of us have talked about it. We're not really good at talking about like how we feel. Like do we have moments? Yeah. But like how it had affected us? No.

Like nobody knows how I feel about it. You know, and it's so bad. I mean, now they probably will. But, you know, it was weird. Like they were just like, okay. Like, you know, it's not that bad. in here, the door was fixed. Everything was cleaned. All the marks were clean. The only thing that wasn't, I could not get off the floor was the spot on the wood where my grandmother's fluids

were coming out. That stain could not come out. So it's just there. So I was like, whatever, you know, like, this is where grandma died. This is where grandpa died. You know, this is the house, you know? Like, I don't know how to tell you guys, but this is where it happened. And everyone just kind of, it was like a moment of silence. Like, you know, I was already comfortable in there. Like, I was like, okay, I've been here for two weeks. Yeah, and by yourself. Yeah, like, I'm already comfortable being in here. But it hit them when they got there.

And then that day, we just took the time to, like, go through pictures and, like, who was taking what? Like, who wanted to keep this item from the house? Like, because there's a lot of cute things that we all brought back home. So then, you know, fast forward, we're, like, spending time together. We eventually go to the funeral. And at this point, we still don't know anything. No answers. No investigations are going on.

from what they said, oh, backtrack. When they went through the house, they said they took samples of things. There's no samples taken of anything. I know that because there was like a plate of food. It was like pasta, but it was like molded because obviously days went by. Yeah. It wasn't touched. You would think like they would take a piece of the pasta.

They would like take the cup to see who like touched it. Nothing. They didn't take anything in the house. They just took the bodies and left. So fast forward to the funeral. I remember waking up so early. I think it was like 7 a.m. It was a drag, I remember, because it was raining.

It was cold. We're all getting ready. And we, how it works is the like viewing in the funeral is like at the same time in the church. And they were just like, okay, like you guys get 30 minutes before anybody can go in to see the bodies. And we're like, okay. So we get there. And my dad has these. they're like second, third cousins.

I don't know what the hell they are. It's like a mom and her two daughters. I can't stand them. I've always gotten a bad vibe from them because whenever there was times where I would FaceTime my grandmother. She'd be like, oh, look who's here? Like, the girls are here. And they would just, like, I could tell they were bribing my grandmother.

My grandmother loved shopping. But, like, they would, like, make my grandma buy them all these, like, expensive things. not like bougie stuff, but just like expensive things, make them, have them take them shopping and stuff. And I'm like, Grandma, what are you doing? So when we're like, at one point I was mad at my grandma. She'd like, they're like, they're like, they're not. Right. No. Like, no. Absolutely not. So I grew that like, I don't like you just from that, you know. So we saw them at the cafe, because the cafe is right below the church. And let me picture it. It's like my grandmother's house, the cafe, the church, and the cemeteries behind the,

backyard. So everything's pretty close. Everything's really close, like walking distance. So we're at the cafe, you know, we're having coffee in the morning. Like, we're waiting for the funeral director to let us know, like the coffins are in there. And they let us know and we're just like, okay, like we're finishing up. We'll be there in like a second. These three ladies think that their like primary family, they end up going inside before us. And I lost my shit. I walked in that church and they're over here like hovering on the coffins. And I think I blacked out in that moment because I was like, yeah, you guys need to get the fuck out of this church.

Like they're not your family. I'm so sorry. Like second, third, whatever. You weren't raised by them. Like, you just met them like two years ago. There should be no reason why you felt the need to like lack respect for us and think that you guys got like first dibs on like seeing them. Like that's so disrespectful.

Whatever. They ended up like catching a fit with me. But they got out the church, you know. And I'll never forget, like, walking into that church and seeing, like, coffin side to side, it was just traumatizing. Like, I could not cry. Like, I couldn't cry. I think it's because everyone else that I was with was crying.

It's kind of like I just kind of, like, blocked out my feelings in that moment, you know? Yeah. And seeing my dad, like, my dad is, like, breaking down on top of my grandmother's coffin. My uncle's on my grandfather. And I'm just like, fuck. It's a lot. This is like real fucking life right now. Because I think before the funeral happened, I think I was like denying it.

Like I was like, no, they're going to come back. But really seeing them like in their coffins, it was like, holy shit. Like this is not, this isn't like a dream. It's not a nightmare. Like it's not fake. This is like real life. And just hearing them cry, it's like, you know when people say like the scream of like a mother when their child dies? The scream of my dad and his and my own.

uncle at that funeral is like embedded into my brain. Like it was just so bad. And I remember the coffins, they're not open because they don't really do a good job with embalming in Portugal. So it's like a glass. So you see them through the glass type of thing. You can't touch them. And I remember I went to go look at my grandfather first.

He looked so peaceful. Like so peaceful. I was like, and I'm the one that I picked their clothes out too. So I was proud. I was like, okay, like I bought him this button up shirt. Like, he looks good. You know, he looks very much at peace. When I went and saw my grandma, I'm not even kidding.

She looked so upset. Like not, obviously, like, a dead person isn't going to look happy, but she did not look like she was at peace. Yeah. And it was, I mean, her face had swollen up. And I think it's due to, like, how she died, like, post-mortem, like, I guess all the fluids. I don't know. But she just did not look like.

herself like at all it was so bad that like shook me yeah like I was like I actually got scared like it's hard to see your loved one like that because it's them but it's not right like at all it's like very uncomfortable it's weird it's a very weird it's weird and it's like I've been to a hundred like not even hundreds but I've been to a lot of funerals in my time you know so I know what a dead person looks like I know what to expect but I have never seen anybody in the condition my grandmother was in. Like, you know, I know that they like fix your lips to make you, but she was frowning. Yeah.

Like completely frowning. And I remember looking at my sisters and I was like, no, grandma does not look happy at all. You know, like that, they didn't even bother to fix her face, which pissed me off. Because it's just like, come on, I supplied you guys with everything. Like I gave you the outfit. I brought you her nail polish. Like you guys could have like made her look good, you know? But, you know, it's the afterlife.

I mean. But I know she, like me and my sisters, we all have. like dark humor but we were just like grandma would have fucking killed somebody if she's yeah like if she knew that people saw her in that condition right you know but I mean it is what it is during the funeral I ended up doing the eulogy which is apparently not a thing in Portugal I didn't know this I did it for my own peace of mind um and I remember when I was doing it I was watching every like it's like random people in that church like people from the village I don't know anybody I just know my family and my dad's friends who flew purposely to support him, which they're real ones, love them to death.

But everyone else in that church, I didn't know a single person. I'm just like, who are these people, you know? So during the eulogy, I'm like scanning through everybody because I'm just like, no, something's wrong. Like someone in here knows something, you know? And even when like everybody was like going, you know, when like you go to the coffin, you give your condolences or whatever, I was watching every single person. right? And I'm like, okay. So I had like an image of everybody that I had saw in the church. And, you know, the funeral wraps up. We end up walking the coffins to the cemetery. And we're walking. And I'm still just eyeballing everybody because like I'm scanning on like, who's going to be pointed out to me, you know? And we get to the point where we're putting the coffins in the ground. And my dad couldn't watch it. Like he was just like, I can't do it. My uncle watched

my grandmother go in and then was like, I can't see the rest because she went in first. And so after I made sure they were like fitted correctly because they went right on top of each other, which is like weird, I know they're going to crush each other, but you know, dark humor.

But after I knew that they were like set in stone, I looked at my sisters and I was like, I'm going to go find dad. And right across the cemetery, it's like a little chapel and I saw my dad like just around the corner like hidden. I was like, okay, that's where he is. He's probably hiding. So I went up to him and I'm hugging him and, you know, he's breaking down.

He's like, I can't believe, you know, this is what we did today, you know? Yeah. And I was like, yeah, I know. Like, it fucking sucks. And he's over here smoking a cigarette at this point. We're just like looking at each other and this lady that I did not see the whole day comes around the chapel. And she's like my height, petite. And she's like, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

And I looked at her. I looked at my dad. I was like, excuse me? Like, dad, who the fuck is this? She was like, yeah, I'm talking to you. She was like, you guys should be ashamed of yourselves. And I was like, excuse me? I was like, who are you?

And at that time, I had made a go fund me to, like, support my family during that time. It wasn't even for that much. It was just for, like, necessities that we needed to get done. She was just like, you should be ashamed that you guys are asking for money when you know your grandparents had money. And I looked at her and I was like, excuse me, how do you know they have money when we don't? Because one thing about them, they were very secretive about their money. Nobody knew, not even us, like, especially my grandfather, very private with his money. And she's just like, she's like rambling.

At this point, I blacked out because I wanted to kill her. Because I just buried my grandparents, not even like 10 minutes ago and you're in my face. Calling is basically a disgrace. Yeah. And she's like, talking her shit. I remember just looking at her and plotting what I was going to do to her. And it got to the point where she looked at my dad and she was like, yeah, and I was more of a daughter to your parents than you were a son. And I looked at my dad and it's like we both like clicked and we started chasing her.

And I was going crazy. I was calling her all the names in the book in Portuguese and like asking all these like older women. I'm like, who is she? Like, who is she? Like where does she come from? Clearly she was not at the funeral because she looked like she just finished gardening at her house. Okay, full of dirt. Was she like middle age?

Yeah. Okay. Not like old like my grandparents, but definitely like around my dad's age, like 40-50s. And if she was such a child to them. How is it that none of you have seen or heard of who she is? And nobody in the community, like in the village, know who you are. Yeah. Because I asked everybody like, you know, all these older women, obviously they would go to church with my grandmother.

And I'm just like, does anybody know who she is? And everyone's like, Tatiana, we don't know who she is. And I'm like, so who the fuck is she? Like, why does she think that that was okay? So I end up blacking out maybe like 20 minutes. I'm just going crazy at this point. She ends up getting to her car before we could reach her. because my dad's, one of my dad's cousins, like, restrained him.

Another one grabbed me, preventing us from getting to her. And then I'm just, like, yelling for like 20 minutes, just going crazy. And so then it gets to the point where we're just like, okay, like, my dad's friends, I'm calming me down. They're like, kind of just let it go. Like, we're going to go get lunch. Let it go. So we all end up going to lunch.

And it's so funny. I have to put this thing because I just believe that it was like my grandma's doing. My dad ends up riding with one of his friends My dad's like, Tadiana, you take the car, you drive your sisters down And I'm like, okay, so me and my sister stayed back a little bit Like I have to really decompress before I sit at a table with people So I was like, okay, like let's just sit in the car for a little bit You know, the car was on

The thing is my dad took the key with him And it's pouring rain Nobody's answering their phones And I'm just like, no And my sister's like, yeah, that's grandma doing that She's telling you to calm the fuck down Because I was on go time Like all I was seeing was right at that

at that moment. And it was so funny. We ended up getting to lunch and everybody's just like, Tati, like what happened? Because a lot of people were confused because nobody saw that interaction. It was like there were so many people there, but nobody saw us talking to her. So it was like, is this bitch a ghost? Yeah. Like I can't be that crazy. I can't be losing my mind that much, you know? And everyone, my dad's cousin, Isaac, who's the EMT, you know, he knows everybody because he's always like helping people. He's just like, Tadthiana, I don't know who that is. And I'm like, so where the fuck did she come from? Did she give you her name?

No, nothing. Just came over there to talk her shit and ran. And I'm just like, okay, days go by and I'm on the hunt for her. Like I'm walking around this neighborhood. Don't even know where I'm going at this point. Just walking around looking for her. And she pops out for me. Yeah, I need to find her because clearly you're going to be around.

Couldn't find her. And, you know, the days go by and my sisters and my, not even my uncle, because my uncle didn't even, he ended up staying a week. He left his green card here. So that's a whole different story. But he ended up staying a week with us. My sisters ended up leaving. And my dad ends up like going to the detectives again to get more information. They're still like, yeah, we don't have anything for you. And it's just like, bro, it's been like two weeks. Like come on, you know, like two, three weeks and still nothing. No, you just have to wait for the autopsy results. And we're like, okay, how long is that going to take? I don't know, three, four, six, maybe eight months, maybe a year.

And me and my dad and my uncle are looking at them like, what? You guys don't have any sense of urgency? Like, how does that work? Oh, we took samples and then, you know, like, the samples will be tested with time. Do you know how long autopsies usually take? Here? Like three weeks. Okay.

But they keep the body while they're doing the autopsy, though. Do they not? I think they do. I think so. Yeah. I don't think the body gets released until the autopsy. is completed. Sometimes it's even less than three weeks. But, you know, me knowing that here and then over there, them telling me nearly a fucking year, I'm just like, what? Like something's

weird, right? So I'm like, okay, nothing's adding up. Like, I'm just on like detective mode. Like, I'm like, okay, this lady came up to me. Mark is weird. Like, I'm trying to add all the dots together. And I'm just like, okay, what is weird about this? Right. So I end up meeting with a whole bunch of my dad's other cousins, right? And I'm telling them this. And them I'm really closer with. They're like mostly women. So it's like I have more like reconnection with them. Yeah. And I'm telling them like what I'm thinking. And the thing that stood out to me is, okay, Mark had the keys, right? They drank a glass of wine. They got up out of bed and they were sick. The only thing that possibly makes sense is being poisoned. That's what I was thinking too.

the only thing that makes sense. And the fact that the cops are sitting here saying there was no forced entry, well, duh, Mark had keys to the house. So what I'm assuming is that Mark probably went over that night, Sunday night, and was like, hey, like, Aunt Uncle, like, I have a bottle of wine. My grandparents loved wine. Easy enough. Probably put something in that bottle. He probably didn't drink that night. Had them drinking, was like, okay, like, you know, I'm going to head home. went home and I'm assuming they like went to bed and they woke up God knows what time felt bad you know what they say like some poisons like when I did my research on this I went down and rabbit hole in my sisters when two people consume the same amount of poison at the same time

one person ends up lasting just a little bit longer than the other if that makes sense like depending on like your immune system and how your body works and we all like sat down and talked about it and we were just like I like we all believed that my grandfather felt sick first and my grandmother was probably yeah he probably because he was the one that it was going through right yeah he was going through it and we were just like okay like he probably felt bad first and then my grandmother probably had gone up and this is one thing that we didn't notice until I mean I noticed when I found it I have found their phones but I didn't like until the third week I didn't really touch their phones I don't know why.

It just never clicked. My grandmother had a flip phone, and my grandpa had an iPhone, the one that we had bought him. The flip phone, no SIM card in it. And my grandfather's iPhone has a six-digit pass code that I cannot get into to save my life. I think I've locked it out for like a thousand hours because every time I get that it unlocks, I like try again. And it adds to the time. It just adds to the count. So I've given up.

But it's like he was. He wasn't text savvy. Like there's no way he could learn how to put a password on a phone at all, nor did he want one. All he knew how to do on that iPhone was FaceTime, take a picture, and the call, like to call people. That's all he knew how to do. He didn't even know how to text. So how could he possibly put a password on his phone?

And why is there no SIM card and my grandmother's flip phone? So my theory is she probably got up, went to try and call for help. And then she was like, okay, like the fuck is going on with the phone. She probably went to her closet. She ended up dying with one of her favorite jackets next to her. And it's like this jacket that she even wore here. So when I heard that she grabbed that sweater, I lost it. Because I was like, oh, my God, like that was her go-to little cardigan.

And that's how I knew. I was like, yeah, she definitely was trying to run out and get help. Because the way she was at, it's like she was trying to leave the closet and she just collapsed. Yeah. And that's right by the door. Like literally, like, rooms right here. doors are here. Like not even that, maybe like four steps. And she just never made it out the closet. So possibly, it would be that what? These people, Mark, maybe this other woman maybe, found out that

your grandparents had money. And see, I guess my confusion is why would they be going to the bank? Like an announcement, like how would they, like, I wonder what major grandparents say that. Yeah. That's my thing. And I asked Emily, I was like, did you ever see them leave, though? She was like, that they know, because I was like, she lives in the basement of her house. So she was like, I didn't really, I can't see anything from like where I live in my house.

She was like, so I didn't really notice that they left or not. It's just so weird that I feel like your grandma would say. I mean, and there are, I've heard stories where sometimes people just say that because they just happen to say it. They get the urge to. And it's like in your mind or. spirit, you kind of know your time's coming, even if she didn't actually have a reason to say that. But it is weird.

Like if, like to announce the bank thing and then that, especially if they never usually did. I definitely think that they were threatened in some kind of way because turns out that lady, so this is, I found this out months after I was back home. The lady that came up to us at the cemetery, she's the head of the police station. Yeah. And my grandparents are buried right next to her dead husband. So how did you find that out? So Isaac ended up investigating because he remembered her face.

Okay. And he was like, no, I have to find out who she is. But she's like so deep into her office that nobody really knows who she is unless you like really work for the like that police department or whatever. And he was like, no, like I had to find out and I ended up finding out who she was. And I was like, and she lives down the street. And I was like, interesting. Yeah. And guess who she's besties with?

Mark, they're close friends. And I was like, oh, isn't that ironic? That's why he never got interrogated because they would have refused to interrogate him. They would say that they had no reason. One of the last times they tried to go up to him and ask him like, hey, can we just question you? And he's like, I'm not a part of that family. But when they first died, you were telling everybody, my uncle, my aunt, like, my uncle, my aunt. And now you're not family.

you know and of course they're not going to bug him about it they just kind of let him go right i'm just like okay whatever i guess you know there's only so much we can do you know because we don't really know the laws out there as well as they do it's just so different you know and did you ever figure out about the food nope like why would someone steal food so here's something we ended up learning and i ended up going back to portugal this past september and we had visited visited my grandmother's best friend who, like, she lives in America. Like, she does six months here, six months here. Okay. So we end up going to see her for the first time. And she told my dad, she was like, you know your mom had a backpack of $50,000 in it, right? In the house. Like,

she had showed me maybe like two, three weeks before she died. My dad's like, what the hell are you talking about? And she told me it was a purple backpack. And that is one thing till this day, I cannot find. And I know that purple backpack, because my grandma used it when she was a purple backpack. And lived here. Like it was her go-to bag. She was never going to throw that bag away. Okay. That's one thing I could never find in that house. And I'm like, okay, so the food's gone. This backpack of $50,000 is gone. Okay. Like, what other motivation would it be? So then I started like putting two and two together. I was like, well, Mark is relatively poor. He's not even poor. He's a server. He works in a restaurant. He makes good money. But his house is like all stone. Like,

very low class, you know what I mean? Doesn't really have much to himself. But it's kind of just like, okay, was that his motive to steal from them? As if he couldn't ask. Yeah. Because they would have gave it to him. You know what I mean? And, you know, we're like putting all these like theories together.

And at this point in Portugal, like the bank accounts, they like automatically, the government locks them. when somebody dies, right? Unless somebody's, like, name is on the actual account. My dad's was not on the account. So we find out months later that Mark's name is on the account. And he never once mentioned it to my dad. That's so weird.

Never brought it up. And so my dad, how did he find out? I think my dad ended up getting a letter in the mail. So did market money from them? We have no clue. So there's still one, the bank account that has his name on it, I think there's two accounts. One account, my dad went to his house, picked him up and was like, you're going to go with me to bank and give me this money. Because of all the things that we have to pay, we had to pay for the headstone, like, you know, the burial site, you know what I mean?

And it's so last minute, nobody's prepared to bury two people realistically, you know? So my dad ends up taking him against his will and like, you know, guess I figured out. But turns out there's a whole different account now. It's like the more time goes by, the more things like start showing up. Right. It's just really weird. and he still till this day will not talk to us. And it's just like, okay, like I guess, you know what I mean? It's because everyone assumes that it was you.

You know, only a guilty person would cut themselves off from the family for no reason after a funeral. I'm so sorry, like what else is new? And there's no way that they both, like it's so obvious how they died was so sudden. Yeah, and they were healthy. That's what I'm saying. And honestly. And they were clearly both sick. Like something happened in that moment.

Something definitely triggered it. And it's so crazy because my grandparents, they weren't ready to die. Like they were full of life. Like there was no way. You know what I mean? And it's just like if they were old, like if they were a little bit older and they were sick, you know, maybe we would have different thoughts. But they were full of life.

And especially to die at the same time. And especially to say to Amelia the day before, like the last time you're seeing like take care of my dogs. Right. Like obviously, like, I knew my grandma knew something. I don't think, the thing that we will never know is if were they threatened? Yeah. Like, were they getting blackmailed by somebody? You know what I mean?

Like, those are questions that run through, like, my head. I know they run through my family's head all the time. Right. It's almost like if they were poison, that would be the most simple answer. It's the easiest way. Yeah, that's like, to me, that's like the very simple answer to it. But, like, yeah, that's a good point, too. Like, especially with the comments that they made, it's like, who knows if they were being threatened or blackmailed?

So then we end up getting, we got the autopsy results. And that was recently, right? Yeah. Okay. And I'm reading them. I know they're not in English. So like I have to translate some words because big words, like in Portuguese, I can make work with what I can read.

Yeah. But like big medical words, I can't make it work. So I end up translating it. And I'm going through this autopsy and I'm just like, okay, it looks like they measured everything and weighed every organ. But like, did they do a toxicology report? No. did they like test their blood like you know matters of like you know their brain like you know

under the fingernails can always like there's a certain poison i forgot what poison is but it's only detective detected in your fingernails they didn't do a thorough autopsy it was kind of like they cut them open they took their organs out weighed them looked at the color and then put them right back and that's it and then on the bottom actually test for anything no and then on the bottom it says it was, I think they had put like 20 or 30 percent carbon monoxide. They were like, this was a, then it's another bulletin point. And it's like, the matter of death was a violent cause. And I'm just like, how does that make any fucking sense?

Because again, carbon monoxide is a silent killer. You don't feel it happening, you know? So it's kind of just like what you put in your autopsy result in the report. It's kind of like it was all just like fake. Like you just wrote whatever. Were you able to question it at all or no? No, so I haven't been back since. I'm going back this summer.

Mm-hmm. And hopefully I can get some more information. But the way they just don't care about this case, I mean, my dad's even over it at this point. Like, you know, it's his parents, but he's just like, DeTiana, it's like I'm not getting anywhere with this. Like, they will literally sit in your face and be like, we have better cases. Yeah. Or we already told you it was carbon monoxide. That's it.

Right. Like at this point, there's no, you don't, you guys don't have the resources to figure it out on your own. If we were rich and we had like money, maybe then they would care. But because they see that we live in average life, you know what I mean? They're just like. And like you said probably because they were older. And if someone was involved that they know, then. It's like a whole little like mafia going on in there. Like there's definitely like dirty cops in there. Yeah. It's so bad. I'm just like this is so ridiculous. And you'll never have that sense of like closure. Yeah. Yeah. And like you can assume but like who even actually knows. And it's so crazy because I ended up like I said, my mom's very big into like spirits. So we end up going in September to a medium.

And in Portugal, there's like mediums that like legit let the spirits like it's like an exorcism. Yeah. Okay. I thought we were going to like a medium like Teresa Caputo. Like she's just going to, you know, they're just going to tell me what they're saying. Mind you, we were there. This medium only worked from like three in the morning until 9 a.m. Like you had to be waiting outside of his house and you would pull a ticket.

Whose every number was called is whose turn it was. Because it's people from like Italy, France, like Greece, people that would come all the way down to see him. Right. And I'm thinking, okay, like this guy got to be something big. Like, you know, like I don't know what I'm expecting. I'm like sleep deprived. It's 3 o'clock in the morning. We didn't get called until 8 a.m.

Okay. We finally get called in. So you just have to stand there and wait. Yeah, like you sit around, like his patio. Like he's got like five, six cats, like little black cats that walk around. Like, I mean, it makes sense. A witch has like all these cats. You know, they're so cute. So obviously it kept us like occupied and we're like talking to other people there. And nobody's really telling us how it's going to go down. I think my mom knew, but she didn't want to tell me. So we end up getting to the room. And I'm over here like, okay, I'm going to like voice recording. I'm going to hide my phone. I couldn't because then he was like, can I see a picture of your grandparents? Because, you know, my mom told him why we were there. And obviously, I stopped it because I didn't

want him to like, I don't know. I got like shot. So I was like, okay, I'm just not going to record him because I don't want to go through that awkward confrontation. So we showed him the picture. And it's like instantly, I knew this is a grown man with a grown voice. Okay. Instantly, like he like snaps into something and he lays down in the exact position. my grandmother was laid down in. And it's her exact voice coming out. Like, I felt so stuck to my seat. Like, her cry, I mean, everything was her voice.

Like, I never thought I would hear that voice in front of me again. It was like, my fucking. What did she say? He say. Yeah, whatever it was. She, I mean, the voice, it was crying. And it was just like, she was just like, Mark didn't. Nah. Yeah. And me and my mom's like getting up. She's like getting up from the chair and like, you know, because she's asking to hold her hand. And my mom's like, Tithiana Go. And I'm like, no. Like I could like my body could not move. Like I could not move. So my mom's like holding her hand and she's like, he came over and he gave us a drink and we felt bad. So that's what had happened. And my mom's like, are you sure? And she's like, yeah. And he stole from the house. And did you guys tell the psychic.

person? No, nothing. So he didn't know anything about that. He's not even from our town. So the way the news reports were, it goes by towns. He's like three hours away from our town. And you guys only showed him a picture. Yeah, just a picture of them. And did he use the Mark person's name? Yeah. Like to the tee. And I was just like, what? When the voice was saying that, I'm not even kidding. Like my mom's talking to her. And she's just like, no. And he's just like, no. And he's, stole from the house. Like he stole my book bag and he stole stuff.

My mom's like, what stuff? And then she just instantly starts crying and it's like, I'm so sorry. Like tell my son I'm sorry. Like talking about my dad. She was like, tell him I'm sorry.

And it's just like crying. And I'm like sitting there shitless. Like I don't know what the fuck to do. I couldn't, I don't even think I was blinking. That's crazy. And my mom's like talking to her and she's in Portugal like what they do. Like, you know how, like, in Mexico, they, like, when you make a prayer to God, a promise, and they go and, like, they go on their knees.

Yeah. So in Portugal, we kind of have that. But, like, you, like, offer, you can offer something to a certain, like, saints or whatever. And my mom was, like, technically in our quote, we're Catholic. So technically, like, when you make a promise, if it's not fulfilled before you're dead, you technically don't get to rest peacefully until it's completed. Okay. So what you can do, I guess, through the spirits, whatever, she basically told my mom what promises. she had left to complete.

So that's how that conversation ended and he just snapped right back into himself. Now does he remember what happened? No. Because I, like, he looked at me and he was like, what just happened? He was like, are you okay? Because I guess my face said it all. Yeah. And I was just like, um.

Is that normally how it happens? Like these people come through him? Yeah. Apparently. Yeah. Because then I asked people outside. I was like, is this like what it is? And they were like, yeah, that's what he's known for. Apparently he's been doing it since he was a kid.

Like, he's just very, like, opened into spirits where he can, like, look at a picture and he can allow that spirit into them, into him. And I'm sure it makes a difference if they really have some things they need to say. Yeah. I'm not even kidding. It was the most craziest things I've ever experienced in my life. I, like, till this day, I'm, like, shook it. Like, I even talking about it, I get, like, stuck.

Yeah. And my mom's just like, yeah. She's like, I'm going to kill that. motherfucker, like talking about Mark. Uh-huh. And I was just like, I told you. So that was when? That was in September when I, because my mom had finally went with us.

And my mom was just like, because my dad's not very big into spirits. Like I guess now he is after that, after we told him because he stayed outside. But like years ago when we used to go when my mom would talk to her dad, my dad would laugh. He thinks it's funny. Like he's just like there's no way this is like real life. Right. Fake, you know. But once we told my dad, like word for word, what was said, he was just like, oh, no.

So after that, did you guys try to contact Mark? Mm-hmm. And nothing. So we ended up trying to find him. We even, like, pulled up to his house. Couldn't find him. And we asked, like, everybody in the village, like, hey, is he working today? Like, what's going on?

And they're like, oh, we haven't really seen him around. And we're just like, okay, because he knows we're here. We were there for two weeks. Like, obviously he knows we're here. So he's avoiding us. We haven't seen him since until the last day I left. I left October 3rd and my parents left the 4th. So I left by myself.

On the second, I told my mom, I was like, you know, before I leave, I want to go pass by the gravesite, say good my goodby to my grandparents and like say goodbye to the dogs because the dogs are still in the home. They protect the home right now. And we're at the cafe like having a drink and long and behold, who shows up, Mark. And mind you, I haven't seen him since February. since February March of earlier that year. And I don't know what took over me,

but it literally felt like something was squeezing me to get out of there. Like just a really bad feeling. But it literally felt like somebody was like squeezing my arms together. And I looked at my dad and I was like, no, we have to go. Mind you, this is the day after that whole medium stuff. So my dad was like, no, we have to leave. And the way he was like looking at my dad, like he's at a table and he's just like looking at my dad. It was just very...

Because it's probably one of those things that if all of that is the truth, he probably, like, he knows, but he probably knows that you guys will never be able to prove it. Yeah. He knows he'll get away with it. Yeah. Because where is, like, if they didn't do the autopsy, there is no proof. Exactly. Like, they would have had to say, oh, they were poisoned, which, like, to me, that was, like,

my first thought as well, because, like, what else? Yeah. what I mean. Like, but, and like you said, with the carbon monoxide, it's like they would have not been they wouldn't have never been moving. Yeah. The fact that they had full range to move that far, right, from their bedroom all the way to the other side of the house, you wouldn't do that.

With carbon monoxide. I'm just surprised that if he poisoned them with the wine that he, like that it was left there. So the wine bottle was not. So only the glass was. Just the glass was. Okay. But they didn't say it.

simple anything. Right. And that's one thing that I kept bringing up to them every time he went to the police station. I'm like, you guys didn't even take samples of anything. So then we ended up finding out in September, we went back and we questioned them again. We were just like, have you guys found out anything? Because we didn't have the autopsy yet. Yeah.

And they were just like, no, the case is closed. And I'm like, okay, who were the detectives on there? And they were like, oh, actually, there's a new set of detectives because the detectives that went initially, they were trainees. And they got moved to the Capitol. So that's why it makes sense because they were trainees. They didn't know what the hell they were doing. Yeah.

You know? And that's why nothing was properly investigated because, again, they had no experience. They were just like, okay, it's carbon monoxide. Let's move on. That's going to something that's more like interesting, like a murder or whatever. You know, those kind of murders that are like bloody and, I mean, you know, something more intriguing. They're newbies. Right.

You know? And my dad was just like, that's ridiculous. Like, so basically it's kind of like, fuck my parents. like they're nobody and they were just like well we can't reopen it and it sucks too because like I get it from your dad's perspective it's like at this point it's just easier to let it go yeah and it's like even if you had all the answers what does it really do right you know like it won't bring them back it won't but it is really unfortunate that it wasn't taken as seriously and it's interesting too because I do think like obviously over there it is a lot different than here but at the same time

I feel like you never know how, you know, law enforcement is going to treat a case. You know what I mean? Like I feel like sometimes they take it really seriously. And sometimes they don't. Especially it depends too. I feel like how much traction it gets. Yeah. Because then it's like they kind of have no choice too because people know about it.

Right. But it's almost like if they're able to not have to deal with something, why would they? Right. It was just one last case that they were just like, mm-hmm. Yeah. So for you, do you, this all happened, like a year ago a little bit? last year. So do you feel like you have closure or no?

No. I don't even think truthfully, I don't even think I've, not that I haven't begun, began grieving. Yeah. But I feel like I haven't really opened that door to fully like feel the feelings just because I'm, I'm one of those like people that like I just, I suffer in silence. I don't ever like, I'm really bad at asking for help. And if I do, it's like little shit, not like deep, deep things like this, you know.

I don't know. I don't think I've begun. And to top it off, I think the first time that I cried after they died, my mom's mom ended up passing four months later. So, but she was sick. But I think when she died was probably the first time that had cried about all three of them together. Right. You know, I think it just like opened up that bandaid. And like I felt it for the first time. And then I put a bandaid over it. And it's just it's like it comes and goes. Like, There's times where I'm in the car and I'm like, fuck, man. Like, that's so bad. Like, what the hell? Like, there's no way. Because I would have never in a million years thought this would happen to me and my family, you know? Yeah. Like, you see it in documentaries.

Like, I'm a crime junkie. I see it on documentaries all the time. I'm like, that's crazy, you know? And probably in a way, too, I feel like it's easier to cope with it when you can kind of dive into it and look at it from that crime junkie perspective. Yeah. Like, you can almost, like, want to investigate it and figure out, like, well, did this happen to that happen? And I feel like it allows you to put that bandied on and not feel it as much.

I think that's what I did. Like I'm more investing. Like, till this day, I feel like I can solve it. Like, I feel like the more times I go, I'm going to get more like answers. Yeah. You know. And I know like my dad's over it. Like you talk to him about it and he's just like, I, he's like it is what it is.

Like I think everyone is at least that piece that they went together. because honestly, they would not have survived without each other. Like, there's no way. They were together since they were, like, 15, 14 years old, you know? So that brings us some peace. That's the only thing that really, like, keeps me saying is, like, okay, they went together. They're not suffering from each other's loss. It's just unfair because there's no justice around it.

There's no justice, and there's no direct answer. Like, it's kind of like you wake up every, like, I wake up every day, like, what if there was something that could have prevented that? like or you know what if they were here and that didn't happen you know what I mean but my mom lives by this rule that like you know God knows your birth date and he knows your death date and nothing is going to get in the way with either one of those you know and that's that's how we live in my house so my mom's like you have to stop questioning it and I'm like I can't like I think it's hard to because there are just so many questions surrounding it. Like if you really thought about it, it's like you could drive yourself crazy. No, yeah. With the food, with the bank, with the comments.

I think I drove myself so crazy. Like the first two weeks that I was there before my sisters got there, they brought me a, they made me a little bit more like. Sane. Yeah, more sane just because I had somebody to talk to that was like, that could understand me. Like, obviously I'm not going to to vent to my dad because my dad's going through it, you know. But before my sisters got there, I think I was like losing my shit. Like looking back at it, I, I, I was going crazy. Just like, in my mind, like, I was not sleeping. Like, there would be nights that I'd wake up.

It's like three, four o'clock in the morning. And I'm, like, me and my dad at that point, we're sharing a room. And I would look at his bed and he's, like, peacefully sleeping. And I'm like, damn, I can't sleep. And I was just not sleeping. Right. Like, I would just, like, sit on the little balcony that we had. And I would just be contemplating everything that could have happened.

Like, what if they didn't drink this or, like, you know, where did that wine come from? Where was it bought? What kind of poison could it have been? I was doing so much research at one point that, like, my brain. literally felt fried. And I was like, no, I have to stop. Right, because it's like you're going to drive yourself crazy. No, I was, yeah. And then when my sisters got there, it was like word vomit. Like, I could not stop talking because I was like, I have to get this all out of my brain because it's driving me nuts. And they were like, what the fuck? Well, I think too, you know, like I mentioned before

seeing the scene and knowing like where they passed away and how it wasn't necessarily peaceful, that on its own is traumatizing. Like, I don't think we always. necessarily like realize how much things like that stick with us like I no yeah you know like you can be strong in moments like that like which obviously like you very much were like your dad didn't want to go in you did you handled it whatever but like I don't think we realize how much stuff like that like really gets embedded in our brains and like it changed me yeah it definitely does something like I'm 100% not the same person I was before this like before I was like carefree right not chalant not chalant and I'm just like, no, like, real life will fucking hit you.

Like, it's nobody's business. Like, there's no mercy when life hits you. Like, I've definitely learned that. And it made me grow up even more because I was like, damn, like, life could really be gone within a second. Like, you never know what's going to happen. And I'm always on my P's and Q's with who I'm around. Because I'm especially my family.

Like, I'm very overprotective over my family now to where, like, my parents are still over it. But, like, whenever they're not home, I'm like, where are you? what are you doing? Like, what time are you going to be home? Like, I need to know everything now because it's just like, granted, you know, I didn't get to speak to my grandparents the last time. Obviously, like, you know, maybe the way me and my grandmother were close,

maybe I could have picked up something from her. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. My grandmother with me, we were very close. Like, that was my girl. Like, I could get a lot of things out of her because I could tell her. I was the one that, like, could tell when she was hiding something. I feel like maybe she would have opened up about maybe an issue she was having.

Yeah. She obviously had to know something. Something had to be leading up to that point. And she hated him, mind you. Yeah. Mark. So, and my grandma was very, what is it, intuition? Like when you have like a great guy.

She had a strong intuition. Yeah. So she always knew when something was wrong, you know. So I don't know. The world may never know, you know? Yeah. It's crazy. That's wild.

So you go back this summer. I go back this summer. Are you going by yourself? No, I'm going with my whole family. Okay, so the whole family will be there. How long are you going for? We're going to go for two and a half weeks. And are you going to, is the house in your dad's name now?

Yeah, so my dad's actually in the process of selling it because my dad, I mean, none of us want to, we can't sit in there. Like, you walk in there and it's like the first thing you think of. And like it's like, I feel like in general, like it's cold. Yeah. Just don't want to. Like, I, like, I, if I could, I would keep the house. Just because it's like, my grandmother's dogs are still there. They're the cutest things.

I love them. They're like little humans. So is the neighbor going to take them? So she, so how we have the house set up right now is she has the keys to the house. She has the garden. I mean, my grandparents's garden was like filled with everything. I'm not even kidding. Like, avocado's bigger than my head.

Yeah. Okay. Like, so my dad was like, Amelia, the garden, all the fruits and veggies, they're yours. that's your garden. You are the one that was helping them with it. That's you. If you need anything from the house, whatever's in there, you can have. And the dogs.

And Amelia's like, yeah, I'm keeping them. But as of right now, they stay at the house to protect the house. They alert when somebody's near the house. But we're selling the house because my dad's like, I can't keep it. We're probably, it's breaking my heart. But my dad's like, Amelia can't have the dogs at her house. Her dog is very, he's an ass. Like he does not do good with other dogs.

So now when I go in August, I have to find somebody who I trust with these dogs. I would bring them here, but it is way too much money to bring all three of them here. Yeah. You know? And I wouldn't want to do that. They're so used to the open lifestyle that they just wouldn't do good over here. And I can't separate them because they're like three peas in a pot. Right.

Exactly. They're used to having each other. Yeah. And they go like, and it's so cute when before the funeral, they ended up escaping and like they ended up going to the cemetery and they found the hole they sat there and my uncle found them they ended up coming back home after they were buried they escaped again and they went to the funeral to the funeral they went to the cemetery they know where they are they do yeah and they go and amelia tells me that they leave every day now they go to

the cemetery they'll hang out there and they'll come back when they're ready she doesn't press them out yeah so they're they're closed so it's like how can I move them away from that you know And something will work out with that. You'll figure it out. Oh, you know what I remember? One of the dogs, his name is Bobby. All these dogs are super friendly, right? And during the time that I was going through the house, Bobby, mind you, even if I were to bring you, the dogs would not bark at you.

Yeah. They're like your puppy. Super loving. But whenever Bobby would see Mark, I'm not even kidding, like he would start and then the two other dogs would start, foaming, growling. their mouths. Like, they wanted to kill him. But they won't because they're too friendly. Right.

You know what I mean? But they just know. That was an instant. And that's something that still till this day does not stay right with me. Like, Ameli even told me the other day that he like passed by the house and just even walking in front of the house, they lose their shit. That is crazy. And I'm so sorry.

Dogs have a really good intuition. Yeah, they know something. And that's one reason why I'm going to keep them out of the house because it's like, don't go near there, you know? There's been times. not even not too long ago it's actually a few weeks ago amelia talks to my dad regularly now like she basically took over sundays like we call her every sunday and she actually called my dad a few Sundays ago and she was just like why did i find mark trying to shove his old key into the keyhole

of the house my dad's like for what apparently he like still claims that this is his house and it's like boy it's for sale like yeah why would you even want to that's so weird he's so weird till this day and it's just like just give it up okay like whatever you did you did right whatever you just stay away at this point because it's like really like what are you after the house at this point is empty okay i was going to say unless for some reason they think there's still more stuff in there no we emptied out my dad had went just like a month or two ago and he emptied out the whole house he like donated everything like i don't even know he right why even go over there yeah there's nothing in there. So it's like, why are you still going over there? So weird. That's crazy.

That's crazy. Well, I'm glad that you came on here and gave us your detective story. No, that's crazy. It is. But it's also heartbreaking because it's really heartbreaking. And it took a lot of people by shock. I mean, my grandparents were really known in the like the Portchese community down here and in their church. So when we announced it, everybody was like, what? Like, it's like so shocking. It shocked a lot of people. Like, and I'm honestly, I had, I had good support. Like, there was people that I haven't talked to in years. And, like, the support that I got was very, like, warming, you know, even though I didn't reply to a lot of people. Because I just, I just went MIA. Like, I lost myself. But I never realized, like, you know, I've lost people,

but, like, family, I never knew how much, like, how much support could, like, really help. I think that's why I somewhat stayed sane. Yeah. But it ruined a lot of people. There was a lot of people that were really, really upset about it. And it's just like, it changed everybody. Even till this day, like, we go somewhere and, like, my dad's friends see him. They're just like, you know, like, how are you?

Yeah. Like, any news. Like, everyone wants to know answers. And it's like, we don't have anything. Both shocking for you guys. And it's heartbreaking to lose, like you said, like no one expects to lose anyone, like, suddenly. But then both grandparents at once. And then on top of it, you get no answers and no sense of justice or closure.

And then on top of it, it makes it so much more difficult that it's just in a different country. So it's like nearly impossible with the back and forth. And I feel like there's so much loss. With no puzzle pieces. Like with missing puzzle pieces. And it's just like there's no end to it. It's just kind of like you're always going to be wondering. It's like an unsolved mystery.

Like a cold case. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. I'm just numb to it. Right. It's always like you have to be. Yeah, I have to be because it's like I could like realistically like I have one of my friends is always just like that you know like you really have to feel your grief.

And it's like I can feel my grief. But I'm not going to as much as I want to like put myself into my bed and not get up for a week. I can't do that. Life doesn't stop. Time doesn't stop. Bills don't stop. You know what I mean? Like you kind of just have to learn how to live with it.

Yeah. Even though it sucks, but it's like there's nothing else I can do. Nothing's going to bring them back. Yeah. And I think that there's a way, too, to like accept it and everybody grieves so differently. Like some people, I mean, I'm that way too where it's like either I'll cry as soon as I find something out for like a minute and then it stops. And then I'll also have these times when I'm crying about something else. Yeah.

Then I end up crying about the things that I should have grieved, you know, in that moment. And, you know, everybody just handles that so differently. But at the same time, I feel like, too, there's a way to accept it, but then also become numb to it. Because if you don't, it's like you're just going to keep going in circles. There is no, like, cut off with it. I feel like grief just hits everybody so differently. So differently. So differently.

Because it's like, I don't even know how my siblings are grieving. Like, you could never tell. Yeah. You can't tell between any of us, like, who is it really like hitting the hardest? You know, I think we're all just good at that. But it made me realize, like, damn, everyone really grieves differently. Like I thought we were like all just depressed, you know what I mean? Like we'll just cry for a few days.

No. Like it really, this was an eye opener. Yeah. And now like, you know, it's crazy because I think because I went through this trauma, I'm like awkward now when it comes to like people reaching out to me like when they've lost somebody. Because it's like I don't even know how to do with it. You know, I'm so bad at it now because at first I used to be good at it. Like I was like, you know, like it's going to be all right.

But now that I really face it. I was like, no, it's not going to be all right. Right. You're going to be wondering. You're going to be missing that person. Yeah. And I think, too, because so many people handle it differently, it's like you don't really know what to do.

It's like, I feel like it's almost like all you can do is just be like, I'm here for you like whatever, and whatever way you need it. And honestly, that I'm here for you goes a long way. Yeah. It goes a long way. There's like literally no fixing it. So it's almost like, yeah, you just have to tell somebody that and then kind of give them their space unless they want.

more than that almost but it does it's like I was just talking about that thing last week like it can be very uncomfortable and like weird like I don't think we're really meant to know how to how to handle it yeah and how to help somebody that's going through it because it's like you you don't know what to do there is no right answer there's something that's going to make somebody feel better it's just a learning experience to each their own kind of thing and it's crazy because it's like like losing people in the past I'm like okay like I know how I'm going to grieve, you know, like, it's going to be sad. But now that it's like a death that I have no answers to, it's kind of like, it's prolonged. Like, it's kind of just like there's no closure.

So I can't really ever get over it, you know? Yeah. Like, it's kind of like I'm always sitting there questioning myself, like, you know, like, how did this happen? Like, how could it have happened, you know? And at one point, I was like questioning God at one point because I was like, how did you let this happen to two people that followed you so closely, you know? Obviously, like my mom knocked me out of questioning that, but it got me to that point, like, how is that fair? Yeah. You know, it's not like they were like bad people or whatever, like they were ill. Like, they just didn't deserve to go out like that.

Like, I would have, I think I would have been more at peace if they were sick or if, you know, if it was a car accident. Yeah. Like something that like, okay, I have an answer to. Because with your mom's mom's mom, she was sick. And do you feel like you have complete closure with that? I do. I saw her. So I had went to go see her when I was there in February, February, March, whenever week I went to see her. Oh, so she was over there too. So she lives in Portugal. Yeah. But she lives two hours away. But I told my dad, I was like, look, let's take a break from being in your town. Let's go visit grandma. So seeing her, that was my last time seeing her. She was sick. And, but she was like, oh my God, my sister, one of my sister. One of my sisters. or she has really like dark jokes.

And she was just like, bro, like, grandma's like a cockroach that's never going to die because she like had so many different cancers in her. And she's been having, she's had cancer for like seven plus years. Nothing. Just keeps going. Ever stopped her. Like she was still gardening. She was still like working out in her farm.

Like just was nonstop. Yeah. Like nothing could stop her. And I'm like, grandma, you need to slow down. Like you need to relax. And she's like, no. Like, why don't do that? I'm by myself.

I'm bored. Like I have to do something. And I'm like, okay. Like, you know, when she died, I mean, I had spoken to her. My dad had went and saw her like two weeks before she died and had FaceTime me. She was already in a home. They had at that point put her in a home. And I could tell she, I don't know if she was like actively having a stroke while I was

on FaceTime with her. But I could definitely see her faces drop. And she looked like from how I saw her like four months ago to that point, I was like, no, I was like, yeah, she, like, I already knew. After that call, I was like, she's going to go. Yeah. And I had forced my mom to go when I was supposed to go with my dad. I think I was supposed to go meet up my dad. I can't even remember because my dad's gone like 10 times since all this has happened. I was supposed to go with my dad and something in me made my, made me make my mom go because my mom wasn't going to go. And I was like, no, I think you need to go. You need to go see

your mom. And she was like, no, like, I'll see her in June. Like, I'm going. in June and I was like, no, mom, you need to go now. You know? And this was, I'm getting my months mixed up. She was supposed to go see her in August. Yes. My grandma died in June. So she kept saying, I'm going to go see her in August.

She'll be fine for three months. And this was early June and I was like, no, mom, you need to go see her now. Like, I know she's not going to make it. Yeah. My mom ends up going. It was maybe like a week or two after. My dad's flight was supposed to leave the ending of June. And they had called.

I'll never forget, it was the same type of phone call. I wasn't home. My dad calls me hyperventilating. And he's like, you need to come home. And I'm like, why? I was like, grandma died, didn't she? And he was like, yeah, she did. And I went and like seeing my mom.

You know, my mom had already lost her dad. So, you know, she was already, she had already lost the parents. So she knew. But it was kind of just like an open. band-aid like fuck like and it's her seeing other people you love it is it it it was like that day i'm i'm never forget i had like went and locked myself in the bathroom and just like broke down i think it was like all my grief at once like i was like fuck like this is really happening all over again like i can't even catch a break at this point you know but that was expected so it didn't

i fully i think i fully grieved her and you had an understanding of why i had understanding Like I had closure. Like, you know, I knew it was coming. I at least got to say bye, you know. Like, I feel good about her passing. Like, you know. There's no confusion there. There's no confusion there.

But with my dad's parents, oh, yeah, there's so much confusion. Like, it's like, I, till this day, I don't want to accept it, you know? It's scary, too. Yeah. Because now it's like every time we go, like, I'm constantly looking over my shoulder. Like, are we a target? Like, you know what I mean? Because they see us as the American.

Americans who have money. It's like we're not even rich, bro. Yeah. We're middle class. Like, come on. Right. You know, but because we're Americans, they think that we have money and we have this and we have that.

Like, no, it's not how it is. So every time we do go and we go to my dad's city, like, I'm always on my P's and Q's because I'm just like, I don't trust anybody, like, at all. No, you shouldn't. Yeah. It's a scary world we live in. It's crazy. And that's really like open minds.

Like, at first, you know, I'm a people person. Like, I love talking. And I used to bartend. So, like, I love meeting new people. You're social, yeah. But after this, I'm like, you can't be like that with everybody. No. You just never know.

Yeah. Like, here in America, you'd be like, okay, like, maybe, like, you know, there's bad people. You probably get robbed or something. But not like family doing it to family. No. You know? Right. People you're supposed to trust.

Like, that is some wicked shit. People don't care. They're selfish. Clearly. And greedy. Yes. That's what I've learned. And I'm just like, it's so crazy how it's all over just a piece of paper.

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It's crazy. It's really crazy to think about. And it's not even like he couldn't, he couldn't ask for help. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point too.

My grandmother was doing his laundry. Yeah. Like she was cleaning a dirty underwear. And. Because that's, that's too easy. Yeah. Like, people don't want to. Like, instead of asking some, the two people that were like your only family that were

legit helping you do your laundry. They would feed you. My grandma would cook you dinner and have you pick it up. Like, come on. And she already, she already didn't like him. She did not like him. You know?

Like, she always had a really bad feeling about him. But, you know, she was like, well, that's my husband's nephew. Like, I can't, I can't not. Yeah, they were just good people.

You know, exactly. But she definitely had her feelings about him. But it's just like, you went in, if he did do that, okay, because I can't sit here and say he didn't. But, you know, obviously in my theory, he did it. you went and did that to the only two people that were helping you in life.

I think greed is spot on. It took over, you know? And it's just like, it's ridiculous. Because as I'm looking, I ended up finding, like, my grandfather's checkbooks. He loved writing checks. Okay, he never did cash. He wanted receipts of everything. He was very OCD.

He would give Mark, like, $1,000 here, $1,000 there just, like, every few, like, five, six weeks. I guess to just help him. And it's like, bro, like, they were helping you financially too. Like, you could have just asked for more if you really needed more, you know? It's so crazy. That's why. Well, you're a great storyteller. I try.

I feel like my ADD gets in the way and I'm like- No, not literally not at all. Like it felt like I was, like you said, spot on watching documentary. Like I'm over here like trying to think of theories. No, it's so crazy. Ah, one thing I forgot. Go ahead. See, I'm telling you.

I like, it's like, you'll think of like little things. And I'm like, damn. But they're like important. One of the day, the first day my siblings, my sisters were there. We, my grandfather, OCD. I'm talking about like he would know if like my cup was like off center. Like too much. In the living room, there was a dresser.

And it's like drawers of like folders of papers that go back to like the 1970s of every bill he's paid, newspapers that he like liked. Yeah. Like every single paper that has. his or my grandmother's name on it, he kept dated in like whatever category it fell in, everything. And my grandparents ended up becoming U.S. citizens when they were here. The only things that I could not find in those paperwork, in the paperwork was the layout of the house, like the estimate, because my grandfather had apparently got the house like estimated.

Yeah. Right? Because last time they were here, they had told my dad like, you know, they told my dad and my uncle like, you know, the day that we die, you know, everything is ready. Like, the funeral's already paid for. Like, you guys don't have to worry about the house. Like, it's already, like, estimated. You don't have to pay for that. Like, my grandfather was like, everything's done so that it's ready. So you guys don't have to have that stress. Yeah. You know, all that paperwork, that folder was empty. They're U.S. citizen, like, certificates. You know how you get, like, a little certificate? Yeah. Gone. Okay. Like, little important stuff like that. We're all gone.

Yeah. So like God knows, like, if they did have a funeral paid because we couldn't find what funeral home they used. Oh. You had to have paperwork because no one does, like, in that village, no one does technology. It's all by paper. Does that make sense? Yes. That's crazy. Mm-hmm. And so bizarre. Mm-hmm.

Like the little things that are just missing. It's just why. Yeah. For what? Right. It's so crazy. Yeah. That makes no sense. Mm-hmm. And it's like, I know there was a lot of empty folders. And it's like my grandfather wasn't the type to have like an empty folder in the middle of like 20 folders.

There were so many empty folders. And like what could have possibly been in here? That was important to take. Yeah. You know? And it's like I'll never know because you weren't going through the papers. I wasn't going through them all the time, you know? And it's so funny because thinking about it now, I'm just remembering my mom.

I remember when I was leaving, something in me made me take home to come back here. I think I took like six folders worth of papers that I just, I mentally could not go through because it was just, I was just too many papers, okay? Like it was an issue. Like, talk about quarter. Right. So I was like, okay, something in me is telling me that there's something important in these papers. So I put them in my backpack.

We came back home. Months later, my mom's going through them, right? She's better at reading than I am in Portuguese. And she had the paper stacked on the table. And she's like in the living room, I guess she went to go, like, get something from the cupboard or whatever. And she said that it felt like it looked like somebody just went on the papers and like smack them to the floor. And in front of her, like because as she was walking, like they're all in front of her was one paper that had the information of saying that Mark was an account holder on one of their bank accounts. And it's the certified copy, like the full stamped, like 3D stamped copy.

And that's how my dad ended up finding out that he had an account. Like he was on the accounts. Like regardless of what happened in the end, it sounds like he like maneuvered his way. Yeah. Into their lives. And, you know, you hear about that a lot of people manipulating older people. Yeah. And, you know.

And taking advantage of them. Yeah. Like even if, like it doesn't even matter how little or much money they had. I just think that if somebody, you know, doesn't have much for themselves or they are selfish or greedy and they see somebody that is super kind and generous. and vulnerable, they will take advantage of it. Yeah, and that's exactly what I think is what happened. Like, they were just... And eventually it probably just wasn't enough.

Yeah. My grandparents were just too nice. Like, I'm not even kidding. They were the type, like, if you were to walk in front of their house and you would say, like, you were hungry, my grandmother would, like, force you in and, like, feed you. Like, they just were that kind of people. And I definitely believe they were taking advantage of by him. Like, he probably just got too greedy.

And knowing that he could get away with something like this because of who he knows in the inside, you know? I do firmly believe that it was him. Like, I told my dad all the time, like, you cannot convince me it was not him. Like, I know that's your cousin. Yeah. But, like, my gut feeling every time I'm around this man is, like, it's bad. Like, it makes me sick.

Like, I've never had that kind of gut feeling about anybody, you know? Yeah. And the whole situation is so creepy. Yeah. It's like you stalked us for this long, what? Because you were afraid I was going to find something. Yeah. You know, when you really think back at it, it's because you're probably think I'm going to find something that's going to connect.

me to you. That's why, you know, and God knows if he found something while I was busy, like, in the rooms, you know? Yeah. But it's just like, when you really look back at it, it's just like, it gives me, like, you know, the show you. It gives me that kind of vibe. Like Joe Goldberg, like, you're definitely like looking around to see, like, what won't lead you to you. Yeah. Type of thing. Mm-hmm. Crazy. That's wild. Yeah. Well, you did a great job. How do you feel, Did you, do you think you got everything? I think I got everything. You did really good.

You're a really good storyteller. I try.