Going West: True Crime - DeOrr Kunz Jr / Part 1 // 413

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

In July of 2015, a family headed out for a camping trip in the woods of Idaho only for their two-year-old to vanish on the first day. The parents called 911 and were adamant that he was abducted after wandering off by himself. But after police assessed the scene and interviewed everyone present, they composed a different disturbing theory. This is the disappearance of DeOrr Kunz Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host, Heath. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Today's case was recommended by Hillary, Claire, Margie and Jasper so thank you all so much we have been following this case for a while and finally wanted to cover it because there is a lot to discuss here. Yeah like way

too much suspicion in one or actually not even one direction in so many different directions that it's mind-blowing so please pay attention today and also please share thisblowing. So please pay attention today and also please share this episode. Yes, please do and let's dive into this one. All right guys, this is episode 413 of Going West. So let's get into it. Your teen requested a ride, but this time not from you. It's through their Uber Teen account.

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and a grand prize of $25,000. Play at games.circlek.com or at participating Circle K stores. In July of 2015, a family headed out for a camping trip in the woods of Idaho, only for their two-year-old to vanish on the first day. The parents called 911 and were adamant that he was abducted after wandering off by himself. But after police assessed the scene and interviewed everyone present, they composed a very different disturbing theory. Deor J. Coons Jr. was born on December 30th, 2012 to parents Jessica Mitchell and Vernal Dior Coons in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Jessica and Vernal were high school sweethearts and dated for two and a half years while they were in school together, but after they graduated, they split up and kind of went their separate

ways for a little while. They actually both married other people and Jessica had two children with her husband. But after a few years, both marriages ended in divorce and Jessica and Vernal ran into each other again, reconnected and fell back in love. Vernal proposed and as they were planning their wedding, Jessica learned that she was pregnant with a baby boy. So they held off the wedding to focus on their son, whom they named Dior, after Vernal's middle name. That's why he's Dior Jr.

Affectionately nicknamed Little Man, Dior was a sweet, playful, and chatty baby. Jessica remembers fondly, quote, he was the happiest kid, always had hot wheels, always making people laugh, goofinging around doing silly faces. Dior loved cars and trucks and was always toting toy cars around with him wherever he went along with three other prized possessions his blanket sippy cup and stuffed monkey. He loved playing Superman singing and reading books with his mom, and like his parents, he loved the outdoors and had a very adventurous spirit. Dior was adored by both sides of his family as well as his half-siblings, and regarding his siblings, Jessica shared 50-50 custody with her ex-husband, so her older kids were with him pretty frequently. But when Vernal lost his job, Jessica, who was already unemployed, made the difficult decision to relinquish primary custody of her first two children until their situation

kind of could become more stable. So the kids moved in with her ex-husband indefinitely, and Jessica, Vernal, and Dior moved in with Vernal's dad in order to save money until they got back on their feet. But eventually Jessica found work as a certified nursing assistant and actually wound up taking over the full-time care of her grandfather, Bob Walton. Because of this, he claims that he and his great-grandson Dior were able to bond a lot more and they were able to spend a lot of quality time together.

Now Bob was 76 and he suffered from poor health, so he had to be hooked up to an oxygen tank 24 hours a day, but despite this, he and Dior were very playful with each other and Bob said that he loved his great-grandson very much. He was an avid outdoorsman, basically the whole family were, and they loved to camp and fish, which is something that he wanted to share with his great-grandson so on Thursday July 9th 2015 Bob Jessica vernal little Dior and Bob's 35 year old friend Isaac Renwanda

headed out to camp for the weekend in their home state of Idaho and Nobody but Bob who remember was 76 had met 35 year old Isaac prior to that day, but Bob described him to Jessica and Vernal as an oddball, but a quote, good guy. So kind of a strange group here, especially since the actual origin of the camping trip is still a subject of a lot of controversy. Especially because at one point, Vernell claimed that he wasn't alerted of the weekend trip until the evening that they left to go camping. So it seemed very sudden and just kind of thrown together. Which is totally possible. I mean, I've never personally

gone camping on such short notice because, I mean, the places that Heath and I go when we visit Oregon, like always book up for the summer. So sometimes we book months in advance and reserve our camp spots, but the spot that they were at doesn't take reservations it's small and for those who don't camp I personally think it makes the most sense to plan like at least a few days in advance you can get all your stuff prepped because like family campground trips like this usually include a lot of prepping and packing like we end up having to bring so much stuff. You know, you need pans and aluminum foil and trash bags.

You need food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yeah. Forks. Like, there's so many little things that you have to think about. And I definitely do agree with you, but I also think, you know, there are people out there that just can go camping on a whim. They just decide to take off and go, and then they do it.

I mean, I've had a lot of friends that do that Well, they did arrive in the evening, which there's been a ton of times where we're camping and somebody doesn't arrive till nighttime I like to arrive in the afternoon because then you can set up in the daylight since there's a lot of setting up to do But yeah, I think the reason I'm focusing on this is because it's so weird to us and a lot of other people That this trip seemed very sudden, and you guys will see why. Oh yeah, I definitely agree with that. And you know, the weird thing here

is that the accounts on planning changed from person to person, with Bob claiming at one point that he told the couple that they should go camping with him by stopping at their house on Wednesday morning, so the day prior. And Jessica said that she told Vernal about the trip the day before they left. But either way, it was pretty last minute here.

But however the camp trip came to be, the five campers headed to the Timber Creek Campground and the Salmon Chalice National Forest. The remote campground is located just outside of Ledore, Idaho, which is a small town about two hours northwest of their hometown of Idaho Falls Yeah, the Timber Creek campground has just 12 spots for campers and one review about it states quote This campground has two streams running on both sides of it So most camp spots have access right into the water There are 12 or so camp spots, $10 a night,

lots of trees and very flat. Excellent access to the surrounding area and trails and roads. Very few bugs, water available and vaulted bathrooms. Lots of space between campgrounds, not busy or packed at all. I was worried I wouldn't get a spot, so I got there early.

Only one other family was camping there. Tons and tons of campers and campgrounds in the area so if it was packed you could easily find a camping spot nearby. And this review was left on August 1st, 2022 so I'm assuming they went camping just before this in July so that gives us some insight on what it was like in the summer at this campground. Now on Friday, July 10th, 2015, so their first morning at the campsite, the accounts of the people present began to diverge so drastically that no two stories from the attendees are ever consistent again. According to a private investigator later secured by the family, after around 8am when

Dior and his parents were believed to have gotten up for the day, none of the activities of any of the five people present that day are confirmed, meaning anything could have happened between 8am and the 911 call placed just before 2 30 p.m. That afternoon as Jessica tells it she Vernal and Dior spent the night in the back of Bob's car instead of an attempt and awoke around 8 a.m To Isaac pounding on the window yelling wakey wakey eggs and bakey and remember Isaac again is the 35 year old friend of Bob the grandfather I remember Isaac again is the 35 year old friend of Bob the grandfather

So he's kind of like the outsider of this group Yes, and it's weird because her bringing this up, you know, they don't know each other So this would be a weird thing to do. Yeah kind of alarming that some random guys is knocking on your window Yeah, especially if they have you know, a two-year-old child there. He shouldn't be waking them up So, you know if this is, as we're gonna get into. So Jessica said that she remembers feeling irritated at this, but the three got up and began to cook breakfast. But no one else corroborated this portion of the story, and Isaac himself claims that he slept hours later than the others, and was not awake for breakfast at all.

So Isaac is saying, I never pounded on their window saying, wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey. slept hours later than the others and was not awake for breakfast at all. So Isaac is saying, I never pounded on their windows saying, wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, which is a pretty specific, you know, quote to remember. Yeah. There's going to be a ton of inconsistencies here. Too many. So when asked who cooked breakfast, both Jessica and Vernal took credit saying they made hash browns, eggs, and bacon. Then after they they made hash browns, eggs, and bacon. Then after they finished eating around 10 AM,

they decided to leave the campground and head into town because Jessica was in need of tampons because she suddenly got her period. Now a lot of women who are very invested in this case have pointed out on various forums that, you know, as women, we usually know when our periods are forums that, you know, as women, we usually know when our periods are coming on, you know, at least generally due to multiple signs or, you know, tracking it with birth control or a calendar, and that it's strange that she didn't come to the campsite prepared with feminine products, and that may be neither here nor there, or it could matter, so just keep these things in mind

because the inconsistencies stack up. But anyway, they drove apparently 30 minutes into town and said that they stopped at a convenience store called Stagestop to get tampons, which also became the site of much controversy in the accounts of those present that day. According to Jessica, she walked into the shop with Dior and picked up what she needed without incident until she noticed an adult man eyeing her son. Jessica said that this man had a predatory stare and watched Dior's every move while the man sipped his coffee.

Feeling rattled by this strange man, they left the store and she buckled Dior into his car seat in the back of their truck, noting that there was a Jeep parked nearby which she believed belonged to this predatory man. Then the couple explained that they needed diesel for their truck even though they had supposedly stopped multiple times for gas on the drive there the day prior. But this was later explained away by claims that the fuel gauge was faulty. And we'll add a map on our socials, but there is a highway that takes you straight out of

the wilderness of Timber Creek Campground over to the closest town, which like Heath said is Ledor. Now it's actually mandatory to pass through the center of Ledor to get to Timber Creek from the highway because once you get to Timber Creek campground, the highway and roads stop like it dead ends into the wilderness. And when coming from the campground, you drive 28 minutes and get spit out in the center of Ledor which today only has a few businesses like Two Inns, One Restaurant, and then the Stage

Stop which is listed as a store slash gas station and then a 24-hour diesel and gas station called Fred Place and these are all located within two blocks of each other on the main road which is is Railroad Street, and it's also called Highway 28. Yeah, and in the research that we did, it seems like most, if not all of these businesses were in that area in 2015 as well, so. Yes, exactly, and we'll post pictures, like everything is like Wild West themed out there,

which I feel like we've seen in Idaho a lot. Yeah, you're out in the middle of Idaho, you know Yeah, so we'll post pictures But yeah, my point is that from one end of town to the other it's point two miles Like it is a minute drive. So keep that in mind as well Yeah, because according to Jessica after they left stage stop They drove around looking for diesel fuel for about an hour they left stage stop, they drove around looking for diesel fuel for about an hour. Even though Ledor is a community of fewer than, you know, like a hundred people and would hardly require

you to drive around for an hour. Yeah, again, diesel was two blocks away and you can drive through the whole town in one minute. So, and then after that, you just drive for miles and miles and miles along flat plains and mountains until you get to another tiny town. So there's really nowhere else to go. Well, strangely despite all of this Jessica even claims that they had gotten lost. I don't really know how you're gonna get lost in such a small town. Exactly. But they eventually did find a feed store with diesel fuel, but Vernal recalls that the store ran out of gas while it was pumping.

Jessica and Vernal chatted with the feed store employee as he filled them up, and Vernal remembered the guy talking to his son, joking and just kind of gesturing with him through the window, while Dior giggled from his car seat in the back of the truck. At one point in his line of questioning, the back of the truck. At one point in his line of questioning, Vernell also claimed that there had been a dog with them on the trip, and they had brought the dog into town in the bed of the pickup truck, though that was later written off as a mistaken memory that would prove to be one of so many. It's just a weird thing to get wrong because anybody who has a dog knows that it makes everything very different, because it's a lot more difficult when you have to deal with a dog.

I mean, yeah, how the fuck do you forget that you had a dog on the trip with you? Yeah, it's such a specific detail. Well, like Jessica's, Vernal's story changed over time, but also differed from hers from the very beginning. Vernal claims that after Jessica finished shopping at stage stop, he and Dior ran into a Budweiser beer delivery truck in the parking lot, and that Dior was thrilled at the sight of such a big truck. Vernal remembers him chatting with Dior and even letting him sit in the front seat of the truck,

which Dior was apparently very happy about. But in a rare moment of alignment when it comes to recalling the events of that day, both parents claim that they were back at the campsite between 1 and 1 15 p.m. Jessica recalls that Dior was tired and seemed to want to hang back at the campsite with Grandpa Bob instead of go fishing with the rest of them. So Jessica, Vernal, and Isaac headed down to the creek to fish for a bit, while Dior played with his toys on the ground next to Grandpa Bob. Jessica remembers that she first made sure this was okay with her grandpa, and when he

assured her that it was, she joined the men at the creek to fish, which was only about a hundred yards from the campsite. But when Vernal returned to the campsite a bit later, their son was gone. Their stories really diverged again at this point and it was unclear if Bob had been confused and didn't think he was supposed to be watching Dior or maybe if he had gotten distracted or if he had just fallen asleep. I mean I know from personal experience that when I used to go camping with my grandparents, they would always fall asleep around the campfire. So it's very possible that Bob kind of, you know, maybe took a nap right there in the middle of the day. Well, it's weird because he later claimed that he doesn't remember consenting to watch him at

all while the rest fished like this detail. He doesn't remember at all. Now a little while later, Vernal came back up to the campsite to check on Dior himself, whose toys were still strewn on the ground around Bob's chair. So it's weird that he noticed his son was gone, left, and then came back to see if he was back, and he wasn't. So then Vernal apparently called down to Jessica,

who was still by the water, and told her that Dior was missing. She ran up to the campsite to join them and they frantically searched in the vicinity for Dior, looking in the cars and tents, calling for him incessantly and finding nothing. Then Jessica called her mom, whose name is Trina Clegg, and frantically told her the news. According to Bob, he assumed that Dior had gone down to the creek with his parents, but overall he seemed confused about the timeline and the circumstances and didn't initially

seem concerned about Dior's disappearance, according to Vernal. In one iteration of his recollection of the day, remember his story changed so much, everybody's story changed so much, except for one person, which we'll discuss, Vernal claimed that they searched for 15 minutes before notifying the police. But another estimate was closer to 45 minutes.

Between 2.26pm and 2 2 28 PM, Jessica called 911 and here is a clip from that call. What's the address of your emergency? I'm actually camping in Redworth. Just outside of Redworth. My two year old son. We can't find him. How long has he been missing? About an hour. An hour? Yeah. Jessica?

Yeah. Okay. What is he wearing? He was wearing cowboy boots, a blue, um, like pajama pants and a camel jacket. Topology. Hello? Yes, I... I'm not exactly sure how to give it up.

What's your name? Bernal? Are you there? Yeah. Okay. We're calling you with any more questions. We'll call you when we arrive, okay? Is your husband calling too? Like all down where we were camping at and we can't find him at all. Okay, we need you to stay within cell service. We've got people going on on the way. Thank you Now both Jessica and Vernal took credit for wanting to make the 911 call

Jessica says that she's the one who wanted to call and claim that Bob agreed with her But Vernal said that he made the decision to call and that Bob was actually hesitant and didn't think it was necessary to do So yet, but in the end they both dialed at about the same time was actually hesitant and didn't think it was necessary to do so yet. But in the end, they both dialed at about the same time. And this is really interesting to me because Vernal is kind of like insinuating that Bob almost has something to do with it by saying like, well, he didn't seem very concerned when we were trying to call 911. He didn't think it was necessary for us to do so.

But Jessica's not saying that she's saying that, Oh, you know, Grandpa Bob is agreeing with me saying that I should call 911. So I think it's really interesting as we go on to note that. I'm so glad you brought that up because it's interesting for a couple of reasons. One, um, Grandpa Bob is related to Jessica, not Vernal. Exactly. And then two, a lot of this story feels like pointing fingers and planting little tiny clues to point the blame in another direction because everybody is doing that. Yeah, there's a lot of deflection going on here. Yeah, so much. But the nearby Lemhi County Sheriff's Office were very concerned just given, you know, the rugged terrain of the area and the

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or up all night turning your bedroom into the booth, thirst is everything. Obey your thirst. Right. Within hours, hundreds of people were scouring the campground for any sign of two-year-old Dior, but they were coming up empty-handed. Stone Reservoir, which is a large body of water, loomed nearby, and investigators feared the worst, that he had wandered off and fallen in when Bob hadn't been paying attention. So, divers searched the reservoir, scouring the bottom using underwater sonar. Scent tracking dogs apparently picked up Dior's scent near the reservoir, but they didn't find so much as an article of clothing, let alone any remains.

The stream where the family had been fishing was searched as well, but nothing was found there either. Hundreds of people, both volunteers and professionals alike, searched into the night for Dior, with the Lemhi County Sheriff's Office making use of ATVs and also helicopters. A radius of two and a half miles or 4 kilometers around the campsite was searched, and still, it just turned up nothing. Very quickly, the chance that Dior would be found alive was slipping away. And as investigators saw it, there were only about four tangible possibilities here.

That he had strayed from the campsite and had an accident, that he had been met with a wild animal, that he had been abducted, or that one of the four adults present with him at the campsite that day had something to do with his disappearance. One investigator working the case highlighted that 75% of children who are reported missing between the ages of one and three years old are found within four tenths of a mile or point six kilometers from where they disappeared so the most likely outcomes seem to be that whether or not he was found alive he hadn't been able to get very far at all and they had been searching far

without finding a thing so it seemed like yeah I mean it just seemed like a very strange scenario yeah like it didn't make sense that he just walked off or was taken by an animal because they searched like you're saying far and wide And he wouldn't have gotten even as far as they searched by himself. Yeah, and I mean he's a two-year-old kid He's got tiny little legs. He's not going that far So Dior's parents were immediately concerned with the possibility of an abduction, but law enforcement was skeptical of this theory. Because again, there was only one road in and out of the campground, which made it a slim possibility that someone had been able to take a two-year-old child and escape, unless

it had been somebody lurking in the woods around the campsite or somebody that was staying at that campsite And that's something that I'm really curious about but nowhere in our research Did we find any talks of other families staying at the campground? Like I had read in that review it seems like there was a lot of space between camp spots But I didn't see a single thing about any other people staying there at this time but I didn't see a single thing about any other people staying there at this time. Yeah, and that would also, you know, help us with witnesses or somebody who could have potentially seen something or seen Dior. But yeah, I mean, if we don't know who was there at the campground, it's kind of hard to really come to any conclusion there.

Yeah, which just makes me feel like nobody else was staying there as we had read as well It wasn't a super busy area even in July so it's definitely possible that either nobody was staying there or you know They they didn't kind of overlap if this was also in the middle of the week But I mean people camp all week long in the summer But yeah, I didn't see anybody talking about this which makes me believe that maybe nobody was there or else that would have been a great Person to point the finger at. Yeah and you would think that this would be a huge point of speculation for people to kind of latch on to if they knew that somebody else was at that campground

then they would say oh well what about these people but yeah I mean it didn't come up or come out publicly. Exactly well more kind of on pointing the fingerer Jessica recalled spotting a man overlooking them from above the campground and that when they spotted him, he seemed to flee pretty quickly, like getting in his car and leaving. And I'm not saying that it's not possible for there to actually be, you know, a bunch of different creepy people around her, but this is the, the third man that

Jessica has named within the day of Dior's disappearance of having either been looking at Dior or talking to him which is kind of suspicious to me. Yeah it almost feels like again some deflection like yeah oh well there was this guy that was staring at my son oh yeah this guy was watching us from up above this hill oh yeah there was this person. It's like, how many fingers are you gonna point in different directions here? Well, especially because this apparent spotting

of this man overlooking them from the campground or above the campground rather, investigators followed up on this and they did not believe it to be credible. Like it didn't make sense for that to be true. So that's pretty interesting. Also, Dior was old enough to, you know, have put up a bit of a struggle or at the very least made noise if someone had taken him against his will. And Bob didn't

recall hearing a disturbance or seeing anything out of the ordinary. And neither did anyone else. Yeah. I mean, the only way that I could see this being a possibility is if Dior was Lured like he was lured under the guise of something you know oh, I've got some ice cream like come with me kid or something Like that you know what I mean yeah, yeah Because it's not it's not definitive that he wasn't taken because nobody heard a noise. You know point yeah absolutely Well one detail that is frequently brought up alongside the abduction theory is Dior's boots. Now he had apparently been wearing this oversized pair of

children's cowboy boots that day. And it's this pair that he could not wait to grow into because they, they didn't fit him. And his parents staunchly believed that it would have been impossible for him to be snatched, you know, by either an animal or a human without leaving behind the boots because they would have slipped off so easily. But they were never found in their entire searching.

They were never found. So that's really odd. Now the campground does see its fair share of predatory animals. So this was entertained as a possibility as well. But like the abduction theory, investigators claim it's unlikely. Animals generally will bury their prey in shallow graves and no such burial was found,

nor was there any trace of blood or remnants of a struggle. An attack also would have likely garnered screams from Dior and commotion at the scene of its occurrence, none of which had been audible from the campsite, and he couldn't have strayed very far on foot, as we've said. But just in case, investigators infiltrated nearby Wolf's dens

in the chance that he was dragged into one of them, yet no indications were found that he was present. I also look this up that between 2012 and 2020 in the U.S. there was only like 26 people that were killed by wolves. So it's not super likely to happen anyway. I would imagine, especially at a campground, people are a lot more aware of what animals are around because you know They want to stay safe and also most likely not during the day as well, right?

I don't I don't know if I see that happening. Yeah, so, you know, they checked into it didn't seem likely at all I've seen a lot of comments where people like to kind of write off this case. Is that happening? Oh, he was just dragged off by wild animal But no that really didn't seem to be what happened here. So as searches entered their third day, his parents, investigators and volunteers alike were dumbfounded at how he had just vanished. It didn't make any logistical sense. 200 people arrived at the campground that day, which was Sunday, July 11, 2015, to aid in the search. But by the end of the day, with no evidence emerging, volunteer efforts were called off,

and the Lemhi County Sheriff's Office forged ahead alone. On Monday, July 13, 2015, so three days after Dior went missing, his parents returned to Idaho Falls without their son. That evening, they held a vigil in their hometown park, which drew dozens of supporters, friends, and family members. That same day, they recorded a now infamous media interview with East Idaho News, in which Jessica held up her son's prized possessions.

And here's a clip from that interview. 226 is when I, was it 226? It was 236 when I called. Two, it was 236 is when she called and I was in the truck hauling down to the road trying to get service, because I didn't think one bar would get it. So she got very, very lucky. I was blessed that she was able to get service because I didn't want to try and risk getting halfway through my talking to 911

and have it cut off. He was right with us. Where it's at is, I mean, I thought it would be perfect to go camping there because it's enclosed by walls of mountains and there's not much space around there that he could go. And our biggest concern was the creek, which was knee deep, few feet wide, but he's a little guy.

They have torn that creek upside down and in and out. Divers have gone through wetsuits along with the helicopter. That was the world's most advanced search and rescue helicopter volunteered out of Montana. Those guys were just amazing. The accuracy they had with the night vision ability it has and the heat range you can see. Tell us a little bit about, first off, how are you guys holding up? I know everybody's, a lot of people are praying for you.

They're concerned for you. Friends and family and hoping to be strong for him. The support around us is what's, I know keeping me together because if we didn't have all of our family, the minute I called my mom and she was up there in a matter of hours and same with the rest of our family. They were just up there around us.

We have hope is the thing. Hope is what keeps it going. Hope is because the search is not over. Search is not done. We will find him no matter what. You were in the truck so was it you that first realized, oh no, yours not. No we both did. No we both did. No, we both did.

After 20 minutes of up and down the creek and up and around the camp and he wasn't there, that's what I got in my pickup truck and drove down the road to try and get some service. Especially after screaming his name, we have nicknames for him. No sound of him, no crying. This little boy is not, he's a goer and a mover, but he does not go away from his parents. He does not... Yeah, he's very attached to us.

So this is very unusual. Very, very unusual, sir. And we didn't hear people around us. We didn't see anybody. So he was just kind of playing and you guys were doing your thing and then he noticed... He was playing with my grandpa. He was getting ready for a nap. By that time it was almost two

and he usually takes his nap. We were just, yeah, we decided we were gonna go a little exploring. He was gonna be good with grandpa by the campfire. We were at more than probably 50 yards away in 10 minutes. But the time I seen him to the point I figured out he was gone and I come back up in the crick and I've actually seen there were some things down by the little minnows that I thought he would just love.

So when I come back up to get him and I yelled over to grandpa, where is little Dior? He immediately shock. He came up to you because it's such a small area. That's what a lot of people they don't understand is they just assume how could you let your kid out of your sight? This area is pretty well blocked in and you can see You could there's no way you couldn't not see him in what we thought and in just in a split second Your whole world is upside down and Vanished should should be out there and happen to see this. What would you say?

We're looking for you son, and we will find you. And we love you more than anything in the world. You have a lot of people who love you and are looking for you. Buddy will find you. Daddy will find you. We'll never stop looking until we get you a home. I've got a two-year-old

and you guys have been all I've thought about the past two days. Is there anything you want to add anything we didn't get to? Just if somebody has him, please don't hurt him. Just bring him home safely to us. No matter what it breaks. He belongs. Even if you have to just leave him at a store where somebody else will see him

and bring him home safely to us. I don't, yeah, just drop him off somewhere where somebody is at so that they can see him and bring him home. And if that may not be the case, we will search for you and search for you and search for you until we find you. No matter how long it takes,

no matter what we gotta overcome, we will find you, son. So that interview is actually about 15 minutes long during the rest of it. Vernal is talking the most and he and Jessica are just kind of going over the day and their weekend and searching for him. And Vernal kind of goes onto these tangents about exactly how he was searched for, which we've already covered a lot of that. But yeah, their stories are definitely differing a little bit here from what we've discussed and from what they originally told the police. That same day after three days of searching, police finally brought in the parents to be questioned about the possible connection to their son's disappearance.

Though investigators noted that they did seem like grieving parents, which you guys can hear from that video, it was hard to ignore that their accounts of the day their son vanished were murky at best. Investigators began to run through the accounts of the day as the parents had relayed, which included multiple witnesses at the stores they visited. I mean, they tracked down the guy that fueled their car with diesel that day, and he was completely puzzled that Vernal had told them that he had ran out of diesel fuel. The attendant said that he had not run out of fuel, nor would he.

When asked if he had seen Dior that day, he said that he hadn't, despite Vernal claiming that the man had interacted and even played with Dior through the window of the truck It almost then feels like them saying oh, you know this man in the store was staring at Dior This guy was talking to him this guy let him go into his you know Budweiser truck Was it Budweiser Bud light Budweiser? Yeah? Yeah? It's it almost feels like they're trying to say a lot of people interacted with him because he was there. Yeah. But was he?

Yeah, they're trying to like set up the situation here. And when asked if Dior had been with them that day, the man claims that he hadn't recalled seeing a baby, only an empty car seat in the back of the truck. Huh. Yeah. Strange. Huh. Yeah. Strange. When they tracked down the man who had made the delivery for Budweiser at the Stage Stop convenience store, the man was surprised at Vernal's retelling of the events as well. He claims that he never met Vernal, nor Dior,

and that he had not and would not allow a child in his truck, as that was a safety hazard and a liability for his company. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of you guys had that part in the story earlier were like what? Like that would never happen. Yeah, that just seems like and now it's confirmed that that's all bullshit. All of it. None of these witnesses are saying that any of this happened nor that they saw Dior or a baby that day. Absolutely and also on top of this the Budweiser guy said that he wouldn't have parked anywhere near Dior or a baby that day. Absolutely, and also on top of this, the Budweiser guy said that he wouldn't have parked anywhere near Dior or his family that day because he pulled his truck into the back where deliveries are typically made, not out in front where people parked.

Private investigator Philip Klein, who was later hired by the family to investigate Dior's disappearance, said matter- factly, quote, That's very disturbing to us. We can't even verify basic information that Vernal tells us, and neither of their stories match. It's not even close as a matter of fact. Eyewitnesses that they have listed, from guys that distribute the beer, to the clerk at the store, to the person that pumped the gas, to the basic timeline

information. Vernal and Jessica tell us one story, but then the witnesses say no, that never happened. Here's what did happen. So we take all of that and we come back to them with, okay, tell us what really happened, because all these witnesses that you've given us, they don't match. And so they tell us the story, and again, we go out and we try to re-verify with different witnesses. Then, in some cases, some say, we don't even know who these people are. Who are you talking about?

Not only that, it comes down to the simple things like, they played with Dior at the store. We talk to the witnesses before and after, who didn't even see a child. It brings concern to us, and brings us the question of, why would they lie to us? Why would they not just tell us the truth? So contrary to Vernal's recollection, Jessica doesn't remember the man in the Budweiser truck at all, and said that Dior had been inside with her at stage stop. She did however relay her recollection of the man that she says was eyeing them while sipping his coffee inside, saying that she was concerned that he had followed them back to the campsite,

and that he had taken Dior as soon as the parents were away from him. She said that she felt alarmed by the way that he was watching them, and that investigators should attempt to track the man down and question him. Right, and it's just, again, it's interesting that she is saying, Dior was inside with me and we saw in a Budweiser truck with Dior, and the guy who had the truck said, no you weren't. So it's like, neither of what they're saying matches, and it's like which one is true, if either. Well, here's a really, really interesting thing that comes into play here, because another mother in the area called in a tip potentially connecting the sighting at the general store after she heard about Dior's disappearance.

She had been hiking with her family, including a young son that was Dior's age, on July 18, 2015. And she recalls the man watching them as they hiked, and that they saw him later at a convenience store as well. And this was kind of alarming to her. So she remembers feeling disturbed and unsafe, and that she had quickly piled them into the car and driven off afterwards. They also noted that he was driving a Jeep, just like the man whom Jessica had seen allegedly

leering at them in stage stop. Detectives managed to track down this man because he was a frequent customer of the store, and his alibi for the time that Dior went missing was verified. And he claimed that he didn't even remember seeing Dior at the stage stop that day. And it's so cool that police were able to track this guy down to determine that he did go to the store. He did drive a Jeep because it also then makes you wonder if, um, you know, Jessica had seen a man in the store and noticed the Jeep and then took that later on and tried to like spin a story about it that wasn't true.

So the fact that they were able to confirm that this man is real, but that he was not in the area when Dior went missing is super important. Yeah. So if they were lying about the trivial details of their day, what else could they be lying about? Guys, we have never done this before in the history of going West, but we are going to take a break here and do a part two because there is so much more to this story. There's so much more to discuss. It just makes sense to break it up in two.

So we're going to release the second part not on Friday like a normal episode. We're gonna come out. We're gonna use this as the Friday episode, but come out with it a little bit early so that you guys don't have to wait three days for the rest of Dior's story. 🎵 Thank you so much everybody for listening to part one of this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and get ready for episode two that's gonna be coming out in just a couple days. Yes, sorry to do that to you guys.

This was just gonna be a really long episode. We thought this made a little bit more sense and we've never done this, but a lot of other podcasts do it and I think that it works. Yeah, I think it's necessary to break it up because there's gonna be a lot of talk, a lot of conversation more Inconsistencies and we are ready to give you all of the tea

Yes, so thank you guys so much for tuning in and we will be right back with part two Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the future. If you make your purchases while working, eating or even listening to this walk, then you know and love the excitement of the shopping. But are you afraid of getting the best deal? Rakuten members, yes. They store the brands they like and make important savings, in addition to cash returns. And you can also start making money

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