Morbid - Episode 109: The Mysterious Disappearance of Bryce Laspisa

Episode Date: December 30, 2019

Man, this case is a roller coaster of frustration. 19 year old Bryce Laspisa suddenly changes during the first two weeks of his sophomore year in college according to his closest friends and girlfriend. One night in August, he took a road trip to nowhere that ended with his abandoned SUV at the bottom of an embankment and Bryce nowhere to be found. To this day, he has never been seen or heard from again. Did he end his life? Did he leave with intentions of never being found? Is he alive at all? The questions far outweigh the answers in this case but one thing is for sure, Bryce was going through something before he disappeared and it may be the one piece of information that could crack the case wide open. Thanks to our sponsors for this episode! Vistaprint Vistaprint wants you to be able to “Own the Now” in any situation, which is why our listeners will get free shipping on all business cards, any style, any quantity. Just go to Vistaprint.com and enter promo code Morbid for free shipping on all business cards, any style, any quantity. Limited time offer. Own the now at Vistaprint.com promo code Morbid. Zola Sign up at ZOLA.com/morbid today to get your FREE personalized paper sample. Then use code SAVE50 to get 50% off your save the dates. Wantable Wantable has taken the challenge out of finding the right clothes for me to wear every day! They can help you too! Go to Wantable.com/MORBID for $25 off your first Edit. See other great pods that cover this case, notably: And That's Why We Drink Sinisterhood See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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That's ANGI, or download the app today. Hey weirdos, I'm Elena. I am Ash. And this here, it's a morbid. It is. It's a full morbid. This is the morbido. It's a big ol' morbid up in here. ["Morbit Up in Here"]

What's up? How's your birthday? My birthday was amazing. What'd you do? First of all, I have to say thank you to every single one of you lovely, delicious, beautiful, magical weirdos. And your wonderful birthday wishes you made my day. Nay, you made my year. I'd like to thank the people that also wished me a happy birthday because they all thought it was my birthday. It wasn't. I didn't birth three children yet.

It was my birthday, but I, guys, I really appreciate it. You guys are amazing. And Asha's message made me cry legitimately. Yes. And yeah, you guys did just amazing and you know how to make a gal feel special. It's always my goal to make people cry on their birthday. And you did. With my post and my gift. It was wonderful. Everybody was so sweet. I really, really, really appreciate it. Um, and Ash got me tickets to see the Silver Sun pickups. Yeah, I did. Next year and I am so excited.

I was like, you don't have to take me. Yeah, you literally were like, you don't have to take me, by the way. I was like, are all please. Which is also what I did for your Christmas present. I was like, these are tickets to something that you don't have to take me to, but I'd love to go to. We're going to see Gary Goldman. The goal.

We're going to go see the girl because he's in remiss from the depressed. I'm excited about it. That's gonna be fun. Yeah, I got tons of fun shows to go to. A John got me tickets to see Allie Wong, which I'm so excited about. We're going to see Stas. We're going to see Stasi. We're going to see Stasi. I'm going to shit my fucking pants.

Like, oh, and then John got me tickets to see watch what crap in. Oh, and I get to go to that because John doesn't want to. So excited. It's going to be a great year. And then we get to do all of our shows. Yeah, we get to go to awesome podcast shows and do awesome podcast shows.

I bought pants to wear at the grammar C show, which is in New York on January 30, 30th. 30th. And my pants are amazing. Guys, these pants are legendary. They're going to blow your fucking mind, holes. They will actually probably literally make your brain leak out of your ears. I just figured that if I get to like sit on stage for something, it's probably not gonna happen for a long time, or like ever got in my life.

So I'm gonna have a moment. Yeah, you gotta have a moment. Yeah, you wouldn't be ash without a moment. No, even if someday like when I'm old and like in the retirement home, I'm still gonna be having moments with fancy pants. Oh yeah. Yeah, always.

I also hope my kids don't put me in a retirement home. But I know. Yeah, that's, that's, that's either here or there. We have other shows too. We do. So after the Grammarie C show in April, we're gonna be in Philly and DC. Super excited.

I'm so excited about that. You know who I think is coming with us to Philly and DC? Who? Annie. Annie? Yeah. Oh my goodness. Anyways.

Just a little brief sprinkle. So we're also, then we're gonna be in CrimeCon. Oh, guys, oh my goodness. Anyways. Just a little brief sprinkle. So we're also, then we're gonna be in CrimeCon. Oh, guys, CrimeCon. Oh my god. You gotta be there. You gotta get there, guys. I gotta see Nancy and I gotta see Keith. And if you guys try using our code Morbid2020,

yes, do as you'll get a little discount. You will, and you gotta be there. It's gonna be awesome. You're gonna be on podcast row. You're all cordially invited. You are. We want you there. By us. All your faces.

And then after we get to go to CrimeCon, literally like a week later, we're gonna be in Nashville for two shows. The first one is sold out, but we got it at the late night. We got a late night show in Nashville. And those shows just so everybody knows are going to be two different shows. Yes, they are.

They're gonna be two different cases. So you're gonna get a brand new show for the second show. Yeah, a few people said they are going to be two different shows. Yeah, they are. They're going to be two different cases. So you're going to get a brand new show for the second show. Yeah, a few people said they were going to both. So we were like, well, we won't make you sit through the same two cases. We never want to make somebody sit through the same show over and over again. So we're going to try to make it different. It's going to be lit most of the time. A lot of the time.

But yeah, so that's exciting. And I think there's some other like little things that we can mention on maybe next week's episode because I want to get into this one. I'm so excited for this one. I've wanted to do this since we had a podcast. You have. Ashes mentioned this one a lot and we finally decided to go really hard at it and wow, guys. I knew I had to let Alaina research this because I wanted a deep dive, not an ash dive.

It is real serious. Alaina's like one of those people that dives for bodies. I'm like one of those people that snorkels. That's a big help. You scuba ice snorkel. Oh, that's a good way to put it. Thank you. There you go.

I love that. I'm scubaing right now. So what do we do? I scuba hard on this. So this is the case of the mysterious disappearance of Bryce Les Pisa. I'm so excited. And I know a lot of people were like,

oh my God, I love this case. So I hope I do it justice for you guys. But you always do. I am. Oh, girl. Oh, I love you. You always be doing that. This one had me raging.

I'm going to let me tell you. Well, there's a lot of twisties and turnies, there's a lot of twisties and turnies. There's a lot of twisties and turnies. So, let's just start right at the beginning. Bryce Laspiza was born in Illinois on April 30th, 1994. What, what? He's a Taurus. You know, I don't know anything about Taurus.

I think, there's my best friends with Taurus. They're very, and they're very loyal, I think. Oh. I'm pretty sure. Love that. I mean, she's very well. They're very, and they're very loyal, I think. Oh. I'm pretty sure. Love that. I mean, she's very loyal. So, hey, Lindsay, let's find out if Bryce was loyal. His parents were Mike and I'm gonna actually speak of him

in the present because we don't know what happened. It's easy. It's easy to say like he was, you know what I mean? But I'm gonna try to keep it in the present. If I don't Please don't yell at me His parents are Mike and Karen less fees us together. They lived in Naperville, which is a suburb of Chicago Which sounds like you take lots of naps there. I'd like to settle there

So I would love to just go visit Naperville for a little bit anywhere. I'm supposed to live. It's Naperville It is Naperville. You don't take a napah. You don live it's Napaville. It is Napaville. You take a Napa, you know, move to Napa. Where are my sex in the city heads? Oh. So he graduated in Napaville High School in 2012. That makes me feel very old. And that summer, the family moved from Napaville in Illinois to, and that,

Naperville is in DuPage County. DuPage? Just put that into, you know, where it is. They moved to Laguna, Nagel, in California. Oh, girl. Yeah, I'm saying that sounds fancy. Any Laguna, I feel like it's fancy. Well, it's like Lauren Conrad's home.

Lauren Conrad, okay. It's like Lauren Conrad. Why did I just pick a love that? I don't know, but I love that. Where am I? That same fall he started Sierra College in Rockland, California. He stayed in the dorms. He was on the deans list, according to a verified insider on WebSlooths.

Now, let me let you know what a verified insider on WebSlooths is. She's doing a shimmy as she says I am I'm shimming for web so they're like please do a YouTube channel. I constantly shimmy when I get excited about it But web sleuths I just made an account specifically for this case just so you guys know They have verified insiders, which is a new thing that they're doing where if somebody claims to know a family a victim is a new thing that they're doing, where if somebody claims to know a family, a victim, claims to be a law enforcement, a medical professional, a psychiatrist, like any kind of literally like insider into any kind of case, they verify it. They verify it to make sure that they can speak on that.

And if they find out that they're not verified, and they're not actually that, they take down everything that they've said. Oh, sure. Because you can't spout that shit if you're not really in it. So anything that I have found for this case from WebSlooths, it's from two verified insiders. And their names are like, well, they're user names. I like Karen. And then the other one is like, dragon something.

Dragon something. I'm not going to find it again. It's very legit. Either way, these two people are verified insiders. They know the family. They were involved in this case. So just letting you know. Now Bryce was very artistic.

He was very creative. That was something he was known for. He took graphic design courses in school. By all accounts, you know, he did very well in school. Everybody liked him. He wasn't like, nothing stuck out as like, but he had this weird thing, you know what I mean? He was surrounded. He had a big group of friends. He, by all accounts from his parents, loved, you know, loved his parents, loved his family. He was one of those kids that his mother says was very close to his parents

and like in the sense that they had like an open and communicative relationship. They could talk about it. Like yeah, like his mother Karen says he could literally talk to her about anything. Oh. So she's like if he wasn't telling me something that was concerning. Right. Um, he was always described as kind, funny, lovable, charming, just all positive things. kind, funny, lovable, charming, just all positive things. He was about 5-11, he had like super red hair and green eyes, which it's like cool combo. That is the ideal combo to me. I think that is a great combo. He had one of the best smiles, or has one of the best smiles I have ever seen. Have you seen pictures of him? I've seen like one or two. You look at pictures of him. He has this like huge

megawatt smile. It's just like you wouldn't have a thing for teeth. Yeah I love good teeth. I love nice teeth and he had he has beautiful teeth. I'll be right back. Keep talking. And yeah she's gonna look up a picture. You know what I gotta. And guys like I will of course post photos of this whole case. When you see it, it's like his smile makes you smile. Oh, he does have a good smile. Yeah, he just has one of those. And it looks like he's just like, hey girl.

Like he always just, yeah, it makes you smile. So it's just, you know, in 2013 he got a huge tattoo on his left shoulder. It's a Taurus bullhead with Roman numerals for his birthday, so it's like a zodiac tattoo. Love that. This is kind of cool. I have a zodiac-ish tattoo. According to one of the webslues verified insiders Karen. Like Karen. He also had an M and K for his mother and father's initials in that tattoo.

Oh, that's really sweet. I would never do that. I would. But I understand what you would. What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill or are they made to kill? I'm Candace DeLong and on my podcast Killer Psychie Daily, which you can find exclusively on Amazon Music. I share a quick 10-minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the criminal masterminds you read about in the news. I have decades of experience as a psychiatric nurse,

FBI agent, and a criminal profiler. On Killer Psychie Daily, I'll give you my expert perspective on cases like the mysterious New York City drugings, Breaking Down Laurie Valow, aka Mommy Doomstays Motives, and what drove Caitlin Armstrong to murder? I'll also bring on expert guests who add even more insight into these criminal minds. I promise you won't regret adding these 10 minutes to your morning routine. Hey, Prime members, listen to the Amazon Music Exclusive Podcast Killer Psychie Daily in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US history, presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers and often for committing only minor offenses. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made national headlines.

The judges were earning a fortune, carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment and America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon music or wonder app So he started dating a girl named Kim's lie, which is a great

What up Kim's lie? I can slide. I would go by Kim's lie. I would too. I would want to be called sly Or get this is lie. Just call me slide. I I'd be like, also, if we get married, I'm not changing my last name. Never. I will not. This was his first year at college that he met and started dating her. She was like a beautiful girl. Like he was really doing the damn thing.

Okay. Like good for you. Can I price? Yeah, just get it. He spent the summer between freshman year and sophomore year at home with his parents, who they later said they spent a lot of time with him that summer. They saw him a lot, they never saw anything out of the ordinary in his behavior. Okay. August 2013 his sophomore year began. He got a campus

apartment with a roommate Sean this year. He was 19 years old at this time. Two weeks into that year his roommate Sean called Karen, who is Bryce's mom. And he tells her, I gotta talk to you. She's like, what's going on here? Because when your child's roommate is calling, that's concerned. Never a good time. He's like, I'm really worried about Bryce.

This is only two weeks in. Yeah, that's not a long time. That's not a lot of time. It's like, what the hell's happening in two weeks? He says, Bryce's personality a long time. That's not a lot of time. It's like, what the hell's happening in two weeks? He says, Bryce's personality has completely changed. Like, it's worrying him. He claimed Bryce stayed up. One night he said he stayed up drinking like all night.

And he said he's clearly drinking heavy. This is what's happening. Yeah. And then he said he's also taking the ADHD medication vivens. Which is no motherfucking joke. Yeah. also taking the ADHD medication vivens, which is no morphoconjoke. Yeah. Vivance is a schedule two controlled substance, so it has a very high potential for causing

addiction and dependency, especially if misused. The literature about it is kind of, it's hard to find any literature about it when it comes to mixing it with alcohol. It's not really known what happens when that happens. There's been no studies or anything like that. I haven't found anything that indicates that causes more adverse reactions, but obviously it's never good to mix

any medication with alcohol. So it's not gonna cause a good reaction. We just don't know exactly what. I feel like any medicine is like, do not mix with alcohol. Yeah, it's one of those things. There's not even like a specific warning for this medication, which I found weird.

From what I found, I didn't see any specific warnings that was like, do not take this with alcohol. I think it's just one of those, like, you don't really want to take any medicine with alcohol. But it's interesting because a lot of people point to what we're gonna hear about later as like maybe him mixing these caused like a psychotic break. I don't know if that's really true.

Yeah. When you look at this, but it could be. We don't know. Once again, there's no studies that say either way. So I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that. So on August 26, 2013, he went to class. As usual, he had a speech class and a web design class at Sierra College. Oh, fuck a speech class. Oh, God, I hate public speaking. It's so funny that on stage, I feel much better at a podcast show. Well, because everybody there, you would hope likes you. I would hope so. But a speech class?

I went to community college and there was about 10 people in my speech class. Three of whom were still my friends to this day. But other than that, I hated that shit. I would get halfs. That's, I hated it. And then my fucking speech teacher would be like, does anybody have questions? Somebody has to ask a question.

And you're like, no, does anyone have a question? And I would just be standing up there like panting, like somebody asked me a fucking question. Just asked me a question so I could sit my ass down. I gotta go. The only reason I loved my speech class in college was because I met one of my best friends in the whole wide world, Ali. I love that.

So, shadow to Ali. Love you. Love that. Speech class, bro. So yeah, he went to his speech class, he went to his web design class. His mother said that she talked to him, they had a quote unquote good conversation. Everything seemed fun. But the next day, August 27th, Kim, his girlfriend had some concerns. Like she was starting to see shifts in his behavior.

So she said he had texted her recently saying that she would be better off without him. Well, that's never a good text to receive. No. And she responded saying like any of us would be like are you breaking up with me? Like that sounds like you're breaking up with me. Yeah. Are you breaking up with me? And he said yes Be a text be a text not cool. And this is like an over over your relationship That's fun. Do have you ever seen that video? You don't text message break up. Yes I have a scene on the video one is the shoes video and you don't you don't text message break up. Yes, I have seen that video. One is the shoes video. And you don't. You don't text message break up. No. So that same day the 27th Kim went to his apartment to talk about things because she was like whoa, whoa, whoa. Like you don't get to text message break up me. You're not text message break up me. We're gonna talk about this face to face because that were adults.

They ended up making up when she got there. So they ended up talking through whatever it was. She did notice however that he was still acting really strange. And she says that he admitted to her that he had taken at least one by Vance pill, at least one. So it sounds to me like he was taking more than the prescribed dose. Yeah, from what I understand, Vance is like, out of all, but like, like more, like more than out of all. It's like a yeah, it's a more intense Adderall for sure And it's one of those things that you just and you don't want to take it if you're not prescribed it Yeah, it's just because you don't know like a dosage or anything Yeah, it's I mean, I'm like a big person when it comes to that anyways that like

She sure Don't take prescription pills that are not prescribed to you because they are prescribed to that person Reason with a dosage that is specific to that person, but I won't get on that soapbox So after this on October 28th at her one one thirty p.m Bryce talked his mom and he told her I'm gonna go break up with Kim again It's like damn According to Karen this was weird because she was like, he had been like in love with her.

Like talked about it all the time. How in love he was with this girl. With Kim's lie. So his mom's just kind of like, I don't know. I mean, whatever. What am I going to do about it? Like, sure, go ahead. So at 205 PM, Bryce texted Sean, his roommate, and said, quote, love you you bro. Seriously, you are the best person I've ever met.

You saved my soul. Oh, which like good on Sean. I know. Good job, Sean. Now at 209 P.M. Sean replied saying, I love you two men. You had you have an amazing life full of love and blessings. Don't waste that. You have too many people that love you, Bryce. Okay.

So it sounds to me like maybe Bryce was possibly hinting to Sean before this. He was like suicidal. He was feeling some type of way. And maybe Sean was, because who know, again, we're just speculating here because nobody said anything. But it sounds to me like Sean was maybe picking up on vibes and was just trying to put that out there to not be like too much, you know, to like, talk him off a ledge. Yeah, like he's trying to talk him off a ledge without scaring him out of talking to him.

You know what I mean? Like, because you want to be really delicate when it comes to that, especially when if someone hasn't come right out and said it to you, like it maybe Bryce hadn't come out and said something and just you know, just kind of feeling it and he was like, I just want to let you know that like we all love you. Please know that. Yeah. Which it's like that's that's adorable. That's like these two 19 year old boys are like I love you. It is. Like that's

wonderful. So he then showed up at Kim's apartment later in Chico, California at 10 p.m. This was about 90 miles away. Oh wow. Yeah, so that's a little bit of drive. She was super concerned. And she said like the conversation was weird. He was acting strange and he said he wanted to break up again. Now she thought he should not be driving. She was like, it wasn't even about the breakup. Like obviously I was heartbroken about the breakup. But I wasn't, I was concerned about how he was acting on the same thing. So she was like, I don't want you driving, so she took his keys and wouldn't give them back. And some people like looked at that and were like, she was just mad that he broke up with her and she didn't want to believe.

No. That's not the case here, I don't think. And Kim is literally like, I just didn't want him getting in a car and something that I care about him. Regardless of him breaking up with me twice in two days, I really cared about him. So, and this is what makes me think that she then called Bryce's mom with him standing right there. Yeah. If this was just because she was pissed about the breakup and upset. Why would she have involved his mom? She would never involve his mom. So she calls his mom right there and she tells her. Listen Karen, I'm upset. I think Bryce something's going on with him. I've told you he's acting strange. Now you remember Sean has already called his mother and told him he's acting strange.

His roommate who he spends all this time with and that was girlfriend who spends all this time with it. Both saying something's up with your kid. Now she's like, I took his keys. I don't want him driving. So she was like, Karen was like, okay, let me speak to him. So she spoke to Bryce. And Bryce was like, I'm fine, mom. Like he was, she was like, are you okay? What's going on?

He was like, I'm fine. I just want to go home. Right. And she has my keys. I want my keys. And she, and he kind of made it seem like I broke up with her and she's holding on to my keys. Mm-hmm. So his mom's like, okay, like that's fine. So she says to Bryce, you know what? I'm going to fly up there tomorrow and I'm going to check on you.

And he said, no, don't make any kind of plans, nothing like that. Please don't do that before we talk. And he said, because, quote, I have a lot to talk to you about. Oh, God. And she was like, what? And he was like, no, I'll tell you about it later. Now, Karen made Kim give back the keys. Karen, God, the phone and said, give him back his keys. I know that you're not supposed to blame anybody,

but I wouldn't have done that. I mean, if you're not there to assess the situation. Someone is clearly nervous. They see something that you're not there seeing. If anybody had any doubt that my kid, not that I have kids, but when I do have kids, if anybody doubts that they're capable of driving a vehicle, I'm not interested.

And honestly, like just for warn everybody, I'm real pissed at how his parents handled most of this case, and I'm gonna say it. And if you don't want to hear it, that's fine, but this is how I feel, and it's my podcast, so I'm gonna say it. But we are not the only ones who feel this way. I've listed a bunch of other podcasts about this. I've done a ton of research on the internet. Yeah. We are not alone in feeling like there was a lot of mishandled moments. On this.

And this is just the first one. Yeah, and this is just, and again, I'm a mother. I'm just stating to you what I would do in this situation. Right. And when it comes to my kid, if two people that have been very close to him, and if these are just two instances, from what I've read, it seems like a lot of people are telling her something's up with Bryce like he's acting strange. Anytime somebody who's that close to my kid is telling me something's off with them they're acting strange I'm worried.

I'm flying out there tonight. I'm there. I'm there immediately. We're gonna figure this out. Like it's just sometimes you gotta overe-, especially when it comes to your own kids, I'm going to, there are no boundaries. I'm going to overdo it. Because I'd rather overdo it than underdo it. And it's like, maybe I'll fly out there and they'll be like, Mom, I have the flu and I just don't feel good in like everybody thinks I'd be like, Oh, okay, well, let me make you suit. That's fine. I don't care. Like I'd rather do that than something bad happen. Right. Like this. So Kim gave back the keys, and at 11.30 PM, he left. Now Karen and Kim assumed he was going back home to his like a permanent on campus.

Now at 1 a.m., he called Karen, his mother again, and said, you know, was telling, she was like, what the hell's going on? He said he was fine. She thought he was home by then, because she was like, you should have been home by then. There was 90 miles away. He was not home. So he's calling her and he's like, I am on the road. Now, according to cell phone tower pings, he had gone south in the opposite direction to his place on campus. So now they're like, what? 11 a.m. Karen gets another call,

but this time from her car insurance company. It was either a call or a text. I've seen both. I'm going with call because that's what I've seen more. The car insurance company was telling her that roadside assistance was used by Bryce for that for their car. They were informing her of the charge that was coming.

So that's a little concerning. Of course, it could be anything, but you don't want to hear that. Right. Now, Karen called Sean, the roommate, and was like, is Bryce okay? I got the call about the, you know, the roadside assistance. And Sean's like, oh, Bryce never came home last night. Oh my god. What are you talking about? And she's like what? So Karen and Mike, his parents are now panicking. And they start checking all their records to see you know what where he could be. They're like because from the looks of it, Bryce was using their car that they gave to him. He also apparently had a credit card that was linked to like that they had access to. So it was to be on their account.

Which I guess is, because at first I was like, wow, what a lucky kid. He gets a parents credit card at 19. But then I'm like, but that's really good because they were able to look up the account. Like they were able to look at the charges. Well, also I have a credit card that like Papa can see, but it's my personal money.

Like it's not connected to his account, but he's an overseer on my account. That makes sense. And I'm 23. Yeah let's see like so you know. And it's good because he's like maybe don't spend that money on my account. He's like hey don't do that. Well this was good because regardless of if it was you know their credit card that they pay for if they just saw the account they were able to see that there was a $20 charge in the town of Button Willow on their debit statement. This is just a few hours away from their home. So they're like, oh,

so this leads them, exactly, this leads them to believe that Bryce was coming to their house. So they're like, okay, maybe he was coming, maybe he was gonna come home and we were gonna talk about all those things that he said he needed to talk to me about. And so, but they had been calling his cell phone

and they're not getting answers. And so now they're starting to freak out. So now Mike's, his dad, Liz looking at the credit card statement and he sees the charge for $20. And he's like, all right, it has the name of the business on here. I'm gonna call this business and ask them if they see him. What this is about.

Now the business was Castro, Tyre and truck. And that was what was linked to that $20 charge. The owner of this business was a guy named Christian. Now, let me just preface this and say, Christian is a damn guardian angel. He's a sweetie Christian. Holy hell. I remember the first time I heard this, I was like, Christians got something to do with it. No, and then I was like, Christian is just the wonderful human being. He's just a wonderful human being. Yep. Now, he tells Mike, so Bryce is dead, that he had delivered three gallons of gas to a man who had run out of gas and was on the side of the road this morning at 9 a.m.

Me all the time. I have always run out of gas at 9 a.m. on my way to work. You have actually so many times. Now apparently when when Christian had first gone to deliver the gas, he didn't see Bryce, just the car. And so he went to leave but Bryce immediately called back for the gas. He's like where are you going? Christian went back. And when he got there, Bryce was with the car now. And he informed Christian that he had been sleeping.

So Christian was like, okay. Where the hell? Unfortunately, this dispelled their belief that he was coming to their home. Because if he had received the gas and button willow at 9 a.m., then he would have already been home by now at 11 a.m. So where the fuck was he? So now, Christian being the really good, decent human being that he is,

can hear that Bryce's parents are worried as fuck. Like, he can hear the panic. As soon as he says, you know, I gave it to him at 9 a.m., and that's all I know, he can hear that they're like, are you kidding me, he should be home now. So he tells them that he will go back out to the place that he delivered Bryce the gas. And it was a drive. Yeah, just to make sure that he wasn't there just to see what was going on. What the deal was. Like Christian. So he goes there and what do you think he finds? Well, I know. So I don't want to say what it guys. What do you think he finds? No, that's not it.

He finds Bryce. Bryce is still there, y'all. Still there, three hours later, in the same spot. In the same spot, he was sitting in his car for three hours after getting gas. He told, so Christian tells Bryce, your parents are panicking, they are so worried about you. And he calls the parents back to let them know

Brice is still here So they spoke on the phone with Bryce and he tells them he was do they were like what do you do and do like what what is going on And he goes nothing and That was it like you can give us any exponent and the same spot for three hours for no reason Karen is like we'll go get gas and come here Now this is the first instance where you're like nope go there like for three hours for no reason. So Karen is like, we'll go get gas and come here. Now this is the first instance where you're like, nope, go there. Where I'm like, Karen.

Go there. Come on, Karen. At this point, he's about two or three hours, I think, away from their house. I would go there. I would go there. I would either ask, at this point, I would be like, Christian, I know we've asked a lot of you right now,

but this is kind of important. Is there any way you can stay with him? Yeah. Or is there any way Christian that you can bring him back to your place of business and I will come there? Mm-hmm. But I'm going there. Yep, because shit's weird. Already shit is weird. Right. But I don't know.

Any kid that's been sitting in their car for three hours with nobody just like hanging out like... And after being driving for all night too, it's like this dude has been on the road for like hours with nobody just like hanging out like and after being driving for all night too. Yeah. It's like this dude has been on the road for like hours and hours. Like almost a full day. Yeah. It's ridiculous. So yeah. So Karen tells him go get some gas. Come back to our house. Okay. So Bryce got the gas and off he went. So he would be coming home at around 3 p.m. If he came straight there. Uh-huh Didn't show up at 3 p.m. Any stop-sans or his phone and at that point I'd be shitting my pants. Yeah, I would be going insane So Karen and Mike call Orange County Sheriff's Department and they file a missing persons report, which like good job

Mm-hmm. That's you should do that Police were able to obtain an emergency paying order from AT&T, and I got this little bit of information from the sinister hood episode on this case, which by the way, go listen to that too, because one sinister hood is a great podcast. I really like their podcast, like shout out to sinister hood, and their episode is really good on this One of them is a mother too, so she has like the same kind of like rage Right and it's funny because the other one is like I'm looking at it from the kids perspective and like my parents would come get me

Like they were like so one of them is saying like I'm a mother mine wouldn't Just like your grandparents my grim my grimmer. It's what said you to come get me And it's just funny because like one of them is being like I'm a would send you to come get me. And it's just funny because like one of them is being like, I'm a mother and I would come get my kid. The other one's like, I'm a kid and I'm not even a kid. She's like a grown adult, but she was like as a child. Yeah, my parents would come get 100%.

Like this doesn't make sense. You're also totally be there getting me and being like, 100% fuck is going on. I feel like what are you doing? Elena has come to get me in many situations. I actually know that I think about it. And I would in this one. Oh, I love you. So they were, I got it from this bit of information from them that they were able to obtain the emergency order from AT&T and it showed his cell was pinging off towers only eight miles away from the gas station. He got gas foam, which is not very far

So in nine hours He had only got that gas and. So in nine hours, he had only got that gas and then stopped in nine hours. Damn. He got gas. That was it. Well, he's like very focused on whatever he's focused on because by this. Because by this. I guess 9.33 p.m. police found his SUV at a hotel and he's in the SUV. He's not even in the hotel. He's in the car. And deputies approached him and they were like, hey bro what do you do? And then he was like, oh I'm going to visit a friend. Which like, no you're not. You're supposed to be going home. Like why are you taking the other pants?

Stop also for nine hours. What friend are you going to see going home. Like, why are you taking the other pants? Stop also for nine hours. What friend are you going to see? Right. So they gave them a field sobriety test any past. Okay. They also said he didn't show any signs of being impaired. They're like, we weren't even worried that he was. We just were like, maybe we should do this.

I don't think you would seem impaired on violence if you took enough of it you would. But if he just do you think he was like taking like one, like he could have just been on one, you think? But one, I don't think would cause anything to really happen. And you think he was like totally sober. It seems like he was.

I mean, from what they said, he was polite. He was in good spirits, talkative, totally with it, able to answer questions. They literally gave him a field sobriety to have so bizarre. And the fact that he was friendly and in good spirits, talkative, totally with it, able to answer questions. They literally gave him a field sobriety test. And the fact that he was friendly and in good spirits, that really good experience. Yeah, and he could answer questions. He was very talkative. They said he wasn't quiet. They asked if they could search his car and he let them do it. He was like, sure, go

ahead. They found nothing of note. They told him his family was extremely worried about him. And when they asked him what he was doing, he said, quote, just blowing off some steam. Okay. So it's like from what? What happened? And it's like, what do you mean you're blowing off steam? Like you're just sitting in a car. What is happening?

So at 10.30 p.m., cops told them to call his mother. They're like, dude. You got to call your mom. This is ridiculous. And they said, Bryce didn't want to. Like Bryce was like, no, I'm good. So he was like, can you guys call her for me and just give me the phone afterwards? Which is weird. That is very bizarre. So they called her. They're like, okay, I've heard it, but I'm like, this is, I'm all bizarre again.

Everything is weird. I'm all bizarre again. So they did, they called her for him. They're like, hey, he's here. Yeah, they're like, doesn't want to chat. And then they gave her, him the phone to talk to her. His mom asked what he was doing and he said, quote, I'm going to hang with friends later.

And he said, I'm just chilling. I'm gonna go hang with friends later. But why are you just chilling in like random parking lots like very far away from your school? Well, that's, it's like, and like what friends are you going to hang out with? And he's just like, yeah, I'm just chilling for nine hours. Like no big deal.

It's not, and it's like, the thing, like you weren't running errands, like you weren't. No, you just weren't doing anything. You're just sitting for hours and hours. Weird. And then they let him, the police said he's fine. He can drive home. Like he's fine.

Well, there's nothing they can do. When they're gonna detain him, mom. Every interview I've seen with Karen, the mom says, she spoke with the cops and they said he was fine to drive. Oh my God, Karen. Yeah, that's your kid. Karen, at this point, if you didn't do it before, this is the perfect opportunity. If I'm that mom, and I don't give a shit how judge you this sounds, I really don't.

If I'm that mom, that is a cop. I'm gonna say to the cops, one, can you stay there with him? Or two, can you take him to bring him to the station? Yeah. I'll come to the station and get him anywhere. Please just hold on to him. I'll come get him. Stay there. So I can get there. I would be in the car on the phone with that cop. Already on the way there.

Would they be able to do that? Like, technically, I would at least be like, can you stay there with him? And I think they would do that. Can you tell him I'm coming? Can you do it? I would try at least. Yeah. And be like, you know stay there with them? And I think they would do that. Can you tell them I'm coming? Can you do it? I would try at least. Yeah.

And be like, I'm worried. I would at least be, I would say to the cop, listen, people have been telling me for weeks now or days now that they're worried about him and that he's acting strangely. And this whole thing is fucking strange. I don't know if he's just lucid right now to you. So please, can you keep him there because I'm very worried. Yeah.

You don't take these people's word that he's fine. Stop taking people's word that he's fine to drive. That you're okay. It is fine. Nothing is fine about this. This should be red alert should be flying in every direction. I agree. 600% Oh, you pay. So hours later he still didn't make it home. Karen and Mike called Christian, the owner of the tire place back because they were freaking out and that was the last person they had talked to. Christian agreed to check on Bryce eight miles away. So he was like, I will go back to the eight like eight miles away where we last found him, where the cops found him. He was like, I'll go there. And

I'll see if he's still there. Yeah. Because if that's the last him. He was like, I'll go there. Yep. And I'll see if he's still there. Yeah. Because if that's the last place you said he was, I'll go check on him for you. And guess what? Because it's like, why is Christian doing this? Right. Why didn't you just call the cops again? That's another weird thing. So you know what? He went the eight miles away where he was last seen. Embrace was still there. Yeah. Hour's order. 13 hours. He has just been doing nothing.

That is so bizarre. So, Christians like, yeah, he's here. He seems okay, but his eyes are a little red. Because he's probably fucking tired. But he's like, that's all, that's all I can see. So now Christians like, okay. I'm gonna let your son follow me on to the highway 30 minutes away, which is really nice. So that I can make sure he gets on the highway towards your house.

Mm-hmm. Again, 30 minutes away. The dude is leading Bryce onto the highway. So he does that. He leads him onto the highway and then he sends him on his way and he's like, now I have to go back to my life. Right. Now Bryce's GPS said he would arrive at his parents house at 3.25am. Mm-hmm.

So he spoke to his parents a few times. And when they asked for landmarks and stuff to tell where he was, because they were like, let us know where you are along the way. He was like vague and like weird about it. Like at 1.50 a.m. he told his mother quote he had detoured off i5 but was back on the i5 and then he said there's no lights and I can't see any signs. So how do you know where you are again Karen? That's not normal. Right. Just go get it. Please just go get it. Like this happened so long ago and I feel like it's happening right now and I need to go get Bryce. Well, it's just a couple hours away. Yeah,

it's just none of this is going on for a full day. Yeah. What are you doing? What are you doing? I'm staying at night. What do you think they're doing at home? That's the other thing. It's like what you're just sitting there waiting so you might as well be in your fucking car driving. Oh, and he gets worse. Oh, I know. So at 209 AM, he calls his mom and says, I'm tired. I'm going to pull over and sleep in my car. And be like, no, you're not though. Now, they are 30 to 36 hours on the road at this point. He's 30 to 36 hours a wake on the road and away at this point. She said she told him that's a good idea. Not a good idea. Karen, what the fuck is happening right now?

Like, why do you think that's a good idea? It is 2.9 a.m. What are you gonna, are you gonna go to sleep, Karen? Did you get in bed and go to sleep while your, while your child is having something going on? I'm sleeping in the fucking car. Yeah, no. No. My and Papa would be like, no, you're not taking a nap

on the side of the road alone at two o'clock in the morning. No, no, no. There's no time in my child's life that I'm ever allowing them to sleep on the side of the morning. No, no, no, no, no time in my child's life that I'm ever allowing them to sleep on the side of the road. I don't care if I have to fucking take a train, a plane, an automobile, a boat to get to them. A kayak. I will figure that shit out and I'm gonna get to them. I don't give a shit. Well, at this point, he can't be. He can't be that far away. It would be like an hour away.

It's like at this point, jumping that car, go a hundred miles an hour and get to him. Right. What the fuck? What the fuck? Like, this is what makes me angry. It's like, what are you guys doing at home, well, right?

This is what makes me question what happens. This is all just weird. Like, I'm not trying to take away from the fact that they don't know where their son is and that they are also victims of this whole thing. Probably could have gone a little different place. Guys, this is your responsibility here. This is tough.

So, where are we? Let's see. So at 209 EAM, he's pulling over, he's going to sleep. That was the last contact that they had, which that's awful. So 8 AM the next morning, he's not home. Oh, yeah, he's not home. In California Highway Patrol officers show up at Mike and Karen's door. Oh, you're worse nightmare. I was gonna say that had to have just been. I mean, especially after any to any time a policeman says up at your door or a police woman shows up at your doors like nightmare nightmare nightmare but then if everything had been going on with your kid the day before you're like fuck you gotta be sitting there being

like shit yeah and it's like at that point they have to be thinking I should have gotten the car and driven there I really would hope so yeah and so he asked you know do you own this 2003 Toyota Highlander? They said yes, and they were like, has it been stolen? And she was like, no, we gave it to my son to use. Well, they told them at 5.30 AM, a construction worker found Bryce's car, abandoned and wrecked near a Castellac lake.

It was found off an access road where there was a 25-foot in bank mint. His car was found at the bottom of this in bank mint and on its side. I don't like that. It was pretty banged up but it wasn't like to banged up to the point where you were like oh he's dead. Right. Like that's I've seen pictures of it up posted. It's, it's interesting. Bryce's, you know, mean things like his laptop, his phone, his credit card, his wallet, all that kind of shit. We're still in the car, which is bizarre. Yeah. And they were either in the car like around the car, but he was nowhere. Mm-hmm. However, his Duffel bag was open and unzipped and found outside the car.

It's also interesting that he even had a Duffel bag to begin with. Because all he was doing in the first place was going to break up with Kim and then as far as everybody knew, going back to school. Yeah. And that's the thing. So, what was in that Duffel bag that he took out? Right. And so, they assumed he must have taken something before he left.

Um, either he did or someone else did. Did they say if he had a passport, uh, they did say he had a passport. I don't think it was on him though. Okay. That passport. Just wondering. Um, the passport though is in like the registry of missing persons. So it's like in the database. So if it was ever like, they would have paid on it if something came, but nothing has so far. Spoiler alert. The keys were still in the ignition, spooky. Now, blood was found in the car,

but not enough to suggest there was a bad head injury or anything like that. It was more like droplets on, I think the driver's side window. Probably like scratch. And they said what probably happened was maybe he smashed his nose or he hit his head and it was like a little bit of stuff. It didn't suggest that it was like a fatal injury or anything. The back window was shattered and it looked like and it would it had been kicked out or it had been broken by like a tool, like an emergency tool. Okay.

So they said either it broke on the impact, which they don't think that's the case, but they said they think he either kicked it out or used an emergency tool to get it out. To get it out. Yeah. The evidence at the scene also showed that Bryce had accelerated when he drove off the excess road

and down the embankment because there was like, I think it was that dirt had kicked up behind, so it suggested he didn't break. Oh, okay. Like dirt would have been in front of the tires, but it wasn't back like he accelerated. Okay. There is this weird optical illusion that makes the like look like it's right there off the access road. Mm-hmm. But when you look closer, the embankment is between the road and the like. Investigators took this and initially were like, it kind of looks like it was driving off the road and the lake. Investigators took this and initially were like, it kinda looks like he was driving off the road

into the lake. Oh, like, and that he accelerated to get to the lake. To the lake. Which suggests he was trying to take his own lake. Right. Now, this could have also been, in my opinion, when I look at this, I can see why they would think accelerating would suggest he was trying to get

into the lake. To me, this says maybe, so what it is, is this access road and is a gate that's closed on this access road. Maybe he accelerated to get through the gate. I was thinking maybe what happened was he was driving around the gate and like was halfway onto that embankment to drive around it. was halfway onto that embankment to drive around it. He skidded veered off into the embankment, either he was trying to readjust to accelerate to get back onto the road, like to correct the fuck up, or it was just panic mode and he hit the accelerator instead of the break. Yeah. Because in that situation, like holy shit, you're going down an embankment, you might hit the accelerator by accident. Right. I mean, that's just me.

And according to some web sleuth verified sources, the vehicle did go around the gate. It didn't hit it. So the vehicle was trying to go around the gate. And they said that it kind of like veered off into the drop off. Again, like he was trying to go straight, but he accidentally fell to the side while maneuvering past the gate and just veered off into the drop off. Again, like he was trying to go straight, but he accidentally fell to the side while maneuvering past the gate and just veered. Well, he'd been driving for how fucking long like your bound to make a mistake. He was probably exhausted.

Of course, there was a huge search now, volunteers. I mean, investigators, journalists, helicopters, whether there was a dive crew, there was cadaver and bloodhounds, you know what I mean. The local businesses even let people like set up base camps. They were they were missing persons posters. Right. I mean they went crazy. So bloodhounds were used to follow the path from the car to wherever Bryce had gone next. And his girlfriend Kim actually gave the investigators some of the clothes she had at her house of his.

Oh wow. Like, did he close? Yeah. To try to get his scent off of it. The dogs led, so they did get his scent. Initially, the initial search led the dogs from the car, or down the embankment and towards the lake. Okay, but then it walked along the shore. Okay. And what did the second bloodhound search did was

did that same thing, but then went across a dam over the lake. Okay. And then went southward to a truck stop. Oh, okay. And when it got to the rest stop, it just stops. Mm-hmm. Like he hopped in a truck with someone. Yeah. Exactly. So people are thinking he walked all that way and then he hitched a ride. Mm-hmm. Be it a truck, a car, was he meeting someone? They had he planned something. Like he had he planned something or did he just hitch a ride? To me, it seems like he planned something because what was taken out of that devil. Exit. What was taken out of the deviluffel and he walked to the truck stop. Right. And then he knew it was there.

In the sand stops. Right. So he went somewhere. Right. He's not in the lake. Like, it doesn't make any sense. So they searched for 48 hours straight and there was no sign of him. They couldn't find any evidence besides that sent everything like that. At 207 am, six minutes after talking to his parents that night, they had, um, his SUV was found to be on video surveillance camera on Lake Hughes Road, which was

heading towards Castellac Lake. Okay. So he told his mother, I'm going to pull off and sleep. Six minutes later, he seemed driving towards that lake. Right. He wasn't pulling off the slitting area. He was not either he was bullshitting or or for some reason he was going to this very remote area to go to sleep. Yeah. I don't think that's that would happen. Right. They there was someone driving that vehicle. They'd have not positively identified it as Bryce because they can't see it that very well. Right. Assuming it's Bryce because it was very close after he called as Bryce because they can't see it that very well. Right. Assuming it's Bryce, because it was very close

after he called his mom. And they didn't find anything else in the car. Exactly. No, I have a suggestion. So just someone else was driving that car and there were no passengers seen in the car. The same camera captured him again on that road at 429 AM. OK.

So this road is very long and really windy and he went up and down it twice. Weird. And that doesn't make sense. And I think that the sinister hood episode that I listened to on this, I think they had a really good theory about this, which if he was, if you're gonna go with the theory that he was trying to take his own life, which I don't necessarily go totally with. I don't think so. But if you are, this can be seen as maybe contemplating, trying to get the Hutzpah up to do it. Like figuring it out. Or trying to figure out if that's what you want to do.

Just contemplating what you said. Like, you know, that could be it. Right. Who knows. In the weeks following, the search tips, a ton of tips came in but no leads were happening. The media ended up getting involved because they were just trying to spread the word everywhere. They're like anywhere we can get this. That a more missing person's flyers came out. They had a billboard near the lake that was like huge bowlboard with his face on it. Yeah. I mean they were trying

everything and everybody, the parents kept saying he was fine and they kept saying we spent the whole summer with him he was fine he wasn't acting strange. I don't know what happened in these two weeks. Yeah. They think foul plays involved. They were like he would never go voluntarily. He wouldn't try to you know take his own life. This just doesn't make sense. September 4th, 2013, a jogger reported a fire in a woody area three miles from where Bryce's car had been found. They found the source was a body burning in the woods, which is terrifying. So everybody hold onto their butts, because DNA said it was in Bryce.

It was not Bryce. Sokos. This was a murder victim from, I believe, a Los Angeles homicide that it happened. So that's sad. I'm glad they found that one, at least. But the search was active for three weeks and then called off because they just had nothing. There was nothing to go off of. It was just nothing.

During this time his girlfriend, Kim, gave more clothing she had of his, just trying to help out in any way that she could. Karen and Mike hired, decided that they were gonna hire a private investigator named Denise Savastano. She said she would take the case pro bono. She kinda, she basically wanted to look at the foul play aspect of this whole thing. And she also said that she thinks that he hit his

head and maybe became disoriented and like wandered into the checkstop and who knows what happened after that. Yeah. I mean, that's a valid. It is. Definitely. It's a explanation. He also, she also said that his parents' address was put into the GPS. And they acted like this was some groundbreaking thing that she discovered that he had put their address into GPS, indicating that he was planning to go there.

But we knew that already, because he had told his parents what time the GPS was telling him and that he was going to be there, right? So I'm like, why was he probably just did that to be like, oh, I'll be home at this time to like shut them up Or like get them an answer like exactly like he probably put it in there to be like, yep, it says I'll be there at three right? I mean like sure so So she thinks that you know it could be foul play the whole disorientation thing or she thinks you maybe had a psychiatric episode. I mean maybe which any of these could be true. Yeah

So the PI did help the parents hire a sonar specialist so they could search parts of the lake that they hadn't searched before There was parts of this lake that are 300 feet deep. That's fucking crazy. Which just saying that makes me scared. Makes me so terrified. Because I hate it down there. Like deep water. I don't like deep water at all. I like water, but I don't like deep water. It freaks me.

And thinking of a lake that's 300 feet deep, just whoa. It gets me the willies. It's like the underworld. Oh, there's just so much in there that we don't know about. And I'm like, underworld. Oh, there's just so much in there that we don't know about and I'm like Who lives there for two days 12 hours each day they used this sonar device on this lake and they found absolutely nothing So investigators are now interviewing you know friends and family. They're talking to anybody who knew him that like someone's got to know something

And again everyone they talked to are like yeah, he was acting real weird at the beginning of sophomore year. Like he's just weird. So they were like, what the fuck? Then they get told he'd started giving away some of his possessions. Which is wild. Wild. Different. So he gave Sean his roommate, his Xbox, which is like he loved.

Like he loved his Xbox. It's a big thing to give away. He also gave him a pair of diamond stud earrings that his mother had given to him. Which is like, why are you trying to wear my jewelry? Yeah. His friends also said that he had begun to mix the vi-vance, you know, meds with hard liquor, and that he was drinking really heavily lately.

Yeah. So, of course, his parents are like, no, that can't be true. But you're like, also, what happened that he started drinking so high? If you, it's interesting to me that it started sophomore year. Like, if he, like, I don't think this was like, I'm going to drink so much because I want a party. Yeah. I feel like something happened.

Well, that's the thing, and it's like, even though all these people around them are like, he was melting down. He was changing completely. He was a totally different person. His parents maintained he was fine throughout the summer that he never showed any signs of substance abuse, never changed at all. It doesn't make sense.

It doesn't add up. So he just went to school and immediately shifted. Correct. Completely 100%. Just with my make sense. It doesn't add up. So he just went to school and immediately shifted. Completely 100%. Just doesn't make any sense. Like it's just something's weird here. Now, that's some of the theories here. There's a theory that he had a psych... you know had a psychiatric break or he was suffering from mental illness. Now this could be true because he was technically at the age where mental illnesses can revert their eyes on his head. And then there's the behavior he was exhibiting which was very erratic, very up and down. The meds he was taking could have contributed to a psychiatric break. But where did he go? Even if it is a psychiatric, but where did he go?

Right. What's happened? You don't just disappear in a thinner because again, they've like searched the homeless population like to see if maybe he's just like, you know, they haven't found him. The next theory is suicide, which correlates, you know, with his behavior that he was exhibited and giving away his items. They would have found a body. That's the problem with that one too because he's giving away his belongings. He accelerated towards the lake. Some people could look at that as he was

circling around that area. It looked like maybe he was thinking about it. Maybe he was breaking him with his girlfriend before. He was talking to his friends like he was saying goodbye It was like all that stuff but again if it was if it was suicide where is he right where's his body? Because he did walk away from the accident and dogs traced him to the truck stop right so it's like and he took something with him From the double bag. Yeah, it was in the double bag Do you have any theory about what he took for you? I do. And I'm gonna give it to you.

I had a feeling you were. I do, I have a theory. So there's also the Amnesia theory that people think he hit his head, got in head injury and had Amnesia and didn't know who he was or what he was doing or where he was going. I think that one's really far-fetched

to be honest. Because this whole thing is planned before he gets was going. I think that one's really far-fetched, it's still being honest. Because this whole thing is planned before he gets his head. I think it's just, it helps for certain theories that he hit his head, but then you have to take into account everything that happened before that. It's exactly so really fucking weird.

Exactly, because we're just hinging this on he hit his head. Like that doesn't make sense. I know, that's just, that's toward the end of the weirdness. And it just reminds me of like, when Michelle Tanner got him knees after she fell off that horse on full house Oh my god, that was a great episode. That was a very dark episode. It was your I remember it. I fell off a horse once that explains a lot actually. I mean I'm not I was gonna take that as an insult But I you like but I agree I can't even so the next theory is that you walked away voluntarily

Which is what I agree with. Like a stage suicide. He tried to, you know, he wanted to get off the grid. You know, he could have gone to that truck stop. He could have gone on the highway. Off he goes. His parents say, there's no way this is what happened. He was super psyched, super happy, no way.

He wasn't though. There's also the foul play, super happy, no way. He wasn't though. There's also the foul play, you know, theory that somebody else was involved here, something happened, but who the fuck picked him up? If that's the, like, I don't understand anything like this. I mean, maybe the two that I lean most towards are like, he decided to start this whole new fucking life and like, just hitched her hide.

Or I think he was planning to start a whole new life and maybe along the way, something happened. Yeah, abducteded her hide or I think he was planning to start a whole new life and maybe along the way something happened Yeah, abducted who knows and that's the thing so There are a lot of people on the internet And like different sites like web sleuths reddit all those places that You know claim to know the family Of course more about this of course Listen to my favorite holds. I love reddit holes I've been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to

a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to

a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have been to a lot of people who have because it's very interesting. But they found that a lot of people were saying that they knew him in high school and that he was a heavy drinker in high school. And that he used to bring booze to high school. Like they were like, he would come drunk. Like he was a big drinker. It's Jeffrey Domerie.

So again, this is just speculation, but it's something to put out there. Well, and I just feel like sometimes where there's smoke, there's fires. Yes. And some of the people speculated like Sinister had mentions that some people thought that maybe he was like involved in a drug deal in this place, and that's why it was in a weird area. And that maybe the thing he took out of that duffel bag was like a track phone, like a

burner phone. Oh. Now, in what could have happened is maybe he put that burner phone in the duffel bag, it wasn't found during the police search, because the maybe they didn't go into that duffel bag, they just looked at everything else. And that's why no one found that. Maybe he took that, left his real phone because he was planning to get the hell out of there. Yep.

But I don't know. I don't know though. I do feel like that would have been found during the police. Well, and when I was listening to this, I was like, yeah, sure. Like, okay. But then it was discovered that he was charged with a misdemeanor for drug charge in 2012. In his family? In his family know about it. Oh yeah.

And it was that summer, right? Yeah. And it was for possession of cannabis,. And it was for a possession of cannabis 10 to 30 grams. He pled guilty. It's a class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 12 months super is 12 months supervision beginning 717 12. And he also had to pay court fines and fees of $7,500. Wow. And there was a big California. Yeah. And there was a big breakdown of these charges that I found the website or the link that leads to the court docket where you can see everything.

And you can see the breakdown of all the charges. And there's a lot of normal charges like court clerk charge. All this stuff was there like intent to distribute or something? No, I don't know what this, why it was so high. Yeah, that's a high fine, but it was there. It's out there. It's public record. I mean, 20 to 30 grams, that alone is like intent to distribute.

Yeah, I mean, that's a lot. That's a lot. And he baggies for that. Well, and his, so his roommate, Sean, said in an interview in an article that he believes in his heart that Bryce is okay in a life. So he really believes that he said, quote, I think that he's trying to find himself right now.

He doesn't want to be found. He left it, meaning the apartment like he was. He was only grabbing the essentials. He left everything else like he still has most of his clothes here, his TVs here. He told us he would come back on Labor Day when they asked him about that burning body that they found before they identified it as not Bryce. They asked him, like, you know, what do you think of that? And he said, quote, I'm not worried because I know that though he may be having some issues

right now, I can't see him doing that to himself. I just have hope that that's not him. Bryce just come home, man, we all miss you. Family is the most important thing right now. Oh. So it seems to me like Sean, he was clearly indicating to Sean that something was wrong. And that he was, and I mean just by giving him

the Xbox and the earrings, I'm sure Sean was like, are you saying by to me, like what's happening? And the fact that Sean thinks he's okay after he was given those possessions, it's like what happened? Because he's what he knows. And he says, I don't think he wants to be found. Yeah.

Like he's saying. One, why do you think that? Yeah, like what do you say? Obviously because he's making it, like he doesn't want to be found, but what confirms your belief of that? Exactly. And some of the other things I have found

in my internet searches is that Karen and Mike are portraying that they were the happiest family in the world. But what about that fucking drug voice? Well, and they're indicating that nothing bad happened. They are the happiest family in the world. And everything I've seen has said, maybe there was a little tension in that house, in that there could have been some, like, just it was a little tension in that house and that there could have been some like,

like, just, it could have been tense in that house and not as like happy and like rainbow says they're portraying it. And a lot of people are saying that Karen the mother is very concerned with like appearances and very concerned with not being a barrister ashamed, you know, like as most of us are. Yeah. But it sounds like she might have been a little more concerned with that. So her pretending that like he this couldn't be that he is a heavy drinker or this and that. I mean, you know that he was caught with, you know, he had a drug bust. I know it's just marijuana. That's not a huge deal. But you can't say that he was squeaky clean, you know, I mean like he did get busted with quite a bit of pot when He probably shouldn't have

So I think Does that have something to do with this whole thing is like She knows that like he was having a lot of troubles with this stuff But he didn't she doesn't want to say it because she doesn't want to embarrass the family. Right. I think maybe you're not embarrassing the family Might have a lot to do with this. I agree. So there is a Facebook page run up for this case and it's called Find Bryce Lapiza. The Facebook is called that. There's a lot of people that will offer tips. People are still like, you know, stopping people that look like him and trying to find out. And I mean, one of the things that they'd point to is the tattoo

he has its huge on his left shoulder. So it's one thing they can use to ID him. Like when somebody looks like him, it's just like, Hey, can I see your left shoulder? Right. Um, all of the, all of his information is in databases for national missing persons. It's never, never hit like his social security number.

None of his accounts. There's, um, he's never security number, none of his accounts. There's, he's never allowed on intending of his accounts after this. That's very, because it's like a few are still. None of them do and shit. Like, where are you getting money? Like, what's happening? Right. And according to investigators, like, so far, like, nothing's been changed on the accounts. The passwords are still the same. It's wild because it is like crazy to think like as a 19-year-old

that you just hop and walked away and just somehow have a new identity. And like never have to touch any of those accounts ever again. Right. That's interesting. And detectives are pretty convinced that, a lot of the detectives I've seen are kind of convinced you still live

and just doesn't want to be found. Because there's really not a lot to suggest otherwise. Yeah, and that's the and basically what they think is like the key to this case is what he wanted to talk to his mother about. And that was going to crack it. Basically, what I wonder personally is if he was planning initially to take his own life. But when he crashed, he survived. And he did not hit that reason. And maybe he saw this as a sign. Maybe he was like, I'm not meant to do this. But it's like, but why wouldn't he stay there? Or like this would be his chance to call his family or like his friends or something

So I'm like maybe he was trying to get or maybe he was thinking about it But why would he? I don't know if he was thinking about that's what throws me. I think I in the fact that he just left throws me Yeah, the fact that he just left is crazy. Yeah, but the fact that he Supposedly went to his girlfriend's house just to break up with her and then everybody thought he was going back to school Yeah, but he packed a bag. Yeah Drove to her house broke up with her told his mommy was coming home and this never came home I think he had I mean he clearly had no fucking intentions of going. No, he didn't I think he somehow set up some kind of new life Yeah, which is mind blowing because I'm 23 and right now now I don't even know how I would go about that. Yeah.

But, well that's the thing. It's like, he's 19 years old. He's a grown-ass man. If the police have found him, they have no obligation to tell his parents. Right. Well, and it's almost like, maybe he wouldn't want them to

because the last time that he did were the time that he saw the cops, he was like, can you call my mom? Yeah. He didn't want to talk to her. He didn't see that that also makes me weird. What's going on there? Because why wouldn't he want to talk to his parents? Well, it's just weird that he said to his mom though I have there's a lot I have to talk to you about. Yeah. But then it's like did he say that? I know that's the other thing. And it's like because I haven't seen anything I mean I don't know I haven't seen anything from Kim that confirms that or denies that, because she was in the room.

Right, right. But it's also like every time, every time they got on the phone with him during this whole journey, it's like, they would be like, what do you do? And he's like, nothing. And that would be it. Like, no one's pushing for more... Right. That's a weird response. When you just have to wonder,

what are you doing? Was there more to the conversation that they just didn't want to say? Yeah. Or it's like, he was saying nothing, and you guys just weren't pushing it any further. What the fuck aren't you pushing for? Yeah. And it's like, did you know something?

Right. And that's why you didn't push it? I don't know. What did you know? Like, I think there's like, did you know something? Right. And that's why you didn't push it? I don't know. What did you know? Like, I think there's like, um, there's like some ID discovery shows about this. Mm-hmm. One of them's called like the Road to Know Where, which just gives me chills. It's fucking terrifying. Because it reminds me of that song that's like, um, Oh, what is it called?

I don't know. Fuck, it's that song... The Way by Fastball. I don't think I've ever heard it. It was that it's a song about like this couple that just like gets up one day and decides to just leave their life behind. That's really scary. And I think it was based actually, maybe we'll cover it in like a mini-mov, or something because it's kind of crazy. About this old couple that like got up one day and just like left their life and they ended up like dying on the road. Oh.

It's a very bizarre very like in the song, it always gives me the heaps. Yeah, I have the heaps right now. Because I believe the singer of Fastball like read that story and then wrote this song, which is creepy. And it's like this very upbeat song too. It's real weird.

But as soon as I read this case and read more about it and heard like the road to nowhere, it's like the thing, it just made me think of this song and I'm like, the whole thing's just creepy. It's very spooky. Yeah, I'm not a fan. But I like my life. I don't want to up and leave it.

This was in 2013. It is almost 2020 and we have zero information about where Bryce LaPise is. Yeah, that's insane. And I just don't know, guys. I think he started over. And I think maybe police have found him, and maybe he was just like, I don't want people to find me. And he's on the age where like you said before, they don't have to tell his parents where he is. Yeah. So, I mean, the only questions with that is like why,

Yeah, so I mean the only questions with that is like why but maybe we will never know that Maybe he gave the reason yeah, maybe you're only we're only seeing what people are telling us Maybe he went into the witness protection program maybe even though he's on a witness I don't know maybe he was a witness to something it's a little bizarre man so many I's like, I just want to have so many answers. I know, and it's like, so I can definitely get behind the he's alive. He's volunteering, it's hardly missing. Maybe the police know where he is, and he said, I don't want anyone to know. So I'm just going to piece out. Maybe the only thing that's really urking me about that one is like,

he hasn't touched any of his accounts. Yeah, I mean mean that is weird. But I mean I guess you can get a new identity, it can happen. People do disappear so it's like look at that. But and then I can understand why people think he was trying to take his own life. I understand that. But if that's the case, where did he get the body? Right.

Because you would think that it wouldn't be very far from yeah Where like the whole lake is he going where did he go to do it? And it's like we haven't found his remains at all. It's like what well the fact that it just stops like the sense just stops at that truck Stop I think maybe he just got in the car and he started over left the state And he's somewhere else Maybe he went to like another country like maybe he went to Mexico or like Canada or he could be anywhere on this planet Honestly, maybe maybe I know why he's not another country, but maybe he went to Hawaii California's not that far from Hawaii He went off the mainland. He's out of here. I've been off the mainland. You have you can't you came from off the mainland. I know

so That is the crazy spooky, frustrating, unbelievable tale of the disappearance of Bryce Luspisa. It's a gnarly one. It's one of my favorites just because it's like, there's so many things you can come up with. Yeah, twisty and turny and... And it just leaves you feeling spooked. I remember the first time I heard it.

It was a rainy day and I was in traffic and it just felt right to listen to. It's the road to nowhere, man. But I was on the road to my eye doctor that day. That gives me goosey bumps. I don't like it. Does me going to the eye doctor make you feel better? Yeah, it does.

I got new glasses that day. I love that for you. I have a very specific memory of when I've heard something, I can remember where I was when I heard it. I get that. That's fun. But yeah, it's a crazy case. We don't have any more answers for you. I want answers. Maybe you are opinion about it, but that's based off of like speculation and just... I want to hear your guys' theories. Yeah, we will definitely want to hear what you guys think. And everything that I got here, I got from verified sources, at least.

So I mean, it's speculation, but it's speculation from pretty reliable sources. Definitely go watch the ID discovery about it. And believe in that's why we drink did an episode about this. That's right, I heard it. It was really good. And definitely go why we drink did an episode about this. That's right. It was really good. And definitely go check out the sinister hood episode about this because they were great. It's a good one. It is. It's just, it's, it's really tricky. So yeah, we hope you dug it.

We love you. We do. We love you so much. And yeah, so thanks for listening thought. Lina did a really good job. Thanks. If you you wanna see the pictures that she's gonna post to go along with the case, they'll be on Instagram at Morvid Podcast. So probably also be on Facebook at Morvid Colin, a true crime podcast. You could join the Facebook group.

You should do it. Morvid Colin, a true crime podcast group. Then tweet at us about what you think your theory is at a morbid podcast. Email us a case suggestion, a listener, a spooky road suggestion, a hay, high, what's up below. Yes morbidpodcast at gmail.com. Check out the merch on our website morbidpodcast.com. And donate to the patreon. Our manager is helping us organize it. Sure is, patreon.com slash me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me.

Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me.

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Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. with her again and then I'm gonna go, here are my Xbox and my diamond studs and then I'm gonna start driving and driving and driving and then I'm gonna stay, stay, stay, stay, stay put and then the cops are gonna come get me and then I'm gonna be like, no I don't want to talk to my mom and then my mom's gonna be like, okay it's fine and then I'm gonna drive off in a basement and accelerate because I'm trying to get to that lake but maybe I'm not trying to get to that lake you don't know where I'm trying to go and then nobody knows where I'm going don't keep it that weird nobody knows where you are don't do not keep it that weird I got so out of breath doing that was a good one

bye I got so out of breath, you know. That was a good one. Bye! Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at

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