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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Where my dad's cabin was, there are not

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a lot of people.

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You can't just call for help.

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The area is very isolated.

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It can be very dangerous.

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Everything was completely dark and immediately I knew

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it was bad.

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He came out with a gun.

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They didn't know, should I run, should I

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not?

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Is he going to shoot me?

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I even remember thinking I didn't even tell

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my parents where I was going today.

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My biggest horror was like, who's going to

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be next?

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July 28th, 2015.

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I was 19 years old.

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I was just hanging out with some buddies,

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Will and King.

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Will was like, hey, let's go shoot.

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He just got a new .22. We pack

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up, get some rounds, get some guns, headed

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towards Caliente to Will's dad's cabin.

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Caliente, California.

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It's a beautiful place, really.

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It's about 25 minutes away from Bakersfield.

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And it's about 15 miles of rugged terrain

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going up to the cabin.

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That desert area butts up against mountains where

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the trees start, so you have thick forest.

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And then it gets into very steep cliffs

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and very hazardous terrain.

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I'm talking about rocks.

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I'm talking about going vertical on rocks.

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You need a four-wheel drive.

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A normal SUV won't get you up there.

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It has to be some type of off

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-road vehicle.

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They drove to a point where they park

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and then they take a quad and they

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drive up the rest of the way on

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a dirt road to the cabin.

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We're just listening to rock music, talking mess.

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You know, we get to the cabin.

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It's very isolated.

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There's trailers, RVs, a full-out shooting range.

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Just a full-on man cave, basically.

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As they park and they're getting their gear

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and everything, they are confronted by a gentleman.

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My first thought was like, oh, that has

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to be Will's family.

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So I was pretty cool at first.

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I was like, hey, what's up, dude?

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I noticed he didn't say anything.

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He was wearing all green.

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He had a sawed-off 12-gauge.

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He had a bag that sounded like a

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bunch of rounds in it.

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He also had a pretty long knife sticking

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out of his sleeve, like he was ready

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to hunt or kill.

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He was out in the wild and he

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was prepared for it.

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He approached us and my buddy Will was

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like, what the hell?

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What are you doing here?

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You're trespassing.

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And he's like, there's no one that lives

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here.

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It's just me.

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That's when I knew this is bad.

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And from there on, that's when everything went

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downhill.

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He was definitely saying crazy things.

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He told us about the government dropping him

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from space in a body bag.

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Made him seem unhinged, made him just crazy.

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And I kind of started freaking out.

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I even remember thinking like, man, I didn't

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even tell my parents where I was going

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today.

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I just took off.

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Then he directed them into the cabin with

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him at gunpoint.

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They didn't know, should I run?

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Should I not?

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Is he going to shoot me?

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Outside the cabin, he specifically told us, you

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sit in one corner, you sit in one

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corner and you sit in the middle.

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We were all scared.

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Your body goes into a certain state.

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You don't feel nothing.

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It's almost like you got to think of

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your next move.

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I definitely was thinking of my mom, my

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dad, my sisters, you know.

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Like, damn, like, this is it.

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Didn't even say I love you.

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That was the rough part.

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At that time, I wasn't too religious, but

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I saved a prayer.

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He had the shotgun in my face.

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Finger on the trigger.

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And he said, bang, bang, bang.

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He's like, I can kill all you guys

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right now and get away with it.

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Nobody will know.

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Which he was completely right.

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You know, middle of nowhere, no service.

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Yeah, you can definitely get away with it.

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It's not uncommon in the rural areas for

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people to go out target shooting or hunting.

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And people are not going to hear the

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gunshots.

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And if they do, they may think it's

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just completely normal.

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He wouldn't even have to bury them because

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he could have left them in the elements

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and they would have been taken care of

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by the wild.

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And no trace of them.

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Three young men have just disappeared off the

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face of the earth.

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And no one knows why.

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During that time, he was back and forth.

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He's going outside, he's grabbing cans of food,

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grabbing ammo, grabbing whatever he thinks he needs.

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And he would leave us in the room

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and we'd kind of just be talking between

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each other.

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What are we going to do?

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My buddy Will was, we're going to try

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and take him down.

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And I told him, I was like, stop,

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dude.

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You're going to get us killed.

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Do you really want to see one of

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our friends get shot or do you really

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want to die here?

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He even actually has a bag of butane

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tanks.

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I thought for sure we were going to

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die.

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I couldn't find my way out.

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I couldn't shoot my way out.

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I couldn't run my way out.

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I was stuck.

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There was nothing I could do to get

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out of this situation besides talk.

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He asked me, can we smoke a cigarette,

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you know?

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I said, at least you can do for

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us.

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Hands a cigarette.

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We're just talking.

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He's telling us crazy things.

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He talked about him knowing the devil, that,

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you know, the devil brought him back to

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life.

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His last marriage, how it wasn't good.

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Talking about how he respects us.

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He even told us one time, he was

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like, you guys are my friends.

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I love you guys.

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It was a roller coaster of emotion.

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I'm going to kill you guys no matter

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what.

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But we were talking, talking, trying to get

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out of it.

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It felt like torture.

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But in those few hours, we kind of

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started to figure him out.

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He was just on foot, breaking into those

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cabins out there, taking whatever he could.

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He was kind of just living freely out

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there.

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I mean, there's nobody around.

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There's nothing out there.

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I think he was more mad that he

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ran into us, if anything, you know?

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We kind of calmed him down to a

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point where we came up with a deal.

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Like, hey, you take all of our stuff.

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You take our guns.

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You take our side by side.

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You know, we'll just walk back and you'll

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be free.

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They told him, please just go.

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And we won't say anything.

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He's like, you're just messing with me.

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You're just lying.

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You're just doing this to survive.

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Which we were.

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We all stuck to, like, a certain game

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plan.

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Like, we're all on the same page on

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manipulating, on making this deal.

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He's like, I respect you guys.

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That's why I'm going to let you guys

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live.

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As crazy as it sounds, I shook his

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hand.

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The suspect took the all-terrain vehicle and

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drove away in it.

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That's when we ran out that cabin.

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It was just like a rush of getting

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the hell out of here.

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Didn't even look back.

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Just ran.

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Ran straight to the riverbed.

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In that riverbed, there's a bunch of shrubs.

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There's a bunch of things that can hide

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us.

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And it would take us back to where

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we needed to be.

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There's no cellular service in those areas, so

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they had to make their way to safety

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before they could even make contact with law

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enforcement.

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We're traumatized.

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Any little thing, any wind, we're looking behind

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us.

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We started to realize, like, we're not making

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any way.

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The sun's already dropping.

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That riverbed is taking too long.

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So we got back onto the main road.

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And as we were walking down the main

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road, that's when we heard him coming back

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towards us.

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He changed his mind.

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He was going to come kill us.

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We're walking down the dirt road, and we

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hear the side-by-side.

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He was coming back to kill us.

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He did not want them going and reporting

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this particular incident.

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They were actively being hunted down by him.

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He was mobile.

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They're on foot.

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We all dove face first, and as we

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dove, we were capable of just rolling over

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and kind of hiding ourselves from the main

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road.

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We laid there for a good five minutes

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until we didn't hear that engine no more.

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And that's when we got back up and

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started hiking that trail again.

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There's no doubt in my mind that he

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would have eliminated those young men.

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Keaton was sick.

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I'm pretty sure he was dehydrated.

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Dehydrated, scared, not a good mixture.

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And we had to walk miles.

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If you're not equipped in the mountains, it

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can not only be scary, it can be

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deadly.

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There is coyotes.

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There's mountain lions.

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There's a very high population of poisonous rattlesnakes.

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It can be very dangerous.

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We're seeing some headlights.

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I thought that he was coming back to

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kill us.

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Our first reaction was to hide again.

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But as we got closer, we heard a

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voice.

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What are you guys doing?

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Where's the cyber side?

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And that's when we knew it was Will's

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dad.

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That's when I kind of felt like a

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breath of fresh air.

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I'm gonna make it home.

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You could tell by our faces, something happened.

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And that's when my buddy Will hysterically started

278
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,640
saying, we got held hostage, shotgun to our

279
00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:37,700
head by a crazy man.

280
00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:38,960
And he took everything.

281
00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:40,220
That was the only way we were gonna

282
00:13:40,220 --> 00:13:40,660
survive.

283
00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:43,320
Will's dad takes a deep breath and is

284
00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:44,640
just like, what?

285
00:13:44,940 --> 00:13:47,180
And he's like, yeah, we got stuck up.

286
00:13:49,900 --> 00:13:50,980
It was a quiet ride.

287
00:13:51,020 --> 00:13:51,660
I didn't speak.

288
00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,180
I was just thinking of, what just happened?

289
00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,500
I should be dead.

290
00:13:59,260 --> 00:14:02,540
Thank God they escaped and reported to law

291
00:14:02,540 --> 00:14:02,900
enforcement.

292
00:14:08,260 --> 00:14:10,160
In 2015, I was a senior deputy.

293
00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:11,820
For the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

294
00:14:12,340 --> 00:14:14,860
I had a dual role as a detective

295
00:14:14,860 --> 00:14:18,300
and also as a SWAT team sniper.

296
00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,360
We have a special operations group team that

297
00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,680
is primarily SWAT team members that do special

298
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:26,760
missions.

299
00:14:28,140 --> 00:14:30,140
We realized how lucky these three young men

300
00:14:30,140 --> 00:14:34,180
were and the manhunt really started.

301
00:14:35,140 --> 00:14:37,900
At some point, the kidnapper tried to get

302
00:14:37,900 --> 00:14:40,540
out of the area with that vehicle and

303
00:14:40,540 --> 00:14:41,560
managed to get it stuck.

304
00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:44,560
He got it stuck in a very, very

305
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,440
remote area to where it was completely inoperable

306
00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,440
and he fled on foot from that vehicle.

307
00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:53,260
The SWAT team tried to follow the tracks

308
00:14:53,260 --> 00:14:55,320
as far as they could and based on

309
00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:57,940
the terrain and everything, they lost the tracks.

310
00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,640
The three young men did a drawing to

311
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:04,360
give us a general idea of what the

312
00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:05,380
guy might look like.

313
00:15:06,300 --> 00:15:09,700
We knew he had darker skin, black hair,

314
00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,180
he wore glasses and kind of wore clothing

315
00:15:14,180 --> 00:15:15,420
that looked like he might have been a

316
00:15:15,420 --> 00:15:17,060
hiker, but that's about it.

317
00:15:17,300 --> 00:15:19,200
We had nothing on this guy.

318
00:15:19,380 --> 00:15:20,460
We didn't know who he was.

319
00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,540
We didn't know where he was and we

320
00:15:23,540 --> 00:15:25,220
didn't know what his capability was.

321
00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,060
We were worried he was going to hurt

322
00:15:28,060 --> 00:15:29,960
somebody eventually if we didn't find him.

323
00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:40,120
July 30th was a Thursday.

324
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,480
Thursday nights are an easy-going, relaxing night.

325
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:45,400
We play video games with the kids.

326
00:15:46,220 --> 00:15:49,140
That night, I saw my mother-in-law

327
00:15:49,140 --> 00:15:52,260
calling me and so I answered and she

328
00:15:52,260 --> 00:15:57,640
was kind of hysterical saying that Dave hadn't

329
00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,080
checked in that night.

330
00:16:00,340 --> 00:16:02,400
Dave is my father-in-law and he

331
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:03,860
normally checks in before dark.

332
00:16:04,340 --> 00:16:06,840
My dad's cabin was out in Jawbone Canyon.

333
00:16:07,420 --> 00:16:07,900
He loved it.

334
00:16:07,900 --> 00:16:10,040
He would wake up at 5 o'clock

335
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:11,420
and hop in his truck and go out

336
00:16:11,420 --> 00:16:11,560
there.

337
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:13,520
The only reason my mom was not with

338
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,220
him was she was recovering from a surgery,

339
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,580
but he always checked in probably around 6

340
00:16:18,580 --> 00:16:19,880
p.m. Sun would still be up.

341
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:21,480
He just wanted to let you know that

342
00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:23,260
I'm in for the night and you know,

343
00:16:23,300 --> 00:16:24,080
everything was great.

344
00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,940
Cheryl was a bit distraught and wanted to

345
00:16:26,940 --> 00:16:28,980
go out and check to see if he

346
00:16:28,980 --> 00:16:29,460
was okay.

347
00:16:31,220 --> 00:16:33,860
Early 2000s is when he actually purchased the

348
00:16:33,860 --> 00:16:34,180
cabin.

349
00:16:34,500 --> 00:16:35,460
It was absolutely beautiful.

350
00:16:35,460 --> 00:16:37,320
It was a wood, kind of like looking

351
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,080
like a log cabin, you know, and windows

352
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:40,480
everywhere.

353
00:16:40,860 --> 00:16:42,760
It faced where they had fields.

354
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:43,760
It faced the pond.

355
00:16:44,460 --> 00:16:45,360
Very isolated.

356
00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,520
And of course, that was part of the

357
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:48,840
charm.

358
00:16:49,860 --> 00:16:53,040
It was very relaxing because we don't have

359
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:53,760
cell reception.

360
00:16:54,220 --> 00:16:56,580
It let us unplug just from life.

361
00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,240
It just gave us a couple days where

362
00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,200
really all you did was just enjoy where

363
00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,260
you were, like in the moment, like you're

364
00:17:02,260 --> 00:17:07,220
just on vacation when he bought that.

365
00:17:07,339 --> 00:17:09,240
He was looking for a place to just

366
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:10,980
have his own kind of refuge.

367
00:17:11,300 --> 00:17:12,800
He wanted his own spot where he could

368
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:14,500
do just what he wanted to do.

369
00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:15,800
Make it his own.

370
00:17:18,020 --> 00:17:19,680
My grandpa grew up gold mining and so

371
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,200
he taught my dad and my dad just

372
00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:23,119
loved it.

373
00:17:23,980 --> 00:17:24,579
We used to joke.

374
00:17:24,700 --> 00:17:25,940
I said, you're the only dentist that has

375
00:17:25,940 --> 00:17:27,119
a dump truck and a dynamite permit.

376
00:17:28,060 --> 00:17:29,540
I just think to myself and laugh like,

377
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:30,860
my dad is so cool.

378
00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:37,120
Where my dad's cabin was, when you're the

379
00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:39,000
nearest neighbor, you can't just call for help.

380
00:17:40,540 --> 00:17:42,380
I mean, that's really scary.

381
00:17:43,300 --> 00:17:45,340
And here's my dad who's just out there

382
00:17:45,340 --> 00:17:46,720
because that's his retirement.

383
00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:47,360
He loves it.

384
00:17:52,830 --> 00:17:56,090
Cheryl comes over to the house and she's

385
00:17:56,090 --> 00:17:57,610
very upset at this point and wants me

386
00:17:57,610 --> 00:17:58,030
to drive.

387
00:17:58,170 --> 00:18:00,350
So she says, you know the road better.

388
00:18:00,410 --> 00:18:01,250
You know the place better.

389
00:18:01,570 --> 00:18:02,530
Can you drive?

390
00:18:02,670 --> 00:18:03,570
And we'll go from there.

391
00:18:05,090 --> 00:18:06,670
From our house to get to the cabin,

392
00:18:10,450 --> 00:18:11,430
depending on road conditions.

393
00:18:11,690 --> 00:18:13,670
But I have to stay home because I've

394
00:18:13,670 --> 00:18:15,110
got two little kids that are now in

395
00:18:15,110 --> 00:18:15,350
bed.

396
00:18:16,630 --> 00:18:18,510
My mom and Ryan leave about 9.30

397
00:18:19,410 --> 00:18:21,330
and now the time is ticking and I'm

398
00:18:21,330 --> 00:18:21,590
waiting.

399
00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:24,850
I'm kind of doing this vicious cycle of

400
00:18:24,850 --> 00:18:25,430
cell phone calls.

401
00:18:25,670 --> 00:18:27,630
I'm calling my dad's satellite phone, his cell

402
00:18:27,630 --> 00:18:28,550
phone, the house phone.

403
00:18:29,210 --> 00:18:30,850
I'm starting to now get a little panicked

404
00:18:30,850 --> 00:18:32,190
and I'm starting to yell a little louder,

405
00:18:32,330 --> 00:18:33,370
Dad, it's Christy.

406
00:18:33,570 --> 00:18:35,590
Dad, you need to pick up this phone.

407
00:18:51,300 --> 00:18:55,060
On social media, somebody had mentioned something about

408
00:18:55,060 --> 00:18:59,280
some boys getting kidnapped and not a lot

409
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:00,460
of information about it.

410
00:19:00,780 --> 00:19:03,500
I thought that's somewhat close because the crow

411
00:19:03,500 --> 00:19:03,960
flies.

412
00:19:04,580 --> 00:19:07,320
But crossing that distance would take, especially on

413
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:08,260
foot, quite a while.

414
00:19:08,620 --> 00:19:10,520
So I didn't think too much of it.

415
00:19:12,020 --> 00:19:14,660
As we pulled up in the headlights, I

416
00:19:14,660 --> 00:19:18,260
could see on the ranch road where it

417
00:19:18,260 --> 00:19:20,860
looked like a car had skidded to a

418
00:19:20,860 --> 00:19:23,960
stop and pushed up dirt in front of

419
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:24,400
the tires.

420
00:19:25,660 --> 00:19:27,720
My dad was very meticulous about keeping the

421
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:28,400
roads really nice.

422
00:19:28,860 --> 00:19:30,820
That's not something my dad would ever leave.

423
00:19:32,020 --> 00:19:33,920
If he had done something like that, he

424
00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:35,860
would have got out, raked it flat, and

425
00:19:35,860 --> 00:19:36,760
made it look pretty again.

426
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,660
Immediately I thought that that was odd.

427
00:19:42,100 --> 00:19:45,060
When we approached the cabin, everything was completely

428
00:19:45,060 --> 00:19:48,400
dark and his truck isn't there.

429
00:19:48,580 --> 00:19:51,260
So we think he's not here, and I

430
00:19:51,260 --> 00:19:52,920
asked Cheryl, do you think we should check

431
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:54,040
the cabin just in case?

432
00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:55,620
And she said yes.

433
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:05,060
Cheryl was still very frantic, as was I.

434
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:10,340
I was worried just because everything seemingly looked

435
00:20:10,340 --> 00:20:11,720
fairly normal.

436
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,640
I had packed up my rifle just in

437
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:14,960
case.

438
00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:17,940
You never know if an animal is an

439
00:20:17,940 --> 00:20:20,780
issue, and on the rare case, there could

440
00:20:20,780 --> 00:20:21,280
be a person.

441
00:20:22,700 --> 00:20:25,620
I grabbed my rifle, had my flashlight.

442
00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,080
Cheryl was up on the steps going into

443
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,820
the cabin, and I was hanging back just

444
00:20:33,820 --> 00:20:36,160
a little bit, shining my flashlight, just making

445
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,380
sure there was nothing out of the ordinary.

446
00:20:44,990 --> 00:20:47,830
I noticed that that back window was open,

447
00:20:48,010 --> 00:20:49,430
and it seemed off.

448
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,360
I followed Cheryl in, and it was dark

449
00:20:59,360 --> 00:20:59,720
inside.

450
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,540
I still had my flashlight on, so I

451
00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:06,300
could see a little bit.

452
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:13,440
And I walked around the corner, and immediately

453
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:14,780
she screamed, oh no.

454
00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:21,540
And I knew at that moment it was

455
00:21:21,540 --> 00:21:21,860
bad.

456
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:45,400
Ryan runs into the kitchen, and there was

457
00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:45,820
my dad.

458
00:21:47,140 --> 00:21:51,360
He'd been shot, and I immediately knew he

459
00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:51,840
was dead.

460
00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:55,380
I knew what I was seeing.

461
00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:56,980
I knew what was happening, but I couldn't

462
00:21:56,980 --> 00:21:57,880
quite comprehend it.

463
00:21:59,940 --> 00:22:02,300
Ryan immediately runs to my mom, and he's

464
00:22:02,300 --> 00:22:03,560
like, we have to get out of here.

465
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:05,840
We were in grave potential danger.

466
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:10,420
Somebody could be out here right now.

467
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:27,310
We jumped into the vehicle, and I thought,

468
00:22:27,650 --> 00:22:30,090
what if somebody climbed in here while we

469
00:22:30,090 --> 00:22:30,550
were inside?

470
00:22:32,910 --> 00:22:35,510
I said, Cheryl, make sure there's nobody hiding

471
00:22:35,510 --> 00:22:36,310
in the back right now.

472
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:44,780
Everything's good.

473
00:22:46,020 --> 00:22:48,360
We start going down the county road, and

474
00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:49,820
a lot of that's a blur.

475
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:52,820
We were both hysterical.

476
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,640
It took us about a half hour to

477
00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,260
get back to a cell signal, and we

478
00:22:59,260 --> 00:23:04,080
stop, and Cheryl calls 911, and from their

479
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:05,940
dispatch does their thing.

480
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,660
At this point in time, our homicide detectives

481
00:23:08,660 --> 00:23:10,940
were working the scene, collecting evidence.

482
00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:13,800
What we did learn early on is that

483
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,220
his vehicle was missing from the residence.

484
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,040
Daybreak the next day, we did locate his

485
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:24,800
vehicle run off of a remote road, stuck

486
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,740
in very similar fashion to the ATV, and

487
00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:31,580
outside of Mr. Markowitz's vehicle, we were able

488
00:23:31,580 --> 00:23:33,600
to locate a shoe track on the ground

489
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,060
outside of the driver's side door.

490
00:23:36,580 --> 00:23:39,820
Those boot marks were very, very similar in

491
00:23:39,820 --> 00:23:42,920
pattern and size to the boot marks that

492
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,020
we located and were initially tracking at the

493
00:23:46,020 --> 00:23:47,600
cabin where the three young adults were held

494
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:48,220
against their will.

495
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,100
That was a very significant escalation in the

496
00:23:53,100 --> 00:23:53,440
case.

497
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,080
We suspected this was the same person that

498
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:58,640
had eluded us the first time.

499
00:23:59,740 --> 00:24:02,680
I was really concerned that he's out there

500
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:03,880
free, running around.

501
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:06,800
We're in the span of two days, and

502
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,880
we know this person has not only kidnapped

503
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,520
and held people against their will and threatened

504
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,140
them at gunpoint, he's now murdered an innocent

505
00:24:15,140 --> 00:24:15,640
person.

506
00:24:17,780 --> 00:24:21,680
When you have someone who has no qualms

507
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,040
about taking a life from a complete stranger,

508
00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:26,140
that means he has no problems taking another

509
00:24:26,140 --> 00:24:28,180
life if they happen to cross him, so

510
00:24:28,180 --> 00:24:30,040
this is a person who needs to be

511
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:30,420
stopped.

512
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,840
That makes this an all-hands-on-deck

513
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:34,520
investigation.

514
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,100
We dispatched special weapons and tactics team members

515
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,480
to Mr. Markowitz's cabin, and we began tactical

516
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:44,860
operations in that area.

517
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,480
For man tracking, it's not the same as

518
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:49,400
search and rescue.

519
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:51,720
Search and rescue, you're looking for someone who

520
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:52,460
wants to be found.

521
00:24:53,260 --> 00:24:57,840
When you're man tracking, they already got eyes

522
00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:59,260
on you, they already got distance on you.

523
00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:01,840
Our whole SWAT team was split up into

524
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:02,840
two 10-man groups.

525
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,300
Each team had a couple snipers.

526
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,020
We had off-road vehicles.

527
00:25:08,020 --> 00:25:10,180
We had the helicopter flying.

528
00:25:11,220 --> 00:25:13,120
The plan was is hopefully find the tracks

529
00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:15,420
up ahead further so that then we could

530
00:25:15,420 --> 00:25:16,400
gain ground on the person.

531
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,280
Find this person as fast as possible.

532
00:25:21,460 --> 00:25:24,040
We realized that he probably knew what we

533
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:29,000
were doing because he was circling around.

534
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,020
He knows we know what he did, so

535
00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:33,800
he used every trick that he knew to

536
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:34,340
evade us.

537
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,900
It appeared that this person not only knew

538
00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:40,900
the area, but he was leading caches around

539
00:25:40,900 --> 00:25:42,940
for him to come back to so he

540
00:25:42,940 --> 00:25:45,500
could move back and forth and resupply, which

541
00:25:45,500 --> 00:25:46,880
tells us that he's thinking ahead.

542
00:25:48,020 --> 00:25:49,800
Every little thing can be a clue.

543
00:25:50,100 --> 00:25:53,300
It's not just footprints, candy wrapper, cigarette butt,

544
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:55,480
broken branches.

545
00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:57,960
It can be clues.

546
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,740
We found a water bottle and some supplies

547
00:26:09,740 --> 00:26:10,400
that were abandoned.

548
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:12,140
The bottle had been used.

549
00:26:12,180 --> 00:26:12,820
It wasn't fresh.

550
00:26:12,900 --> 00:26:15,780
It wasn't sealed, so we thought maybe we

551
00:26:15,780 --> 00:26:17,000
could get a DNA hit on it.

552
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:19,900
It was delivered to the labs.

553
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,940
They did get a positive hit, and that's

554
00:26:24,940 --> 00:26:27,880
where we first identify the stranger that we've

555
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:29,100
been tracking this whole time.

556
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,500
The suspect was Benjamin Peter Ashley.

557
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,040
Several years back, he was arrested for breaking

558
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,240
into houses and burglarizing the house, and so

559
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:41,940
he was in our system.

560
00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:42,880
So we had a picture.

561
00:26:43,220 --> 00:26:46,080
We had a name, age, all of that.

562
00:26:46,620 --> 00:26:49,700
He was from the L.A. area, and

563
00:26:49,700 --> 00:26:50,480
he was a drifter.

564
00:26:50,780 --> 00:26:52,460
He just kind of did his own thing,

565
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,500
and he was very familiar with the area

566
00:26:54,500 --> 00:26:55,480
and was an avid hiker.

567
00:26:56,980 --> 00:26:58,860
Dealing with somebody that we think may know

568
00:26:58,860 --> 00:27:01,800
this terrain puts us even on more high

569
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:02,120
alert.

570
00:27:02,460 --> 00:27:04,400
This was a mountain man, very capable of

571
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:04,860
eluding us.

572
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:08,880
He was very, he was acclimated to that

573
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:09,580
type of terrain.

574
00:27:09,940 --> 00:27:11,700
He was acclimated to that type of weather.

575
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,040
We were in his element, not ours.

576
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,080
And when you're in the other person's element,

577
00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:17,940
they have an advantage.

578
00:27:25,690 --> 00:27:28,230
On the morning of August 1, 2015, we

579
00:27:28,230 --> 00:27:28,870
continued tracking.

580
00:27:29,610 --> 00:27:34,070
As we came across structures and trailers and

581
00:27:34,070 --> 00:27:38,150
residences that appeared maybe unsecured, and there was

582
00:27:38,150 --> 00:27:41,130
nobody obviously there, we would search those to

583
00:27:41,130 --> 00:27:42,870
ensure that this person wasn't there.

584
00:27:43,650 --> 00:27:45,850
Now, this is a small team, because we

585
00:27:45,850 --> 00:27:46,710
were a tracking team.

586
00:27:46,910 --> 00:27:49,030
This was not the typical SWAT call-out.

587
00:27:49,770 --> 00:27:51,550
We find the track again on a dirt

588
00:27:51,550 --> 00:27:52,930
road, and we start following it.

589
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,600
And the tracks go into a field and

590
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:01,000
towards a house.

591
00:28:12,970 --> 00:28:14,930
I tried the door, and it's unlocked.

592
00:28:15,510 --> 00:28:17,270
I let my team leader know, hey, we

593
00:28:17,270 --> 00:28:20,190
got an unlocked door, and we make a

594
00:28:20,190 --> 00:28:20,790
game plan.

595
00:28:21,310 --> 00:28:22,510
I will go first.

596
00:28:31,660 --> 00:28:33,440
And I didn't see anything out of place

597
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:35,100
that just didn't feel right.

598
00:28:47,850 --> 00:28:49,630
I take two more steps, and...

599
00:28:56,060 --> 00:29:01,480
And then I feel the bones in both

600
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,780
my arms break at the same time.

601
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,620
And next thing I know, I'm looking at

602
00:29:09,620 --> 00:29:10,060
the ceiling.

603
00:29:23,780 --> 00:29:26,960
I'm laying on my back, and I see

604
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,160
that there's blood on both my arms.

605
00:29:29,340 --> 00:29:31,340
And I call out that I'm hit.

606
00:29:34,620 --> 00:29:36,260
And all hell breaks loose.

607
00:29:43,030 --> 00:29:45,890
Benjamin Ashley was shooting at my team, and

608
00:29:45,890 --> 00:29:47,690
my team was backing out of the house

609
00:29:47,690 --> 00:29:49,590
to get away from the gunfire.

610
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:54,640
I can't fight back.

611
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:55,700
Both my arms are down.

612
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:57,220
I can't get up.

613
00:29:57,700 --> 00:29:58,960
And so I was kind of like,