Ep. 166: NEVADA - Never Trust Your Friends: The Murder Of Britney Ujlaki 02:03:01

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The story we have for you today is about a 16-year-old girl named Brittany Ulaki. Brittany lived in Spring Creek, Nevada, and in March of 2020, as the whole world was shutting down for COVID-19, her family had a whole different problem on their hands. Brittany was described as responsible and communicative, but on March 8th, she never made it home.

Brittany was the type of girl who always told her parents where she was going and when she would be back, but not this day. As the hours passed, her family knew deep down that something horrible had happened, and they were right. After days of searching, Brittany's body would be found in a remote part of town, with her pants and underwear around her ankles. Someone had brought her out to the desert, sexually assaulted her, and then stabbed her in the neck.

leaving her to die. The investigation into her murder would lead detectives towards many possible suspects. But in the end, the person responsible was the last person anyone would have suspected. So this is the story of Brittany Ulaki. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America. ♪♪

Located at the base of the Ruby Mountains is the quiet, picturesque town Spring Creek, Nevada. A town known for its beautiful landscapes, sacred Native American land, wildlife, and outdoor activities. But with only 15,000 residents, there's a strong small-town feel, a close-knit atmosphere where many residents know their neighbors.

A lot of the jobs in Spring Creek are from the mining industry, ranching, and rodeos. It's a country town where people come to live a quiet, rural lifestyle, away from the dangers of the bustling Nevada cities. It's also considered a pretty great place to raise a family, which is exactly why the Ujlaki family moved there. But first, in the early 2000s, Jim and Alicia Ujlaki were settled down in Colorado,

they were young and in love and soon enough in 2002 they found out they were pregnant with their first child that little girl would come into the world on june 4 2003 and from that moment on their lives were forever changed her name was gabrielle lynn uglacki but throughout her life everyone called her brittany the following year in 2004 jim and alicia would have another child a son named james

Brittany and James were so close in age that they grew up best friends. And together, the four of them made a great family. From the very beginning, Brittany's parents knew that she was a very special girl. She was independent, confident, adventurous, and she knew how to go after what she wanted in life. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Brittany was a country girl at heart.

She loved spending her time outdoors, but more than anything, she loved her horses, a passion that would follow her throughout her life.

Now in August of 2010, when Brittany was about 7 years old, her dad Jim got a job opportunity in the booming gold mining industry in Elko County, Nevada. So that summer, he and his family packed up everything and made the 800 mile journey to their new home in Spring Creek, Nevada. Now luckily for Brittany, Spring Creek was a town where people owned horses and they held rodeos every year.

It was the perfect place for a country girl like herself. But things weren't all great once their family moved. In fact, her parents, Jem and Alicia, eventually decided to separate. Alicia ended up moving out of their family home, but she wanted to stay in Spring Creek to be close to her kids.

Like with any divorce, it wasn't easy for James and Brittany. Luckily, the siblings were extremely close, so they relied on each other during this big life change. Brittany considered her brother to be one of her best friends. Another thing that brought Brittany comfort was her horses. Over the years, horses became everything to her. When she wasn't in school, Brittany was with her horses, grooming them, training, feeding, and of course, riding them. They were her pride and joy.

Her two horses were named Miss and Ireland, and the feeling of getting on their backs and riding through an open field was unlike anything in this world. So when her parents divorced, she decided to stay with her dad so she could continue caring for the horses on their property. Brittany was also a self-proclaimed daddy's girl. She would even say that her and her dad, Jem, were the quote, best father-daughter duo. And they were. She and Jem had a great relationship.

And according to him, his children completely changed his life for the better. Before he had kids, Jem was a partier who lived his life dependent on drugs and alcohol. But after Brittany was born, he decided to turn his entire life around. Jem sobered up so that he could be the best father and provider to his children. During an interview with Dateline NBC, Jem admitted that Brittany saved his life.

The two did everything together, and they shared a mutual love for the Minnesota Vikings. Jem said, quote, She would outdo me every Sunday dressing up in more Vikings gear than me, end quote. As Brittany entered her teenage years, her parents were proud of the girl she had become. Her mother, Alicia, would later say that one of her favorite things about her daughter was her silly heart.

Alicia said that Britney would turn on some music and they would just dance around in the kitchen together like nothing else mattered in the world. Her mom said, quote, End quote.

In school, her mom said she was the type of girl that would go up to strangers who were sitting all by themselves and she would say, "Hi, I'm Brittany. Let's be friends." She had a real heart for others. She was adventurous, carefree, kind, and she had big dreams for her life. Brittany was extremely patriotic with a big heart for veterans. So she always imagined that she would one day be in the Navy.

or maybe even a traveling military psychologist or nurse. In addition to her career goals, Brittany also had a zest for life. She always talked to her parents about wanting to skydive and travel the world. She wanted to leave her hometown, meet new people, and make a difference. But those were all just dreams.

Dreams that she knew she would one day achieve, but for now, she was just a 16-year-old girl trying to make it through high school, which wasn't always the easiest. Brittany attended Spring Creek High School, and although she was considered popular, there were some girls in school that she had problems with, but like we mentioned, Brittany knew how to stand her ground.

She was confident in who she was. And she wasn't going to let a few mean girls get in her way.

Her brother James would later say that Brittany always stood up for what she believed in. He said it didn't matter if everyone in the room disagreed with her. If she believed in something, she wasn't going to let anyone change her mind. It was a great quality of hers. She was also known to be an extremely loyal friend. Her best friend said that she always had an eye out for everyone she cared about.

She put others before herself. And she had this way of looking at someone she loved and knowing exactly what they were feeling and what they needed. She could read people like no other and she was an irreplaceable friend.

In Brittany's free time, she often went to the 2U Ranch where she happily helped with cattle branding, cattle drives, livestock management, and anything else pertaining to ranch work. She thoroughly enjoyed spending her time outside with the cows and horses, and everyone said she was always the first one saddled up, ready to go. And like with most teenage girls, she also loved being on her phone. Her friends and family said she was always on TikTok and Snapchat, and she was watching makeup YouTube videos.

In the year 2020, she had really been into special effects makeup and was constantly watching tutorials on how to do it. It was a fun and creative outlet for her. In fact, she liked it so much, she even started talking about how she wanted to go to cosmetology school after she finished her military career. So, as you can see, Britney was your average teenage girl with huge dreams. The possibilities for her were endless, and she had the entire world at her fingertips.

But unbeknownst to everyone, she wouldn't get those opportunities. Because in March of 2020, Britney's life was about to come to a tragic end. Now, Britney's dad, Jem, was in a heavy metal classic rock band called File Not Found. And every other Sunday, he had band practice. Many times, Britney would go with him.

Like we mentioned earlier, she and her dad were really close. So when he wasn't busy spending long hours in the gold mine, he was often singing to Britney, practicing his craft. But Jem admitted that she was a pretty harsh critic. In an interview with Dateline, Jem joked that Britney would watch and offer tips on how he could improve, even though she didn't know the first thing about singing or playing an instrument.

So on Sunday, March 8th, Brittany went with her dad to one of his band practices. And it started out like any other day. But after a while, Brittany got a little bored. While waiting, she sent a couple of snapchats out to her friends and eventually made plans with 18-year-old Bryce Dickey. So Brittany approached her dad and told him that she was going to meet Bryce at Angel Park.

Now, Brittany and Bryce were good friends and her parents knew him well, so Jem had no problem with her leaving to meet him. Right before she walked away, Brittany told her dad that Bryce was going to drop her off at the house later that evening and that she might even be home before his practice ended.

And with that, she left. From there, Jim continued on with practice, completely unaware that he would never see his daughter alive again. Later that night, Jim and his bandmates grabbed a bite to eat at KFC, and on his way back home, at around 7:30 PM, he called Brittany's phone to check up on her. But strangely enough, it went straight to voicemail.

Now like we mentioned, Brittany was always on her phone. So the fact that it was off was concerning. But like many people in this situation, Jim figured there had to be an explanation.

Surely she was just at home and didn't realize that her phone had died. Maybe she fell asleep or zoned out in front of the television. So on the way back home, Jem remained calm, thinking in just a few minutes he would see Brittany sitting in their living room. But when he got home and walked through the front door, Brittany wasn't there.

Next, Jim walked to Brittany's bedroom but it too was empty. And after running through their home calling out her name, he quickly came to the realization that Brittany was gone. Which was strange because earlier that day she said she would probably be home by the time he finished practice. And immediately, Jim gets this horrible feeling. Brittany was responsible.

and she always told her parents what she was doing and when she would be home. By now, it was nearing 8pm, and she had left earlier that afternoon, so she should have been back by now. Not knowing what to do next, Jem decides to call Brittany's mom, Alicia. Maybe she went by her place instead. But sadly, when Alicia answered, she hadn't heard from Brittany either.

Now, Alicia would later say that as soon as Jim called, she immediately started to panic. She could tell by the sound in his voice that this was serious. Brittany was missing. After getting off the phone with Jim, she too tried calling Brittany's phone, but just as Jim had described, it went straight to voicemail.

Now, according to Jem, Brittany had made plans that day with Bryce Dickey.

a boy that they all knew and trusted, and surely he would have some answers. So following this, Brittany's little brother James texts Bryce. He says, Hey, Brittany hasn't come home and my dad said she was with you last. Do you know where she is? Moments later, Bryce responds, Hey, I just dropped Brittany off at the high school around 4.30. She was meeting up with this guy. I didn't know who it was though.

James responds, "Okay, what did the guy look like?" And Bryce replies, "White guy, tall, had a cowboy look. I didn't really get much of a better look than that, man. I'm so sorry I feel so responsible. I shouldn't have dropped her off there." James continues to get all of the details, asking, "Did she say the guy's name at all in the truck?"

To which Bryce responded, "No, not at all. She just kept referring to him as my new friend. He was driving one of those ugly green F-150s, like early 2000s ones." But like Bryce, the Ulakis had no idea who this guy was. Brittany had never mentioned anything about this "new friend." But she must have known him because Brittany wasn't the type of girl who would run off with a stranger.

Now following this, Jim and Alicia continued to call Brittany's phone, praying that she would pick up, but she didn't. So with no other options, they were forced to call the Elko County Sheriff's Department.

but like we see time and time again the police didn't seem to be very concerned at first i'm sure they told brittany's parents that she was likely out with some friends and that she'd be home soon so at the end of that phone call to the police jim and alicia decided not to file a missing persons report just yet they still had some people they wanted to call and if by that next morning brittany still hadn't come home then they would file the report so that night they went home

They all stared at their front door for hours, praying that Brittany would come walking through. Eventually, they tried to get some sleep, but how could they? So instead, they stayed up for hours, drowning in worry. By early that next morning, Monday, March 9th, Brittany still hadn't made it home. So it's here when her parents finally reported her missing. Soon after, Deputy Johnson from the Elko County Police Department arrived at Alicia's house to get more information about the missing teen. Hello.

Okay, so is it son or daughter? Daughter. Daughter? Yeah. Okay. What is daughter's name? Brittany, you want to pick? We get a picture. Her friend that had her, I talked to him. He dropped her off at the high school down here at four o'clock with some guy. And I go, what guy? And he goes, I don't know. She just said my new friend. Tall, white, cowboy looking guy with a green truck.

And now no one can find her. None of her friends. Her phone's not on. Okay. I don't know where it is. Has she ever done this before? No. No. And even when she does go out and do dumb things, we get a call with some crazy kind of an excuse. You know what I mean? Trying to get her out of trouble. Nothing. Not a friend. None of her friends are best friends. Nobody can find her. Okay.

I need you to take a seat because there's some important information that I need from you, okay? Okay. So, I know you're upset right now, but this is all important stuff that's going to help us, help me put something in with dispatch so that we can let everybody know that she hasn't came home. Okay. And nobody's talked to her, okay? Okay. That way if anybody has contact with her, they can, they'll know right away and then

law enforcement will take her into custody at that time, okay? Okay. Okay, I have a pen right here, you can use that. And as you're filling that out, I'll just talk to you a little bit. So yesterday, have you guys tried to call any of her friends or... Everybody. Nobody's heard from her. No.

okay which is weird because she's a social media freak you know what i mean she's always talking to people yesterday in the last few days we've been in a really good lull i talked to her facetime for an hour at like 1 30 everything was just fine she was just happy go lucky everything was good and all we know is that it was a marine truck we know nothing else about the individual no the boy said it was an ugly green

So, as you can hear, Brittany's mom was beside herself in worry.

She knew deep down that Brittany was in danger and she couldn't help but feel a little upset with her friend Bryce for letting her go with this guy. Now, the police were definitely interested in talking with Bryce since he was the last person to see Brittany, but her family knew he wasn't responsible. Brittany and Bryce had known each other for five years after they met at a local rodeo competition. They were close friends.

and she even considered him to be her big brother. Jim and Alicia said that Bryce was always looking out for her. Now, he would later say that when he dropped her off at the high school with this random guy, he felt like something was off, but ignoring that intuition, he let Brittany go, something he was clearly regretting now that she was missing. But as this deputy is getting all of this information from Alicia, Brittany's little brother James comes into the room.

Hey young man, what's your name? James. James. Do any of you guys have access to her social media accounts? I don't. I've had her friends pouring through them. And her last post was at like 5:30 last night. Did Bryce happen to mention if it was a Nevada license plate? Did he see that much? No, he didn't see anything about the truck. He said he was a pretty good distance away from it. So he dropped her off and then she walked quite a ways? She didn't want him to just pull up to the vehicle?

Her request was to stop away from the vehicle so she could walk. He said he dropped off right in front of the school and then she walked into the parking lot. Okay. He described the green as being like a... What color green? Like a darker green. And he said it was like one of the really ugly early 2000s, he said. Ford F-150? Yeah. Her best friend...

And his name was Bryce, right? Mm-hmm. Said that she's been talking to a guy named JT. She says she doesn't know anymore, she just keeps calling him JT. She goes, has anybody talked to a guy named JT? I know they've been talking a lot lately. What's Bryce's last name? Dickie. Dickie.

I'll try to do some follow up and call and talk to some of these people. I'm not sure if I'm going to get any more information than you guys have got. Unfortunately all we have is a green truck that's a Ford with somebody that nobody knows who this guy is. Do we even know what this guy looked like? Did he give any descriptors of the guy? Yeah, he said he was a tall white cowboy. Why would he call him a cowboy? Does he dress like a cowboy?

I'm gonna go get this put in. I'll call and let you know as soon as this is put in. Like I said, if she has contact with any law enforcement once this is put in, then they'll just take her into custody and we'll contact you. Let you know that we have your daughter. I'll also call you back and let you know what my supervisor says and what the next course of action is going to be, okay? Okay, if you guys hear anything, I'm going to give you my card. Make sure you call and let me know so that I'm still in the loop with what's going on, okay?

Following this, Deputy Johnson took all of the information and entered it into the FBI's National Crime Information Center, a database that is used to help track any crime-related information. And like Alicia mentioned, they did eventually want to find this JT guy that Brittany had allegedly been talking to.

But first, they wanted to speak with Bryce Dickey, since he was the last confirmed person to see Brittany. So Sergeant Doug Fisher decided to meet up with Bryce at Spring Creek High School so he could walk them through exactly what happened when he dropped her off with this mysterious cowboy. Here's the body cam footage from that interaction. Hey, Bryce. How's it going? Good, man. I appreciate you meeting here. Yeah, no problem. So kind of tell me, run me through it so I can understand what's going on. All right, so Sunday, around 11 a.m.,

I started texting, got a few texts from Brittany, just asked her if I wanted to hang out. I said, sure, get ready and stuff. Told me she could meet me at Angel Park because she said her dad was doing band practice. And then went to town, called her when I got into town on 5th, and then picked her up at Angel Park, drove around, went up towards Mountain View, asked what she wanted to do, said she had no idea, said...

Why don't we just go drive around the Spring Creek since we got more room over there? So we went back over the hill, just started chatting, talked about her finishing school, how school was going for me, kept driving around. And then we were over in the Horace Palace section, and my dad told me, asking if I could come back home. So I told her I needed to go. Asked her if she wanted me to just drop her back off at Angel Park. And she said that she wanted me to drop her off at the high school to meet her new friend. And...

said her dad was gonna pick her up later so then came over here pulled in pulled in right over there gave her a hug and stuff and then she got out i pulled out and then started hitting that way and the f-150 was over there but i didn't know that was where she was going at that time and then got about right towards where it opens up and then look back and they were both standing outside the truck

And then I got to the turnout right over there by the middle school. And then that F-150 was in motion. Okay. So you said what was the F-150? Yeah, it was ones that are really ugly looking. I have to, like, sidestep them. Like that winter green, dark forest green? Like a dark forest green. Okay. So what else can you tell me about this Phantom truck and dude? Like, be specific. Okay, so...

It looked completely stock because it wasn't very tall at all. The windows didn't look tempted at all to me. Were they rolled down or were they up? Up. Okay. It looked decently dirty but just like about as much as that truck is right there. A typical truck that's... Yeah, typical Spring Creek truck. At this time of year? Yeah. And then silver toolbox in the bed.

I had stickers on the back window, but I didn't see what any of them were. So you picked her up at 1.30. Where did you guys go? I mean, you said you were with her for how long? I'm sure that you didn't drive around for three and a half hours. That's a waste of gas. No, I drove around for three and a half hours. Okay. That's all you did for three and a half hours? That seems really odd that you just drive aimlessly around. That's what I do almost every day.

I was in my Chevy. What's your Chevy? It's a 93 Chevy, 1500. Sorry, I said Colorado. Single cab or double? Single. Single with a long bed. So you just drove around. You didn't stop anywhere? No. We didn't stop at all. We literally just kept doing circles. Drove around towards the sports complex. Looked back around into the housing section. I just think it's kind of odd. I think you know more than what you're telling me. I'm being honest here. I mean...

Not in a bad way, but any of my friends you can ask, that's what we do most of the time is that we just drive around Spring Creek for hours. I'm thinking you know more about Britain than what you're actually confident. I've been doing this for a long time, and I usually can smell somebody that's leaving out something. So what are you leaving out? I'm not leaving out anything, sir. There's nothing that I'm leaving out.

The officer was clearly turning up the heat with Bryce. Being the last person to see Brittany, he was understandably suspicious. But it was true that teenagers often just drove around for hours on end, especially since there isn't a whole lot to do in Spring Creek, and Bryce was adamant that he wasn't the one who hurt her.

He had no reason to. After all, he had a girlfriend of two and a half years. He had no motive to hurt Brittany because she was like his little sister. Bryce even pulled out his phone to let Sergeant Fisher read he and Brittany's messages. And after taking a look at it, it was clear that Bryce had been trying to get in contact with Brittany after she disappeared.

You know what streaks are? Personal phony chains? Okay, so it's just if you like picture wise, you know, I didn't like text and I actually sent pictures. So if you send a picture with someone for like 10 straight days and it starts to streak, it's kind of a dumb thing to do it. But I had a streak with Brittany for like 70 days. So you haven't had anything from her since Sunday, that said? No.

Next, Sergeant Fisher asks about Brittany's social status, and Bryce lets him know that she was a popular girl, but she did have some enemies. We have a friend group here, around like 30, 40 people, and even more than that, Brittany's really known all around this country.

Following this interaction, there were a ton of possibilities running through the officers' minds. Was the cowboy in the green truck responsible for Brittany's disappearance?

Was it Bryce? Or could it even have been those girls that Brittany had been fighting with at her high school? They were determined to figure that out. With all of the information provided by Bryce, a missing persons report was issued and a press release was sent out by the Elko County Sheriff's Department. On their website, in large bold letters, it stated, missing juvenile.

Gabrielle Brittany Lynn Ujlacki. Details. Brittany was last seen on March 8th, 2020 at approximately 4:00 PM getting into a green Ford F-150 in front of Spring Creek High School. Brittany was last seen wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt and blue jeans. Brittany has a piercing in her nose. - The first step in their investigation was to get the last known location of her cell phone. And according to them, it pinged near Boyd Kennedy Road.

a remote area five miles east past Spring Creek High School. So immediately, investigators went to the area to search for Brittany, but there was no sign of her. By the end of the day on March 9th, Brittany's family was devastated. Her dad even gathered a search group of his own to go out and search for themselves. But it wouldn't be easy. There's about 17,000 square miles in Elko County.

And a lot of the land is desert. There are also a lot of abandoned mine shafts. Brittany could be anywhere out there. And sadly, there were many remote spots to hide a body, but they weren't going to give up. While Jim and his search party looked for Brittany, her mom Alicia stayed home to research who this mysterious JT was.

the boy her friends said that Brittany had been talking to. A few of Brittany's close friends, Selena Winkler and Saquara Ashby, both admitted that she had talked about JT, but no one had ever seen or met him. Investigators believe that JT may have been the cowboy

who was driving the green Ford F-150. So they started going through everyone in town with the initials JT, and they compared that with the DMV records to see if there were any JTs with the green F-150. But so far, they weren't coming up with anything.

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According to local residents, Spring Creek and the surrounding areas are known to have a large transient population due to the number of ranches in the area. It is not uncommon for people to arrive from out of state to help on a ranch and then up and leave as quickly as they came. Investigators were able to locate two ranch hands with the initials JT, but upon further investigation, it was discovered that these two men had not been in the area when Brittany disappeared. So that was yet another dead end.

In the meantime, Brittany's mom, Alicia, decided to print out over 500 flyers to hang around town.

They read: "Please help. Be on the lookout for Forest Green 9702 F-150." Gabrielle Brittany Uglakie went missing on March 8, 2020. She was last seen getting into a dark green 9702 body-style F-150 with some guy she met. She was only 16. He was in his late teens to early 20s with a cowboy hat. He went by JT. The truck was possibly a stepside and could have been a single or extended cab, but don't narrow down tips to those specifics, please.

Her mom also posted all over Facebook with pictures of Britney that read, Britney huge lackey, 16 years old, last seen getting into a green F-150 pickup, older, early 2000s model with an unidentified white male wearing a cowboy hat. She was last seen wearing dark pattern bell bottoms, a long sleeve tan top and a gray hoodie. She is 5'6 with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. She may be in real trouble. Please call my number with any information. Investigators also set up a tip line

and once it was released to the public, they had a ton of calls rolling in. Now most of the calls led nowhere. However, one tip was that Britney had been talking to a rodeo guy in New York through the popular social media platform TikTok. Could this mysterious TikToker be the JT they were looking for?

There was also talk about human trafficking and the fact that Brittany may have run away from home. Some whispers around town even included those girls from high school that Brittany had gotten in fights with. Investigators discovered that she had faced some pretty severe bullying over the years from some girls that were jealous of her.

According to both Alicia and Jem, the bullying got so bad that they eventually had to pull her out of school altogether and homeschool her. Investigators also found a video that had been circulating of Brittany in a fistfight with two girls from her school. So they had a lot to consider here as investigators continued to comb through the 200 tips

All of Brittany's loved ones came together to continue searching for her, including her good friend Bryce Dickey. According to Brittany's younger brother James, he said that Bryce was right beside them the entire time. He helped out their family in any way he could. And by the look on his face, they could tell that he truly felt bad about letting Brittany go with that random man. And after a while, he was looking less like their suspect.

But things were about to take a huge turn in the investigation. And it all started with a text to Britney's mom, Alicia. 48 hours into Britney's disappearance, on the evening of Tuesday, March 10th, 2020, Alicia received a strange text message from a number she didn't recognize. It stated that Britney was alive, but she wasn't doing well because of the sedation drugs they had given her. The person said that if they did not receive $25,000, then Britney would be killed. The text read,

i'm nice enough because i don't want to hurt your daughter i'm a fugitive human trafficker drug trafficker it won't be good if i just ask my dogs to rape her just do what i have said now she's getting more sick and nobody should blame me if it gets worse the so-called human trafficker also demanded that the ransom be paid via apple gift cards so once alicia received this text she immediately called detective nick stake and he was suspicious

There's been this common theme of gift card scams around the US. In fact, in our last episode we covered, Mitchell Gutierrez was scammed with these gift cards after his brother Martin went missing in Austin. It's sadly something that the police department see all the time, and this was looking like something like that. But just to be sure, Detective Stake told Alicia not to text them back until they could successfully trace the phone number, and he was pretty confident that this person didn't have Britney.

Alicia, on the other hand, was terrified that her daughter was in danger, so she took it upon herself to reach out to the community for donations. The following morning, on Wednesday, March 11th, Alicia arrived at the John C. Carpenter Law Enforcement Complex and presented the text messages to the detective,

so they could start tracing the phone number. And while investigators went to work doing that, Alicia was taken into an interrogation room. While there, she continued to receive text messages from the supposed human trafficker. And this time, they seemed angry at her lack of response. One of the messages read, "But if you think you wanna choose a few dollars over her life, then it's really fine.

It doesn't show you love her and you want her back.

Now, while all of this was happening, residents of Elko County were still actively searching the remote areas of desert on foot, ATV, and even on horseback with no sign of Brittany Ulaki. However, that was all about to change. About 17 miles outside of town in an area called Burner Basin, two men were searching the grounds and happened upon a disturbing sight.

It was a blood trail right there on the dirt roadway. The men decided to follow the bloody trail that led them deeper into the desert and at the very end of it, they found a blue tarp with something wrapped inside of it. The men were apprehensive but they decided to take a closer look and when they did, they saw what looked like a human head. So immediately they called the police.

Looks like a human head to me. Yeah, it looks like a chest cavity in the dark. We walked over here on this side. I'm pretty sure that's their drag mark there. Actually, I'll just get you guys started on a statement so you don't have to linger around out here. How's that?

If you take a couple seconds and fill out your name, information, kind of what you're doing and what you saw. Yeah. Probably should go down the bottom and come up because this is probably what we're going to have to work right here. Yeah, makes sense. I don't see any tracks coming in. That's right. Yeah, let's go. Drag mark right there. We got drag marks right there. Yeah. Big time drag marks. Yeah, so let's go down the bottom and come up the bottom of the gulf. Yeah.

Sergeant Fisher made his way over to the tarp and confirmed that it hid the body of a young female. From what he could make out, the girl's pants and underwear had been pulled down to her ankles, and she was wearing a pair of black high-heeled boots. Uh-oh. See that? Yep. That's not good. Oh, that's a 10-92. That's a body. Yeah. Let's get out. Yep. I can see enough right now.

Looks like a girl's hand. Let's back out. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. Alright Will, I'm gonna get their vehicles out. We'll get the crime scene secured and call stake. Let's go out the same way. Yep. We'll process the whole thing. Alright. Hey Nick, we got a female body. We have a female body. I don't know if it's her or what, but we have a female body out behind Burner Basin.

Got drag marks and a bunch of things. So we had two guys that found them, we're getting their statements. I'll get a picture of their footprints that are going in and out and I'll get a picture of their tread marks. Basically, she's face down, pants down. She's got black heels on, like boots on. Let's grab, we'll get tire print.

As you just heard in that last part, the people that found the body knew Brittany's father, Jim,

The sergeant tried to tell them not to jump to conclusions, as they didn't know for sure it was Brittany. But deep down, they knew. Everyone did. So from here, Sergeant Fisher called Detective Stake, who was still back at the police station with Brittany's mom. After getting the call, he wanted to get to the scene immediately. But first...

He had to tell Alicia about the discovery before it hit the news. Like we mentioned, Alicia had been sitting in an interrogation room, helping detectives with their investigation. But her entire life was about to change forever. I found the phone, okay? And I just want to let you know that we have found the body.

Even though they didn't have confirmation that the body was Brittany,

Alicia said she just knew that it was her daughter. In the video, she dropped out of her chair, grabbed Detective Stake, and let out a guttural scream. Detective Stake would later say that the sound he heard from Alicia that morning would haunt him for the rest of his life. And all he could do at that time was tell Alicia not to panic just yet, and that he had to get to the scene. So from there, he left to go to Burner Basin.

When he finally arrived in the desert area, he immediately noted the large pool of blood just off the road. It had seeped deep into the soil, and next to it there appeared to be some chewing tobacco spit. But from there, the detective followed the bloody drag marks all the way over to the blue tarp, and underneath it was the body of a young female. There was a puncture wound to her neck and a blood pool underneath her.

There was also a ligature mark around her neck from a possible strangulation, and there were cuts and abrasions all over her body. It was clear their victim had put up a fight. And at first glance, it did appear to be Brittany Ulaki, but they were even more sure of that when they found a keychain near her body with the name Brittany on it. The keychain also had a key from Performance Athletic Club that Brittany was affiliated with.

Upon looking at the body, it was obvious that she had been sexually assaulted due to her pants and underwear being pulled to her ankles. They were even more sure of this when investigators found a condom wrapper about 60 feet away from the body. They were also able to locate a set of Apple earbuds that had been thrown into a nearby bush. All of this was packaged up and brought in as evidence. The medical examiner would arrive soon after to take the body in for an official autopsy and identification. And soon enough,

they confirmed everybody's fears through dental records they found that the girl in the blue tarp was indeed brittany huge lackey as word spread around their community everyone was devastated and they were also fearful this was a town where people looked out for one another and now they were coming to terms with the fact that a monster lived amongst them

detective stake and his team still had no idea who could have done this but the next course of action was to figure out who sent britney's mom those ransom messages however the phone number where the messages came from was completely untraceable detective stake would later say it was as if they were coming from a computer-generated phone number spoofing system according to official police documents there was also the fact that alicia had posted her cell phone number on hundreds of missing persons flyers so sadly

After looking into this lead, investigators believed that it wasn't a threat, but rather a common gift card scam. So the next lead they wanted to follow was actually one that came from Brittany's mom, Alicia. She said that there had been a young man who had a crush on Brittany, but all she knew about him was that he was a cowboy and that he drove a nice car.

According to Alicia, the young man had been trying to have sexually charged conversations with Brittany, which made her uncomfortable. And when she wouldn't reciprocate, the young man stopped talking to her. Now apparently Brittany continued talking to his younger sister who she was friends with. And one night, Brittany and that friend got into a car accident. A distracted driver had hit them, causing their car to be thrown off the road.

Luckily, the girls escaped with their lives. But following this incident, the friend's older brother, the one that had been flirting with her, turned really mean. Brittany told her mom that he started bullying her. And at one point, he even told her that he hoped she would get raped, murdered, and dumped in the desert, which is extremely eerie because that's exactly what would end up happening to Brittany.

So was this cowboy responsible for her death? Of course, investigators wanted to speak with the young man. But when they did, he told them that he had been at work during the time of her disappearance. And investigators were able to find surveillance footage at his place of employment that confirmed his story. So he was eliminated as a suspect. And from there, they were kind of at a dead end in their investigation.

But they were hoping that Brittany's autopsy results would give them more answers. And it would. Brittany's official cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation and that stab wound to her neck that had severed her carotid artery.

The medical examiner confirmed that the neck wound had most likely been made by a sharp bladed instrument of some kind. Further, the wound was so severe that Brittany would have experienced severe blood loss within a matter of minutes. A rape kit was also performed and DNA samples were taken from her neck and beneath her fingernails. There was bruising to her hands, which indicated she had attempted to fight off her attacker. So detectives were racing around the clock and ordered the crime scene DNA samples to be expedited.

The used condom found at the scene was also sent in for DNA testing. And while investigators waited for the DNA results, Detective State continued to search for the mysterious JT and his phantom green F-150. Now, from what I was able to gather, I don't think there was any outside surveillance footage at Spring Creek High School, which is unfortunate because that could have showed them that cowboy that she left with.

But luckily, there was a gas station nearby that did have surveillance footage. Now this gas station was right in between Spring Creek High School and Boyd Kennedy Road, and their cameras pointed right at the road, which was great for their investigation, because they knew that whoever took Brittany had to have taken that road to get to Burner Basin, where her body was discovered.

meaning their suspect would be on this footage. So they played it. And for hours, they studied all of the cars that drove by, looking for that old green F-150. They never saw it. However, they did see something else that caught their eye. Heading out towards Burner Basin, where Brittany's body was later found, was a dark blue Chevy Silverado, belonging to none other than Brittany's good friend, Bryce Dickey.

Which is interesting because Bryce said he went home after dropping Brittany off. So why was his vehicle going in the opposite direction of his home? Detectives had a feeling that he knew more than what he was saying. So immediately they set up another interview with him for Friday, March 13th, 2020. Now they didn't want Bryce to freak out just yet. So they made it seem like this was just some routine interview that they had to do.

Just showing you the door's not locked. You're not locked in here, alright? Like I said, you're not under arrest. At this point, you're not even really a suspect, okay? But like I said, just because of the nature of the investigation, we've got to make sure that we are super thorough, okay?

So I got a little bit of the story as to what your involvement was, but I'm not clear on a lot of things and I'm just trying to do the best job that I can do. So hopefully you can help us out. - Ask me a question and I'll do it. - Perfect man, thank you very much. First and foremost, you're how old? - I'm 18. - Okay. Like I said, you're not under arrest right now. If you think that I'm being an asshole or something like that, you can get a walk out. There are some questions I'm gonna ask that you probably be thinking like, what the fuck are you asking that for? But there's a reason, okay? And I'll explain it, all right? - Okay.

And like I said, if you have any questions or if you need to clarify anything that I'm saying, because I want to make sure that we are completely clear on what's being said and how it's being said. So if you need any clarification whatsoever, please let me know. Okay. All right? Detective Nelson's here as well. He might have some questions as well. But like I said, right now, as far as we know, you're the only person that saw her alive or the last person that saw her alive. Okay? Okay.

Now once they got that out of the way, the detectives once again want to know if there's anyone he can think of who would want to hurt Brittany. Did she say anything about anyone that she was having problems with or any people that she was interested in or anything like that? We all knew she was talking to some guy that we think was in New York, but I mean she'd be talking to him for a while. Okay. Besides that and then

Like I told everyone else, a lot of people had problems with Brittany, but nothing that we would see with this outcome. Sure, sure. Well, hopefully, yeah. Okay.

And now is not the time to hold back words, man. Did she have a bad reputation or something like that? With a lot, because she used to get in a lot of fights and a lot of people didn't like, Brittany was a very straightforward person. Okay. And a lot of people didn't like that because she was very blunt and honest. Okay. So a lot of people disliked her. They just didn't like how forward she was and she really didn't hold back, basically. Yeah. Yeah.

okay primarily females or male and female from there they ask bryce to walk them through everything that happened on the day brittany disappeared starting with their snapchat conversation that afternoon so she's texting you did she text you first or sorry when i say text but snapchat did you snap you first i was just saying snapchat so i'd be specific okay yeah no i appreciate that um

I honestly don't remember who texted first. Okay. Okay. That's okay. And what did she say? Do you remember kind of how the conversation went? And what I'm getting at is, I mean, are you guys in any type of dating relationship at all? No. No. Okay. So it wasn't like, hey, let's go hang out and go party? No. Okay. All right. Nothing like that. And so you're heading up to Angel Park, and now when you say you picked her up at Angel Park, I assume drive time from Silver to Angel, roughly five, ten minutes? Yeah.

Probably five. There wasn't bad traffic back then. Okay. Okay. So meet her. And now when you say you picked her up at Angel Park, was that at Angel Park? Yeah, right in the... I pulled off by the Family Dollar. I don't know the name of that road. She was standing right in the middle of the parking lot on the phone. At Angel Park? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So she's in the parking lot on the phone? Yeah. Okay. So you pick her up.

And what were you driving at that time? It was my '93 Chevy Silverado. '93 Chevy Silverado? Yeah. Okay, what color is that? Actually, I'm slightly rough on the color, but I'm pretty sure it's like really dark blue, but it looks black. Okay, all right, so darker color. Yeah. All right, okay. We went through, kind of like the full circle, went through over by the Sports Complex in Spring Creek.

I had to go back home to my dad's house, so I asked her if she wanted me to drop her off back at Angel Park or where her dad was having practice. And then she was on her phone for about 30 seconds-ish and then asked me if she dropped me, dropped her off at the high school and made her a new friend. Did she give any indication, I'm sorry, of who she may have been talking to or anything like that? No, she just described a new friend, but also...

Same thing. Brittany was always finding new friends. I mean, she had a new best friend probably about every month or so. Oh, okay. Kind of explain to me, did you drop her off, like, right next to his ride, or how did that go down? No, I dropped her off right here, because I didn't know... I just pulled up to the high school, because I didn't know where I was going. And then, so I got right here, and then she grabbed her keys, gave me a hug, said, love you, bye, and then...

Got out of the truck and then so I pulled it in reverse straight point out this way and then she walked over to that F-150 and then by the time I'd gotten back out and onto the highway the F-150 was pulling out. Alright, so you basically made a loop then essentially? Yes. Yeah, okay. And then heading back out towards Maverick.

Okay, and so you see the green F-150? Yeah. No doubt in your mind F-150? Yeah, I know exactly what truck it is because to be bluntly, they're ugly as hell. There's only one truck like that because they have like bubble shape to them almost. Okay.

Okay. Was there any other trucks parked over there or any other vehicles? There was a few, but there was a softball, baseball, and FFA going that weekend. Ah, so it was busy. Yeah. Did you actually see her get into the truck or did you just see the truck leaving after you left? Well, I saw her because I got right about here and then cut straight across the parking lot. Saw her over at the F-150, met with someone, and that was it.

So, again, I'm just asking for clarification because the deputies told me that initially when they spoke with you, you had provided a description of someone that may have been the driver of that truck? They kept saying I gave a description, but literally the only thing I saw was a cowboy hat. That was it. Okay, so you couldn't tell if he was tall, short, fat, skinny, anything like that? No.

The hat looked towards the top of the cab, so I said that, and they took it as tall. I'm like, that's why I kind of, for that last officer, not in a bad way, but I kind of

Just stopped saying stuff because it kept getting twisted around and I kept hearing different versions of what I said. Well, that's why I want clarification. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's why I just want to make sure. No, but all I saw was a cowboy hat and that was the only identifying mark that I could make. Okay, so he wasn't outside of the truck. No, when I was over here, they were both standing outside the truck. But then by the time I had gotten right in front of the high school on the highway, the truck was moving through the...

Parked a lot. What was she wearing? Uh, she was wearing... like... I don't know how else to describe it besides like hippie bell bottoms. They're like leggings but bell bottoms. So they're elastic but they're... Yes. Bell bottoms on the bottom? Okay. Uh, they were like really fluorescent like tie-dyed color. Oh, they're pretty loud, huh? Yeah. Okay. And then um, she was wearing a gray sweatshirt, zip up. Okay. Did you see the shirt on underneath the zip up? No.

Did she have anything in her hair or wear a hat or anything? No, she had a lot of makeup over her eyes but she always wears a decent amount of makeup. And then she had her phone at that time too, right? Yeah, all she had, at least that I didn't notice anything else besides her keys and her phone.

Okay, did the keys have anything on them? It had a lanyard, but I think it was just the senior 2020 lanyard. The high school lanyard? Yeah, they all kind of looked the same, like the gray and purple color. Your truck, is your truck a single cab? Yeah, it's a single cab. What about the F-150 that she got into? It looked...

I didn't notice any windows in the back so I assumed it was just a single cab but I couldn't tell if it was a crew cab or not. Because when you pulled into the parking lot it was facing you and you weren't paying attention to it, right? Yeah, it was parked straight towards the high school so I came up right behind it. Okay. But I mean there's still a good probably...

40 feet between where I was driving and where he was parked. Okay. Did you notice on the bed if it was a step side? Yeah, that's where one of the details that's also going to get mixed up a lot is there was, that's why I recognized what type of truck it was because it had the step side ready between the bed and the cab. No doubt on that then? Yeah. Okay. Okay. And was there anything else on the truck that stuck out? Um...

I saw a sticker on the back window, but I couldn't tell you exactly what it was. Do you remember where on the back window? I remember it was on the bottom. I don't know if it was straight on the left corner, but it was towards the left side of the truck. I didn't see the right side of it at all. Okay. All right.

Anything else you can think of about the truck that might be specific or help narrow it down? I swore that I saw a toolbox, but I can't be 100% on that. Sure, I understand. Okay. Detectives want to know when Bryce realized Brittany was missing. Because I had gotten a text from her friend Cheyenne probably about like half an hour after I dropped her off that she couldn't get a hold of her, but I didn't really take any concern until my brother started texting me.

Yeah, James didn't text me until about 8:16. That night? Yeah. Okay. He texted me right about then and then asked for my phone number around 8:30 and then that's when I got a call from one of the deputies. Oh, I see. Okay, so that's how they got a hold of you. Yeah. Okay. And then I called

My friends tried to see if anyone knew where she was. I tried calling Brittany. I texted her brother James. I was trying to see if I could get a hold of anyone that knew anything. My friend came and grabbed me and then we were trying to organize like search parties and stuff because

Like, Brittany going and doing stuff isn't oddball, but Brittany is the person that like will always text her dad. Oh, okay. So when she didn't, we got really worried. Gotcha. So we went out looking. It was probably about 2 o'clock and we all went home. Gotcha, okay. Man, you put in some effort. No, we were out there for probably about six hours. Yeah, okay. She didn't leave nothing inside your truck or nothing like that? Nothing that far.

Have you guys ever been into an intimate relationship? No. No? Nothing besides hugging and just no kissing or no friends with benefits or nothing like that? No. So one of the things that we like to do just to be thorough, man, to make sure that, like I said, we cross all the T's, dot all the I's, is there any reason whatsoever, because obviously in these situations they go full war, right? Is there any reason whatsoever to do that?

they would find your DNA on her or in her? No, not that I'm... Besides maybe like a speck of hair or something on her jacket, there would be nothing. So no sexual relationship was... No. Okay, okay.

Is there anything on your phone that you would be concerned with us finding? No. No, okay. Do you have any problem if we take a look at your phone just to make sure that we're good to go? Yeah. Okay, cool. Was there anybody in specific in the school itself that she continually told no that may have been frustrated with that? From what I've been told, because she hangs out with a lot of people, but from what I've been told by a lot of people is that she still has yet to have...

Oh, really? Yeah. Wow. Okay. Well, that's respectful. In this way is what I've been told. Yeah, okay. So she's not a girl that's considered easy in high school and she told somebody no and they got frustrated because they were told no. She's easy to be friends with, but not to date, no. Not bad.

Would you be willing to submit a buckle swab just for your DNA? I would take a buckle swab. So it's essentially just two Q-tips. You can do it yourself. They're a Q-tip about as long as this pin. You rub it on the inside of your cheek and then you take the other one and rub the inside of the other cheek. We put it in a box that way we have your DNA. It's suspected, correct me if I'm wrong, but there was some kind of sexual activity involved.

The detectives then left the room, grabbed a couple of swabs, and Bryce willingly gave over his DNA.

And during this interview, they didn't want to back him into a corner just yet. They could have easily confronted him about his vehicle heading in the direction of Berner Basin. But maybe then he wouldn't have cooperated. So for now, they make him feel like he isn't a suspect.

and after he gave his DNA, they let him go while they waited for the results. In the meantime, while detectives patiently waited on the crime lab to finish their testing, Brittany's family held a balloon release in her memory on March 14th. Bryce Dickey was in attendance, and he even stood close to Brittany's mother, Alicia. Everyone there was devastated.

They couldn't believe that someone within their community would hurt Brittany the way they did, and they never could have suspected that the person responsible had been right there the entire time. Four days later, the DNA results would prove that the condom found at the murder scene contained Bryce Dickey's DNA. Even further, the DNA taken from Brittany's fingernails and around her neck were a match as well.

And so was the chewing tobacco found at the crime scene. The official DNA report stated, "The estimated frequency of this matching DNA profile is approximately 1 in 10.44 nanillion individuals. Based upon these results, it is reasonable to conclude Bryce Dickey is the source of this DNA profile."

So there was absolutely no denying that Bryce Dickey was her murderer. In addition to the DNA evidence, on the day of her disappearance, Brittany had posted a photo of her and Bryce together on one of her social media accounts. Brittany was all smiles inside his truck while Bryce stood outside of the truck.

You can tell in the photo that Brittany felt safe around Bryce. She cared about him enough to post a picture of them together. However, she could never have known that after taking that photo, Bryce would take her life. But that very picture would actually help in the investigation. As detectives took a closer look at the photo, they couldn't help but notice that the background looked eerily similar to the location where her body had been found, meaning it had been taken shortly before he killed her.

So with this new evidence, Bryce was once again brought down to the police station for one last interview. Sit down in here real quick. Can I get you anything? No, I'm okay. All right. I'll be right back. I'll go over this with you. Just so you know, everything in this room is recorded and everything like that. Okay. Well, tell me about Brittany. What's she like? She's like...

You're gonna have to ask a question because that's a lot. Brittany is... Not in like a bad way or anything, but I mean... Right. What was Brittany to you? Honestly, Brittany was my little sis. Like, I've known her since 7th or 8th grade. One of the closest people to me. I didn't even start calling her... I called her little sis for about the last two and a half, three years, but she called me big brother since probably about the...

I met her after the first year that I met her, but one of the closest people to me. She was... a lot of people didn't like her for a lot of reasons, but she was very blunt and kept to who she was, even if a lot of people didn't like that. So that was why a lot of people in Spring Creek didn't like her, just because she was extremely honest. No, she was always happy.

She would get in a lot of actual fights, but then a month later she would be best friends with the person she got in a fight with. She knew almost everyone. It seemed like there wasn't somebody in this town she didn't know. But she was extremely sweet. Pretty much always had a smile on her face. I haven't met anybody that's actually had intentions to hurt Brittany. One other question.

If you could say something to Brittany, what would you say? Easy. I love you. That'd be the first thing I would say. What about the second? I'm sorry. Because I kind of blame myself for all this. Even though... Why do you blame yourself? I mean, I know that I didn't know what was going to happen, but I mean... I'm the last one that saw her before she's dead.

From here, detectives want to point out the first inconsistency in Bryce's story, starting with the time he picked Brittany up that day. From the beginning, Bryce claimed that he picked her up from Angel Park at 1 p.m., but surveillance footage showed he didn't pick her up until about 3.20 p.m. Well, I'm kind of confused about a couple of things.

So around 1, you pick her up at Angel Park. And then you come into Boyd Kennedy Road, entrance to the school at about what time again? 4.30. 4.30. Okay. So we got some surveillance footage from Angel Park. This is the camera. And I know, forgive me for the blurry photo a little bit because we cut it out. But down here is the time. And that was...

15:20? Yep. I don't know the time of day. 3:20. Oh, okay. Military time. Okay. Two hours after you said. Yeah, so it's a little bit later than what you said, so I'm just kind of confused. I want to clear that up with you a little bit. Because that's her walking across the street. Is that your truck? Yeah, that looks like my truck. And there's another picture. Yeah, no, no, no. That's my truck. That's your truck? Yeah. Okay.

So that shows about 15-20. I might be off my time stamp. The only time stamp that I personally have is on my phone of what time I called her when I got home. So that's two hours. Literally the entire time I was with her, I was not on my phone. Do you see where... I can see where there may be concern, but I understand that, sir. Yeah.

So they've already pointed out the cracks in Bryce's timeline. And the next thing he's going to have to explain is why his truck was seen driving in the direction of Burner Basin, where Brittany's body was later found. - And the other thing I'm just kind of confused about, okay? And like I said, I just want to clear this up with you. This is some footage from Maverick across the street. So this is some surveillance footage

from the front of the store showing Boyd Kennedy Road. Okay. So if you look right here, you can see... So right over here... Right there? Yeah, right there. Oh, that's your truck right there, about the team?

Is it smudged together since it's so far away? Yeah. I think so. Okay. I have a long day that's only... Yeah, so this is the Boyd Kennedy Road right here. That's your truck. Yeah. That's your truck going down Boyd Kennedy Road. Entrance to the middle school and stuff is right here. It goes into the parking lot. And then there's the wrestling gym, which is...

right there and then it cuts right and goes right to the middle school. That's the way I went through. That's not what you said. No, I said I went through the Boyd entrance. Across from the Maverick. Yeah. What if I told you we had surveillance footage that appears your truck kept going out of Ford Kennedy Road? I didn't mean... Ford Kennedy Road. I just want to kind of clear everything up and get your explanation for this, okay? Because...

You seem like a decent guy. We've been sitting here chatting and stuff like that, okay? And I just want to kind of help you through this so that way we can kind of explain this stuff. Okay. Okay. So with these, you can kind of see from my perspective when I'm looking at this what that looks like, right? Yeah. I can see 100%. Okay. I'm kind of, you know, I...

Got startled after the third cop I talked to, the one that called me down to the high school, because he called me a letter about three times and kept asking me if I killed Brittany. Somebody asked you if you killed Brittany? A deputy did. Oh, okay. And it honestly startled the shit out of me. I don't want to... I know I'm a...

I've only been 18 for a little bit now, but I know I'm 18 now, so even changing a little bit on a story isn't a big thing. Well, it is what it is, okay? That's why I'm trying to sort through it, okay? So when he talked to me, I went down a little bit, but not far, and then I took that...

First left off of the Boyd-Kennedy which goes straight back to the right to the bottom of the trailer section and then went back to the high school but at being at Boyd-Kennedy at the same time which I'm missing it. It worried me because I didn't want to

I lied because I was scared of people thinking it was going to be me. Which a lot of people still do. That's understandable. You're the last person to see her lie. Yeah. Which honestly scares me, but I see that there's issues with me not telling the truth. You need to be 100% honest. And you need to let everything out. So when you said you took that first laugh off of Boyd Kennedy, was Brittany in the car with you at that time? Yes, she was. Okay.

Now as you can tell, Bryce is getting nervous.

He's rambling and trying to save face. So the next thing detectives wanted to ask Bryce, one more time, is if he had ever had sex with Brittany. After all, they know that his DNA was found on the condom near her body. So they give him one more chance to answer it honestly.

Now, just out of curiosity, and we promise we won't tell your girlfriend, had you ever been intimate with... I got that question the last two times. Brittany and I have never been intimate in any way. I mean, like, a lot of people get their wrong intentions because, I mean, I do with all my friends, but, like, calling females, my female friends, love and stuff like that, but that's just kind of...

the way I was raised in a sense, the grammar wise, but Brittany and I have never had a relationship or have been intimate in any way.

That's why my girlfriend was comfortable with her, just because she never flirted with me or anything like that. Did you ever want to be? No, not... Never? No, I never had that want or urge or anything. I literally saw Brittany as my little sister. And is there any way that your DNA could be associated with this case in any way? No. No? Okay. I have one other concern. Okay. Okay. We located...

Some items or an item. Okay. Do you have any idea what that item might be? No. Okay. What if I told you that it had both yours and Brittany's DNA on it? What would that be? Do you have any idea? No. Now is the time to be truthful. I'm being 100% sure that I don't know what you're referring to. Now you told me before that you and Brittany had never been intimate in a sexual way. No. Okay. What if I said I had evidence?

that shows that that might not be accurate either. I'm not lying, I've never

kissed, I've never had sex with Brittany. Besides hugging and that, I've never had sex or any intimate relationship with Brittany. Okay. Have you ever watched TV and seen DNA comparisons? No, no. I mean, I've watched crime shows, but haven't really paid attention to it. So, you gave a DNA sample, right? Yes. Okay. We found a condom, alright, and we found Brittany.

And we have Britney's DNA, we have your DNA, and we have a condom. That can't be. It is. I've never had sex with Britney, I swear. I've never had sex with Britney. Okay. So then explain to me how... I don't know. I'm freaking out right now because I've never had sex with Britney. Okay. So explain to me how a condom has your DNA on the inside and her DNA on the outside.

Because that doesn't make sense. No, it doesn't make sense. And you can understand my concerns that, you know, I've been truthful with you. Okay? And I know this is really stressful. Okay? I can't imagine where you're at. All right? But we'll get through this together. Okay? And I need you to help me help you. All right? And the biggest concern I have is you can see that we have some footage of

That kind of contradicts what you said. Yes, sir. You've got a condom that was recovered near Brittany's body. And it has DNA on it with both you and Brittany. Okay? And you told me that you guys had never been intimate. Right? There's only one way that DNA could have gotten on that condom that way. I'm aware of that. And you have a pattern now of...

You were deceptive to Detective Fisher because you got scared. You just admitted that. I admitted I was scared. Your timeline doesn't match up. The other people we've talked to, their stories don't match with yours. What do you mean they don't match with mine? Am I allowed to ask that or not? No, absolutely. There's just some issues with the time and things like that. The thing I'm concerned about right now is if you were in my perspective and you looked at all this, what would you think?

Then I did it to bring him. Okay. If you were me, okay, how would you explain the condom? I don't know. If you were me looking at that as a detective, what would you make of it? Okay. Exactly what you guys are thinking right now. Okay, because here's the thing. If I don't know what happened, I can't help you out any more past this point. I can't help you figure out the truth. Tell me the truth.

Okay. We need to get through this together, and I need to hear from you what happened. Okay. Okay?

Wait, can I ask a question? Yes, go ahead. Are you guys trying to get a confession with me, killing Brittany? I'm trying to figure out how your DNA got on a condom on the inside that has her DNA on the outside. I need to figure out what happened with that condom. Our job is to work as hard to prove innocence as it is guilt. If you didn't do this, what works in the end of the earth to prove that you didn't do this? But that requires...

100% honesty on your end because the stuff we have indicates it hasn't been there. And that's my concern. There's a lot of faults in it. It's at this point where Bryce knows he's backed into a corner. He can't keep up with this lie. So after a few moments of silence, he changes his story once again. It was extremely odd. I...

Brittany was being literally the only time Brittany was being really flirty for some reason throughout that day. So we kissed and I had gotten a blowjob. It was through a condom. But then after I was done, she was the one who took the condom and then thought she threw it out of the truck. And then that's...

Where did that happen at? That first road all the way down Boyd. So... Sorry, not all the way down Boyd. I thought she just threw out the window because she was the one who pulled it off. And then... Because I had thrown the wrapper and stuff out the driver window, so I thought she just threw out the...

Passengers side window. So where were you seated in the vehicle while she was giving you the blow drop? Driver's seat. Okay, and where was she at in the vehicle when she was giving you the blow drop? Kind of like bent over the bench seat in a sense, like kind of just leaning over. Okay, and that happened about right here? Yeah. When I was at the scene with Brittany...

I found a condom, or one of our people found a condom that was near where Brittany was at. And there was also a condom wrapper that was on the roadway as well. Okay. And that condom that I told you about was much closer to where Brittany was found. And this is not where Brittany was found. Okay? I just told you, I just want the truth. I'm telling the truth. That is where I... That's where it happened.

Where and what happened? Where Brittany and I had... I don't know, does that count as sex? I think it's sexual acts. It's a sexual act. So that is where Brittany and I had sex. Okay. And then straight after, I went straight to the trailer section, and that was it. Okay. Did you ever have any sort of intercourse, oral or otherwise, anywhere else with Brittany? Just the blowjob. That was besides...

Like two, maybe three kisses and that was about it, honestly. Okay. There wasn't much. It almost didn't seem real in a sense because she literally just asked if I wanted a blowjob. It did not quite seem real, almost. Okay. So everything we just talked about, if you were me, what would you think about all that? I think you guys already know what I think you would think.

And what is that? That I'm lying about everything. I mean, I'm smart enough to know that's what you guys are thinking. Well, I think you're very smart. From the position I sit in, okay, like I said, there's only that one chance that you have with me to tell me the truth. Because so far, you haven't told me the truth. And I think we both know that. Sure. Okay. And the thing I'm concerned about...

is that everything you've told me just does not add up, okay? Okay. And I think you're very smart. You know that. Okay? So help me figure out what the truth is. But I need to hear that from you. So from here, Bryce changes his story yet again. But instead of coming clean, he continues to blame everything on that cowboy with the green F-150. So the, um...

Angel Park timeline, I didn't actually realize that I had messed up the timeline that bad. That one I'm being 100% on. She was trying for a little while longer. And her texting her friend actually did happen and she asked me to drop her off with somebody, but I don't know who it was. And he actually had met us on Void. And I didn't actually...

meet the guy or anything. But... Because he met us up here. Okay. Um... The... I don't know where. Some were over here. Some were bringing her. She had sex. I dropped her off. I literally dropped her off with the guy literally in the middle of the road. And drove off. And...

It's okay. We'll get through this together. Okay? You and I will get through this together. Alright? So just take a second and tell me the truth, okay? Everything that I've told, except mess-ups on the timeline, is true. That was the exact same truck that I saw. I honestly couldn't tell you how the gun was that close to Brittany's body. I don't know how that...

happened because Brittany was still alive by the time I dropped her off on the road with the guy was I just wasn't thinking at all and I dropped her off and I literally just drove off

I understand that I know what you're gonna say. And what am I gonna say? That you have to know, which you do have to know, but I'm telling you that I literally had never met this guy. Okay. Which Brittany gets new friends every month and I didn't really think much of it. You've told us several different versions.

Okay. Yes, sir. Do you really expect me to believe that you met a guy after you guys had had sex and you just dropped Brittany off with him and you don't know who that was? You're a smart guy. I'm a smart guy. I have met him, but I honestly don't know who he is. I need you to be honest with me.

Then it's at this point in the interview where Bryce suddenly knows exactly who that cowboy was.

Didn't even know the kid was back in town. It was, um, the Chaz Randall kid is the one who picked her up. Which, I didn't even know he was back in town. So I swear it was Chaz Randall. Because that kid's kind of distinguishable. So you're telling me Chaz Randall met you on the road? I told you. What? And you've known the Chaz Randall girl, Brittany, all this time? And you're just waiting to say something?

You let yourself be the last person to see her alive? You expect us to believe that you're like, I was the last person to see her alive. I've put myself in that position and I'm going to sit here for a week and a half letting everyone think I was the last one to see her alive when I know who the last person to see her alive is. You think we're going to believe that? You're smarter than that. Listen, okay? This is... We can't keep coming up with different stories, okay? Because...

with what you just said okay as investigators we're going to figure out about chas yeah okay and if that's not accurate where would we end up back to you back to you you have told a whole bunch of cops a whole bunch of different stories i have not told you you need to trust me i want you to trust me okay okay i need to hear the truth the truth i know

kind of losing your guys' trust by the second hearing. Let's just be honest about that. Am I correct? Am I correct? I'm not meaning to stretch on. I'm just asking. But I had sex with Brittany and then I got done having sex and then it got really quiet in the truck. It was really awkward. And I think we were both kind of like

regretting it in some sort and she literally just told me to just drop her off and I didn't know where to drop her off and she wouldn't tell me anything and then we got right to the top of the cherry section right to the houses and then

Right up there and then I said something that pissed her off and she literally just hopped out of the truck when I was at a stop sign. I was freaking out because I felt like I had ruined a complete friendship over one dumb oral interaction. But, and then she didn't want to get back in my truck and so

We just sat there, literally at a stop sign right off the railroad turns back to pavement in the trailer section, sat there talking. And then I had told her that I would drop her off somewhere and I had gotten up there and tried to give her a hug and she didn't want one and I was fine with that, I understood. Then we got back in the truck

But then I just kept it in park because I didn't know where the hell I was going. And sat there and both just had steam pouring out of our ears because we were both upset. She just asked me to drop her off at her friend's house in the trailer section. I went down the side of the trailer section around the corner. I pulled up and then asked her again if she just didn't want me to just take her back to Elko. And she said no was fine.

And then she had told one of her friends about what happened. I just don't know who it was. I dropped her off in the trailer section. And then that was... I drove off, pissed off, went home, and then sat there. And then when I went back over to my mom's and I got text messages that she was missing and shit. And it freaked me the fuck out because I...

You know, last time I saw Brittany, I was flustered and angry. I call bullshit. What? I... Listen, okay? You guys are just looking for a confession. Listen, I'm looking for the facts to match up. What facts don't match up right now? Okay, I think you know. But I don't, I'm...

Lost. Do you think we've been doing nothing for the last week? No, I think you guys have been working your asses off. We've talked to a ton of people. Your name has gone up a lot. And the conversations they've had with you, that your stories, to us, don't match. And I don't know how that is, because literally everything I tell you guys is what I've told everyone. This is what we're going to do. Okay? We're going to step out of this room one last time.

Okay, when I step back in here, I need you to tell me the truth, okay? So you're still expecting us to believe that you dropped her off and her body miraculously appeared where the condom and condom record were? By some strange pre-coincidence? I did not kill Brittany, but I... Imagine being in my position trying to explain this. And we're trying to figure out how she ended up dead. You realize...

She disappeared on the 8th. You've been sitting on this knowledge without saying anything to anybody? Because I've had the entire town of Spring Creek asking me if I've killed Britain. And you might as well have if you didn't say anything. So this is the story that you're going to stick with? Yes, sir. Okay. Go ahead, stand up. Set break your feet and put your hands behind your back.

And with that, detectives placed Bryce Dickey under arrest for the first-degree murder and sexual assault of 16-year-old Brittany Ulaki. At the end of the day, they didn't need his confession. Of course, it would have been nice to have it, but the evidence they had was damning enough. Immediately after this, the detectives placed a call to Brittany's parents to let them know that they had made an arrest.

But when Brittany's mom, Alicia, found out it was Bryce, she was shocked. Bryce was actually the one who helped lead a six-hour search after Brittany disappeared. Then when her body was found, he posted the following message on Facebook.

Yesterday, we all received news that made us hit the floor. Around 8 in the morning, we all started meeting up at my house to grieve and mourn Brittany's life, which was taken far too soon. That day, I had tears of pain and joy. I wish she could have seen the amount of us that came together to honor you, sis. We love you so much. Just know you won't ever be forgotten.

Bryce even put a sticker on the back of his truck that read, "Justice for Brittany, never forgotten." To everyone, he seemed like a grieving friend.

which is why Alicia never expected him to be her killer. In fact, at the balloon release earlier that week, Bryce went up to Alicia and he went on and on about how sorry he was for letting Brittany leave with that mysterious man. He even hugged her while he apologized. And thinking he was truly innocent, Alicia said she grabbed his cheeks, tilted his chin up towards her,

looked him in the eye and she told him that it was not his fault. When the entire time, it was. That man looking into her eyes was the very man that raped and murdered her daughter. Looking back on that moment, Alicia was disgusted. She would later tell Oxygen, "I trusted him impeccably. The betrayal in this is unreal."

End quote.

as the community of spring creek learned about his arrest many people were shocked one of britney's best friends selena had been texting bryce that entire week and in one of their messages bryce texted her i love you if you need anything text me i'm so sorry this happened i have a lot of regrets that i can't take back and that's on me but i hope you guys don't blame me if so then you have the right to but thank you for being here for me it means the world

and thinking he was innocent. Selena texted him back saying, "Brice, we definitely do not blame you one bit. None of this is your fault. None of it. The only one who is at fault is whoever did this to her. We love you too, bud. Keep your head up. We're here for you no matter what. If you need anything, you know how to get a hold of us. Stay strong. They'll find who did this."

And in addition to everything we just mentioned, Bryce also participated in a gun shooting memorial for Britney. In a social media tribute, he posted a video of him and a group of boys shooting their guns into the Nevada desert. He was truly doing everything in his power to look like a grieving friend. And he fooled a lot of people, but not everyone. Some of Britney's friends said that they were suspicious of Bryce from the very beginning.

They said that after he was questioned by police that first time, he was very angry. They said that they tried to calm him down because they too had been questioned. They tried explaining to him that it was just a part of the investigative process. But Bryce seemed paranoid that he was a suspect, which was strange to them because if he was truly innocent, then he shouldn't be that worried. Then afterwards, they felt like Bryce was trying really hard.

overcompensating, almost. Brittany's friend, Saquara Ashby, would later say, quote, "He's just there, and you don't really know why he's there."

Other people close to Brittany, like her own father, Jem, said that he had been skeptical of Bryce's story. In fact, when Jem found out they made an arrest, the first thing out of his mouth was, quote, it was Bryce, wasn't it? From the very beginning, Jem knew that Brittany wasn't the kind of girl who would get in the car with someone she barely knew. But at the end of the day, he never thought Bryce would actually hurt her

so he convinced himself he was just overthinking. But he was right. Brittany didn't get in the car with someone she barely knew. She wouldn't have done that. But she did get in the car with someone she did know. Someone she trusted. Brittany and Bryce had known each other for years. They referred to each other as big brother and little sister,

She trusted him enough that she even posted a picture of them together that day on Snapchat. But Bryce Dickey took advantage of that trust. After the news of Bryce's arrest hit the media, his Facebook became flooded with angry messages. One woman wrote, "If this is true, I'm so disturbed that people like you aren't just on documentaries or TV. They're in our hometown. Seriously disgusted."

One of Brittany's friends also commented, "Piece of crap. I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life for what you did to Brittany." Another friend wrote, "You are a serious piece of shit. We were all there for you, cried with you, and all you did was play us like a fucking puppet master. All I can say is don't ever dare show your face in this town ever again." It's also around this time when people started talking about why Bryce would have done this. According to Brittany's friends, he had always had a crush on her.

Now, Bryce had a steady girlfriend of two and a half years, but at some point during that relationship, he had admitted to Brittany that he had feelings for her, but she didn't feel the same way, and she made that very clear. To Brittany, she saw Bryce as nothing more than a friend, an older brother. Saquara Ashby would later say, quote,

She would say that he was like one of her closest friends and she cared about him a lot. But besides that, she didn't really talk about him." And like we mentioned earlier, everyone kind of knew Bryce as the person who looked out for Brittany. According to her parents, the two would hang out after school, driving around town and eating fast food together, and there had never been anything amiss. He would even come over to their house

and just hang out while Britney did her makeup. And they liked Bryce. He was always very kind and respectful.

In their eyes, he was no threat to their daughter. In the weeks following Bryce's arrest, additional evidence was actually uncovered. On April 1st, 2020, Sergeant Fisher returned to the crime scene to conduct measurements, and while there, he actually discovered Brittany's badly damaged cell phone. It was just off of the roadway, and it appeared to have been thrown from a moving vehicle. As for the damages to the phone, Sergeant Fisher wrote...

It appeared someone had struck the cell phone with an unknown object, causing severe damage to the cell phone. But despite the damage, they were able to confirm it was hers. They were also able to get the digital Snapchat footprint from her and Bryce's phone, which confirmed that Brittany and Bryce were still together at 4 p.m. that day.

the time he said he had dropped her off with that cowboy. And Brittany had actually posted that picture of them to her Snapchat at 4:33pm. So that alone proved that Bryce's story was off. Now in that photo, Brittany is sitting in his truck, while Bryce is standing outside of the truck. And investigators were able to prove that the picture was taken on the side of Boyd Kennedy Road.

In fact, the GPS location of the photo placed them just a few hundred feet away from where Brittany's body was later found. It also showed that Bryce didn't leave that area until about 5.30 p.m. and he didn't get home until 6.08 p.m.

So with all of this information, prosecutors began building their case against Bryce Dickey. And two years later, in May of 2022, he finally went on trial for the murder and assault of Brittany Ulaki. He, of course, pleaded not guilty. But the state of Nevada had a pretty strong case. When the first day of trial came around, members of their community filled the courtroom and

and the Elko County's District Attorney, Travis Ingram, spoke to the jury. He told them that on March 8th, 2020, eight-year-old Bryce Dickey brought Brittany out to that remote location with one thing on his mind.

Sex. But 16-year-old Brittany had no idea. Thinking that Bryce was her friend, she wasn't aware of his bad intentions. So she snapped a picture of them and posted it to her Snapchat. Sometime after that picture was taken, Bryce made an advance towards her, which she rejected. Many of Brittany's friends were called to the witness stand, where they told the jury that Brittany wasn't interested in Bryce.

And she made that clear. Not only did Bryce have a long-term girlfriend, but to Brittany, he was nothing more than just a friend. So that day when he tried to have sex with her, she said no, something that Bryce didn't handle well. He didn't want to take no for an answer. So it's believed that it was here where a struggle ensued. At the end of it, Bryce pulled out his knife and stabbed Brittany in her neck, right there on the dirt road.

There was a large pool of blood found on the roadway, so she bled there for a moment while Bryce planned out his next move. The next thing he did was drag her out further off into the desert and when he felt like it was secluded enough, he did exactly what he came out there to do. He pulled out a condom, removed Brittany's clothes, and he raped her. Then soon after, she passed away.

After the assault and murder, Bryce discarded the condom in a nearby bush and then wrapped Britney's body in a blue tarp, hoping to conceal her from the rest of the world. He then left the scene, throwing her phone out of the car window on his way home.

Now, in his interviews, Bryce claimed that he dropped Brittany off at Spring Creek High School, but video surveillance from an apartment complex showed that he never even stopped by the high school in the first place. His truck is seen driving right past it, so once again, he was caught in another lie.

From here, Bryce went home and changed. Then hours later, when Brittany's family realized she was missing, they reached out to him and he played along. He came up with this elaborate story about the cowboy, the green F-150. He then met up with detectives and he gave them details about a story that never even happened. Over that next week, Bryce played the part of a grieving friend. He led searches around town.

He hugged Brittany's mother. He comforted Brittany's friends. All while he was the one who took her life. Now after Bryce was arrested, a search warrant was executed on his home. In the Washoe County crime lab, found a bloodstained pair of boots and a bloody sweatshirt. And then within those boots, they found the knife that was used to kill Brittany.

The medical examiner would speak at Bryce's trial, and she said that Brittany's cause of death was that knife wound to the neck. And something interesting to note here is that Bryce's favorite movie was called American Assassin, and in it, there's a training session where one of the characters showed how to kill someone by stabbing them in the throat. District Attorney Ingram would later claim that Bryce could have been inspired by this scene in his favorite movie, because that's exactly how he ended up killing Brittany, by stabbing her in the neck.

However, this was not allowed to be brought up at trial. Now, as for Bryce's defense, his attorneys, Matthew Pinnell and Gary Woodbury, argued that the evidence against Bryce was purely circumstantial, saying the scientific data didn't add up with their timeline of events. Further, Gary Woodbury told the jury, "...you will not hear any evidence that anybody anywhere saw Bryce Dickey kill Brittany Uchlackie."

which is pretty obvious considering he killed her out in the middle of the desert. Clearly, no one saw it happen, but we all know he did it. In response to this, the prosecution would later say, quote, I want you to think about whether crimes like murder and sexual assault are crimes often committed in front of other people. That wouldn't be very smart, end quote.

Now Bryce's attorneys would later admit that the only thing the prosecution had against him was the sexual encounter, and according to them, that encounter was consensual. In an interview with Dateline, Gary Woodward would say that Bryce wasn't forthcoming with the sexual aspects of their relationship due to his overwhelming respect for Brittany and their close relationship.

But things took a big turn in the trial when the prosecution brought forward Bryce's ex-girlfriend, the one that he had been dating for two and a half years when he killed Brittany. Now clearly, when she heard about what Bryce did, she was devastated. And when she heard the details about the crime,

it kind of all made sense. She would later testify that Bryce was very sadistic in the bedroom. He loved to choke her during sex. And there were even about four times where he would continue choking her after she told him to stop.

She also told the court that the most violent choking incident she had with Bryce was immediately after Brittany's candlelight vigil. And to the prosecution, this was relevant at trial because Brittany also had strangulation marks around her neck.

Now, Brittany's father, Jem, said that he sat in the courtroom every single day, listening to the testimonies and looking at graphic photographs of his murdered daughter. It was all too much for him to bear, but he felt like he had to do it for Brittany. However, the longer he sat through the trial, the more he began fantasizing about ending Bryce's life. The fact that someone could do this to Brittany was horrifying.

let alone it being someone she loved and trusted. But Bryce Dickey was about to learn his fate. After the closing arguments, the jury left for deliberation. And less than four hours later, they reached a verdict. Bryce Dickey was found guilty of the first-degree murder and sexual assault of Brittany Ulaki.

Following this, it was time for his sentencing, which meant that Jim and Alicia could finally confront their daughter's killer with their victim impact statements. During them, Alicia turned to Bryce and said, quote, I believed your ridiculous lies and your story about the green truck, and you let me come try and comfort you, knowing that you had raped and murdered my daughter, end quote.

However, Jim and Alicia couldn't help but notice that Bryce showed no emotion. Bryce claimed to be Brittany's big brother, but he didn't shed one single tear. He didn't show one bit of remorse. Alicia would later say,

I delivered an impact statement that I feel was extremely powerful, and he just looked me dead in the face like a stone gargoyle. Nothing. Jim and Alicia then spoke to the judge, saying, During this trial, we've seen things no parent should ever have to see, hearing things that you should never have to hear. I am pleading with you not to make me face this monster again in my lifetime for ridiculous parole hearings. Please, please allow my family a real shot at healing instead of having wounds ripped wide open again.

keep him behind bars where he belongs. At the end of the sentencing hearing, the Elko County District Judge, Mason Simmons, described Brittany's murder as a heinous crime. He then looked at Bryce Dickey and said, quote, a young woman with a bright and promising future who the defendant himself called his little sister had her life stolen from her. She was strangled, raped, and stabbed in the throat.

her body discarded like trash." In the end, Bryce Dickey was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 46 years, a sentence that Brittany's family was not pleased with. For them, it was far too lenient that he would eventually get parole

Alicia would later say, quote, the fact that he gets an option to ask for a second chance is mind-blowing. I wanted him to never ever have the possibility to get out and hurt another person, another female ever again, end quote.

From there, Bryce Dickey was taken from the courtroom to serve out his sentence at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada. He will be eligible for parole when he's 66 years old. And to this day, Bryce has never spoken about why he killed Brittany. However, he has tried to appeal his murder conviction. His attorneys believe that his ex-girlfriend's testimony shouldn't have been allowed in court. But luckily, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal.

But to wrap this story up, we want to reflect on the beautiful life that was lost. At just 16 years old, Brittany had her entire life ahead of her. She was young, driven, happy, and excited for her future. Her mother said she had a quote, bright, beautiful life.

But that was all taken from her, taken by someone she considered a friend. Since this devastating crime hit their community, Elko County has never been the same. Brittany's family will never be the same. Her father, Jim, said that when he's out in town and he sees a father and daughter walking around together, he can't help but cry.

If he's watching TV and he sees a father and daughter on the screen, he has to turn off the television. Britney made such a lasting impression on all of their lives, and life without her is the hardest thing they've ever had to bear. But they have vowed to honor her legacy by riding horses and participating in rodeo events, her absolute favorite things to do. Her family also had Britney cremated,

and her ashes were spread on her father's property where she loved to be wild and free on horseback. Jim admitted that he hasn't gone to the location where her ashes were spread because he hasn't fully accepted that she's never coming home and for them, there will never be justice. Even if Bryce Dickey rots in prison for the rest of his life, Brittany is gone. They will never get to hug her, laugh with her,

dance with her in the kitchen, or watch her grow up. All because of the selfish and monstrous acts of someone she trusted. Hey everybody, thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. We have some incredibly well-written and interesting stories coming up on the podcast in the next few weeks, so...

Yeah, you guys have a lot to look forward to. So we've recently changed up our Patreon a little bit. If you guys are Patreon members, we posted an update about what's going on on Patreon and we have some different new content being posted on Patreon. So there's some really exciting positive changes going on with that. And if you guys love Murder in America, you want Murder in America,

bonus content from the show you want to help support us in any way that you can patreon is definitely the place to go because there are bonus episodes on there you can get early ad free access to every main feed episode of the show so if you love murder in america definitely head to patreon

Also, give us a follow at Murder in America on Instagram to see photographs and sometimes videos from every case that we cover here on the show. Listen to my new podcast, The Conspiracy Files, which is available on all streaming platforms. And don't forget to check out my YouTube, The Paranormal Files. Anyways, y'all, thank you for listening. And yeah, we'll see you next week.

I'm sending my brother money directly to his bank account in India because he's apparently too busy practicing his karaoke to go pick up cash. Thankfully, I can still send money his way. Yes, I know I'm sending to your bank account. Western Union, send it their way. Send money in store directly to their bank account in India.

Services offered by Western Union Financial Services, Inc., NMLS number 906983, or Western Union International Services, LLC, NMLS number 906985, licensed as money transmitters by the New York State Department of Financial Services. See terms for details.