Paula and Brandon Wade 39:35

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Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.

Today I'm discussing the case of Paula and Brandon Wade. Some cases I discuss on this podcast are filled with twists and turns and a ton of evidence to comb through, to analyze, to help us put together the pieces of this puzzle to make sense of something as horrible as a murder or an abduction.

These are the cases that are typically splashed across headlines in the mainstream media. Gory details, crazy revelations, surveillance video that can be picked apart and put under the true crime microscope. But a lot of cases, like the one I'm going to tell you about today, don't have any of that.

They don't make the headlines. They aren't discussed by your favorite true crime podcast or YouTube channel. And for me, it's those cases, the ones where we're left in the dark, the ones where we know almost nothing, that haunt me the most. This is the case of Paula and Brandon Wade.

Just a few weeks before Paula Wade's 26th birthday in October 2002, she made big plans to make major changes in her life. She was currently living with her three-year-old son Brandon and a roommate in an apartment in Valdosta, Georgia. She'd originally made the move to Georgia with her husband after he was stationed at Moody Air Force Base.

Now, he's not named in the media, so for this episode, I'll just be referring to him as Paula's husband or Brandon's father. But they met in Germany and had been together since high school. Paula's father was also in the Air Force while she was growing up, so she knew what she was signing up for. Basically, the potential for a lot of moving around the country and the world. And that's exactly what happened. After they got married, her husband was sent to Korea for a year, and Paula wasn't able to join him.

During that time, Paula ended up moving in with her older sister Mary and her two children. But that year came and went, and eventually Paula's husband was back with his new assignment at Moody Air Force Base, and the couple made the move together to Valdosta, Georgia.

Valdosta is a smaller city near the Florida state line. In 2002, the population was at about 46,000 people, and hasn't changed much since then, now sitting at closer to 55,000 people. But it has a relatively low cost of living compared to the rest of the U.S., and is known as the Azalea City, for the beautiful array of azaleas growing in the area.

It's also known for having a thriving high school and college sports scene, and has been coined Wintersville because of how often they win their games. It really does seem like a nice place to start a family, even if the Air Force might inevitably drag them away.

And eventually, a few years after making the move, Paula and her husband have their first and only child, a son named Brandon. By all accounts, he was just loved and adored by his whole family, and was affectionately called Munchkin.

We don't know a lot about Brandon, and it's always hard to discuss what these very young kids are like. But what we do know is that at age three, he was a very animated boy who was in love with all things sports. Paula's sister Mary is convinced that he would have played some type of sport when he got older. Maybe he'd be a part of that Valdosta-Wintersville legacy.

Things were fine in Georgia for a while, but unfortunately, Paula's marriage just didn't work out, and eventually her husband had a new assignment five hours away at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, where he went without Paula or Brandon.

Now, the details about them planning to get officially divorced, or if they were just planning on being separated but working it out, are a little fuzzy here. We just know that they were no longer together, and things seemed amicable. But this move left Paula kind of stuck in a city that she didn't have any real connection to anymore. And it was clear that she really wanted to be closer to family. Specifically, she said that she wanted Brandon to grow up with his cousins, with Mary's children.

Mary had actually just transferred to Orlando, and their parents had just retired to the city as well.

So, Paula put in a request with her job at Sam's Club to transfer to a store in Florida and crossed her fingers. Eventually, she was told that they actually needed help opening a new store in Kissimmee, Florida. They were all set to move to the Orlando area in a few weeks. Paula's father and husband were even planning to come help them load the U-Haul. But Paula and Brandon would go missing before these plans were ever realized.

On Saturday, October 12th, 2002, Paula finishes her shift at Sam's Club and presumably drives home. But the next day, Paula misses her weekly Sunday call with her family.

Her sister Mary described this tradition to News Nation. Basically, every Sunday, Paula, Mary, and their brother Regis would call their parents at 6.30pm just to check in. It was kind of like a long-distance Sunday dinner just to keep in touch with everyone and see how everyone's week was. But Paula never called in, and on Monday she missed her morning shift.

The first shift she missed in five years. And Paula's supervisor is not messing around. Not only has Paula never missed a shift, she's never even been late, not once. They know that if Paula isn't here, and especially if she hasn't called, there is something seriously wrong. They don't even bother with a welfare check or waiting for police. They send an employee to go see what's going on and if Paula is okay.

Now, this person also isn't named in the media, but when they get to Paula's, they find her 1998 Chevy Blazer in the parking lot. But she and Brandon are nowhere to be found. They are then officially reported missing. When the Valdosta Police Department arrive at the scene, it's clear the apartment had been lived in. But there were no signs of a struggle, and nothing appeared to be missing other than Brandon's car seat.

It wasn't in the apartment or in Paula's Chevy Blazer. And in Paula's Blazer, they find some items that are extremely concerning. They find Paula's purse, her eyeglasses that she desperately needed, her keys are there, and her ID card. Basically, the essentials to literally move throughout life and travel. Especially to make a move to Georgia.

Police searched the apartment complex, asking if anyone saw or heard anything. They searched the nearby area, they put up flyers, and they brought in cadaver dogs twice. But there was no sign of Paula or Brandon anywhere.

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Paula's sister Mary says that this case was pretty much cold from the beginning. In 2023, she told Christopher Cann with USA Today, "...it was an immediate dead end, and it stayed like that since. We know as much as we did when they first went missing." It seems clear that something happened.

Paula was young, 25, but very dependable. And while there were no signs of a struggle in her apartment or near her Chevy Blazer, obviously something happened here. One of the biggest things that stuck out to me were Paula's glasses. In her interview with News Nation, which is where I got a lot of information for this episode,

Paula's sister Mary explains that Paula really needed her glasses, not just to read or see signs while she was driving, but she says Paula needed them to see the person she was standing in front of. Also, while it's clear that Paula wasn't totally satisfied with her life in Georgia, that's why she made those plans to get out and move away.

It seems to me, just speculation, that foul play was very likely involved in this case. There's just no motive to disappear, and nothing appears to have been stolen, so burglary seems unlikely. It's as if someone maybe saw Paula and Brandon in the parking lot. I don't know, maybe Paula was struggling to get Brandon in his car seat, and they saw the opportunity and struck, taking them both and Brandon's car seat, leaving everything else behind in the blazer.

Of course, unfortunately, it was 2002, and while security cameras were available, there doesn't seem to be any footage of anything in this case, and apparently no witnesses from the apartment complex. The Valdosta Police Department says that there are no suspects or persons of interest in this case. They did interview Paula's husband, Brandon's father, and they say that he's been extremely cooperative and eventually was cleared, though they won't really confirm anything else.

The only other person mentioned in this case as being looked into is Paula's roommate, and just like her husband, we don't know a lot about him either. What we do know is that his name is Marcus Burroughs, and he was 18 or 19 at the time that Paula and Brandon went missing. He was in college at the time, and Paula took him on as a roommate to help pay the bills. An

And it's not like this situation was hidden from anyone. Paula's husband helped moved him in, and her whole family is aware of who this person is and the living situation at the time. He was looked into and was seemingly cleared. That's the story you'll find in most of the media about this case. But there is a bit more to this story on PaulaWade.com, the website created by this family.

In their synopsis of the case, we learn more about the roommate. It says Marcus, quote, was a roommate of Paula's, but has not given the police any pertinent information regarding her disappearance. He refused a polygraph test and invoked his right to legal counsel. Cedric Bell, an acquaintance of Marcus's, was brought in for initial questioning and told officers where the bodies could be found.

Only deer bones were found in the area. The family believes he should be brought in for further questioning. End quote.

Mary hesitates to speculate publicly about what may have happened or who may have been involved, saying that road is just too dark, but adds that there was nothing about Paula's life that would cause concern, or any red flags that she could see. So at this point, what we know is that this mother and very young child have gone missing under pretty mysterious circumstances.

This is also the same year that 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart went missing and captivated the nation's attention. Missing children were being talked about, but no one was talking about Paula or Brandon.

This case has gotten, I mean really, next to no coverage, even today, which is a huge reason why I'm covering it. It seems that in this case, a lack of leads also correlates to a lack of coverage, which is just heartbreaking.

Mary still fights for her sister and nephew. In October 2023, she drove four hours from Orlando to Valdosta to hand out flyers. Paula's niece, Tara, who's now in her 30s, was there too, along with their rat terrier mix, Seamus. Just like that Sunday phone call, this annual trip has become a new tradition for Paula and Brandon's family.

They go back every year on the anniversary of them being reported missing. In my research, I found a news report dating back 14 years. It was just a small clip that featured Paula's parents using balloons with a mini missing persons flyer at the end to raise awareness. They've been at this for so long. And

And in 2023, Mary, Tara, and Seamus attended a high school football game in Valdosta. They handed out yellow flyers to those in line to get into the 12,000-seat stadium. They asked each of them to please take the flyer and share this information on their social media or with their friends and family.

They say they just need the right eyes to see this information. And there's this part in this news story that really got to me. While they're doing this, USA Today is basically following them around. And when the crowd cheered, Mary says she couldn't help but think about how much Brandon loved sports, and how he likely would have been playing if he were here today. And Mary says that after all these years of going to Valdosta annually, she's still meeting new faces who knew her sister.

On this trip, she met a woman named Maria Manning. She worked with Paula at Sam's Club. Actually, Paula hired her. They lived in the same apartment complex and grew very close, often carpooling to work together.

She describes Paula as precious, and says she absolutely adored Brandon and was a proud mom. Maria is now the assistant manager of that Sam's Club, and credits Paula for seeing something in her and adding her to the team so many years ago. Even after two decades, Paula's legacy lives on. It may not be a tip or a lead that could bring Paula and Brandon home,

But for Mary, it's a connection. It's something new after so many years of digging for fresh information about this case and her sister and nephew.

I feel like I see this in a lot of cases. There tends to be one person or group of people that really just champion a case. The person that just keeps pushing. In this case, that appears to be Mary. Paula and Mary were always very close. They and their brother Regis spent a large part of their childhood together in Europe, where their father was stationed in the Air Force.

Mary's 12 years older than Paula, and according to her interview with USA Today, she's always been protective of her. But she also definitely played that cool older sister role as well. Whatever Mary was listening to, Paula wanted to listen to. Typical sister stuff.

According to that same report by USA Today, Mary spends a lot of nights scrolling through Jane Doe websites and pushing for this case to be a priority. And in 2023, her efforts paid off. For the first time ever, the FBI listed Paula and Brandon on their list of missing persons. And with the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, they created new age-progressed photos for both of them.

In an interview with Marnie Hughes for News Nation, Mary explains that Brandon has had age-progressed images created for him in the past. She says it's really the closest thing their family has had to watching him grow up. But this is Paula's first one ever, which Mary says does make sense since she went missing at 25, and adults just don't change that much over the years. But

But of course, now it's been over two decades, and while these age progressions can be hit or miss sometimes, Mary says this image looks so much like Paula that her whole family kind of did a double take, because it's so realistic and so close to how they feel Paula would look.

And in addition to this effort, the Valdosta Police Department has assigned a new detective to this case. The commander of the Valdosta PD's Bureau of Investigations told USA Today that while all leads and clues have been exhausted, that a fresh pair of eyes might help refresh some leads and give them the break this case needs.

In reporting by Terry Richards for the Valdosta Daily Times, Mary says her family, "...has hope we are going to find them. We have a strong faith, and miracles have happened before." She also wants Paula and Brandon to know that if they are out there somewhere, they are very loved and missed, and that she will never stop looking for them.

Which brings me right to our call to action. Please share this case. Like I said, it truly has gotten so little media coverage that your share can go even further with this one. There was a little pop of media coverage at the end of 2023, which is how I became aware of this case. But this family, Paula and Brandon shouldn't have to wait another 20 years for the public to care.

Please share this, and hopefully, if we're lucky, we'll get it in front of the people who know something. As a reminder, Paula Wade was last seen on October 12th, 2002, leaving her work at Sam's Club in Valdosta, Georgia, and is described as white with brown hair and brown eyes. She is approximately 5 foot 7 inches tall.

and weighed about 150 pounds when she went missing. She has a birthmark on the upper part of one of her legs, and her top canine teeth protrude in front of her other top teeth. She does require corrective lenses for her vision, and uses an inhaler for asthma. As of recording this episode, Paula would now be 47 years old.

Brandon Lee Wade was 3 years old at the time of his disappearance. He is white with brown hair and hazel eyes. At that time, he was 2 feet 9 inches tall and weighed approximately 33 pounds. As of recording this episode, he would now be 24 years old.

Anyone with information about the Wade's disappearance is asked to contact the FBI Atlanta field office at 770-216-3000. You can also submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player. It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice.

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If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.

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In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that

Everyone has a different version of events. Hear the story on Where's Dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Welcome to the Secret After Show. The door is open. The puppies have rejected our invitation today, I am afraid to say, but that's the truth of the situation. They are not in the room with us. I think they're just off playing somewhere.

But let's get into this case. It was a hard one to cover and not in the usual ways. It's hard to build a script around a case with so few details. And the reason that's hard is because, you know, my goal here is to get your attention, to get you to care about these cases. And a lot of that does happen in the details.

But it's hard for me to see a case that I genuinely care about like this one and say, well, I guess there's not enough here to make an episode. I'll just move on. I'm just not that person. And going back to what I said in the beginning,

For me, these are the cases that are the scariest. The ones with so few details that they do fly under the radar. It's these cases that I think need to be extremely elevated to just bring all that darkness to the light. We know all the benefits of putting media pressure on these cases, but um, yeah. Ugh.

How a woman, I mean, really anybody, right? But especially when it's a parent and a child or even just a child, how they go missing and the media doesn't freak out, I will never understand. You know, I didn't consume a lot of true crime growing up. But what I remember in the news were all those kids. It was always just, you know,

The media going insane around a missing kid. You know, you're J.C. Dugard, you're Elizabeth Smarts, Kaylee Anthony. Those are the ones that really stick with me because people just go insane over it. Why no one went insane over Brandon going missing? I don't know. Maybe it's because he, you know, is presumably with his mom.

I don't know. But like I said, these are the ones that scare me because these, you know, not that I think this will be the outcome or want this to be the outcome, but with no details and no media pressure, where does the solve come from? Where does the accountability for whatever happened here come to light? I don't know.

Also, it's like, you know, what deems a case worthy of media? Why not this one? Because there's not enough details. There's not a juicy of enough story. It just, it hurts. It hurts. And it sucks. And I hope that this episode helps.

On to what's going on with me. Now, I got so much feedback talking about The Island of the Blue Dolphins, which I was made aware that I got the title wrong. I'm sorry. I use singular instead of plural. If you are looking for this book, it is Island of the Blue Dolphins. And I think one of the coolest things about getting this feedback was hearing about how this story was taught to you guys. And I think it's really cool.

and how the ending was clearly better explained to a lot of you than to me. Also, I forgot to mention that, yes, I did know that this is based off of a real story. So shout out to the Island of the Blue Dolphins crew, who also like

fell in love with the earth through this book and learned about all sorts of cool things through it, despite it having a, you know, rather concerning ending. But it was true to the story and how it actually happened. The other thing that's going on with me is that as you listen to this, I will be likely flying or already in Indiana for my annual board meeting with Season of Justice.

I've talked about Season of Justice before, probably not as much as I'd like. I try not to spam you guys with it, to be totally honest. But if you haven't heard of Season of Justice, it's on, it's me, so well versed. I actually, I was one of the founding board members of Season of Justice.

And essentially, our mission is to help provide funding for law enforcement for cold cases, things like DNA usually, as well as funding to families through our Family Grants Program. Yes, I am extremely proud. I helped build it. We do things like, you know, provide funding for billboards and other awareness campaigns. I wanted it to be

the help that I needed when I was fighting for Alyssa. So long story short, I am on the board of this nonprofit, Season of Justice, and as you listen, I will be in Indiana attending that board meeting. But I just wanted to tell you guys that our first virtual event is happening right now. It's called Jog for Justice. You've probably seen some of your favorite podcasters talking about it. There are some really amazing people that are helping us with this initiative.

But I wanted to plug it here and invite you to join my team. It is going on through the end of April, so we have...

About less than two weeks left. My team currently has one member, you guys. Shout out to Elizabeth for holding down the fort. But I would love if you guys joined. I will have that link in the episode description. And I also want to take a moment to thank everybody who's donated. And it is a short list, so I'm just going to name them here. Thank you to Sean, Amber, Jean, and

Kevin, Mary, Nicole, Jana, I think is how you say your name, I'm so sorry if it's not, Andrea, and all the anonymous people. And a huge shoutout to Nina instead from Already Gone for also donating...

Just want to give her her flowers. Nina is absolutely amazing. But yeah, please, if you want to join my team, join me. Let's be on a team together. If you want to donate, that's fantastic. If you can't donate, you don't want to join, please just share. It is for a fantastic cause. We've given over a million dollars away at this point.

So it's something that I truly believe in, that I know helps families, and has led to several solves in these cases. So please, please share if nothing else. I will also say that there's no actual jogging required, so I'll just throw that out there for anyone who that might be important to.

Oh my gosh, the other, I almost forgot. The other thing going on with me is that Marley, it's not even like going, it's like so far in the future, you guys, but I can't stop thinking about how Marley, our emotional support pup, who may have not supported us today, but has supported us many times in the past, is just a few months away from turning eight.

So Marley is so special to me for so many reasons. I got Marley when I was 18. Yes, I made a mistake and I did the wrong thing. I walked into a puppy store and I bought him. I was making some awesome money working at the tanning salon, being the palest girl there. And I walked in and was like, I'm 18. I see Paris Hilton with her cute little dogs. I also want a cute little dog.

So I walked in. I love this story about Martin. Maybe nobody else does, but I do. And he's going to be 18 very soon. So I'm going to tell the story. I walked into this pet store. I went right to him and I said, I want that one.

And the guy who pulled him for me, I'll never forget. He was like, oh, he's so nice. We just got him a few hours ago and he is so, so nice. And so I pick up Marley and he starts biting the crap out of my fingers. He's so mean and vicious. And I was like, yes, I want him. I love him. I must have him.

And I had to wait a few days because he had truly just gotten there. So he had to go through like a quarantine period. And then I got him. And fun fact, I hid him from my dad.

I snuck him into the house and one of those, I bought so many accessories at that store. It was like the biggest shopping spree I've ever been on between Marley and all the accessories. But so I got one of those purses, one of those dog purses, and I brought him into the house. I had my own bedroom. I had my own entrance. I was living the life. And I hid him for weeks. And the

Like, but let's be real, right? I'm sure he wasn't hidden because Marley would cry if he wasn't touching you while you were trying to sleep or if he was trying to sleep. So I would either sleep on the floor or he would sleep on the bed with me. He was crying the whole time. It was an absolute mess. And I was so stressed about it because I didn't lie to my dad. I just knew that if I told him I want another dog, he would say no. We already had two at that point. We had Logan and Teddy.

And he would have been like, absolutely not. So I just did it because, you know, for all his faults, he could never really say no to a dog. So eventually I was like, listen, I can't handle this stress anymore. I'm 18. I'm a grown woman. I'm just going to tell him that I got this dog. But I lied. I did lie about how because I thought he'd be mad that I spent so much money like we'd never met.

We'd never been that family. We always got our dogs from like somebody or from the pound or whatever. And so I was like, listen, dad, I found this dog. He was in a box on the side of the street. It's so funny now. And my dad looks at him and he goes, Sarah, that dog is going to be huge. He's going to be three times the size of our biggest dog at that time, Logan. And me, I knew his breed was Pekingese poodle. He's going to be small. And

And I was like, no, I don't think so, dad. Like, I definitely have no idea what Brady is because he just, like, came from this box on the side of the road. But I don't think he'll be that big. Long story short, Marley and my dad became best friends. And I was really upset about it, to be totally honest. I was like, that's my dog. I am so betrayed. This is awful. And...

This is the origin story I'm getting to with Marley, his villain origin story. So when they came and raided the house, what happened was every day, despite me telling my dad not to, I would get so mad. My dad would walk to the mailbox and have Marley follow him. No leash, no collar, just freaking out there for the whole world to do terrible things to my puppy. And so that morning when my dad went to go get the mail...

Marley was following him and then ATV vans or whatever all these police showed up to arrest him and by the time I got to the house all I saw was Logan and Teddy and I was calm cool I've told this story before but it's calm cool and collected worst day of my life this is fine everything's fine I am the meme of everything on fire and then they were like there was no third dog and I was like excuse me

There was no third dog in this house. There was only these two dogs. We never saw a third dog. And that's when I completely lost my mind. I was saying, you know, what's your badge number? You can't do this to people. I was pissed.

They couldn't find Marley anywhere. They said that he did not exist, which is how he got this nickname that he has, Marley the dog who never existed. It's a fun joke that me and Detective Anderson still talk about. But what happened was essentially...

So Marley was there, obviously. Thank you very much, Phoenix PD. When it all happened, he freaked out and ran into the neighbor's bush. And I think he was there the whole time. Now, by this point, such a crazy day. By this point, they'd found the bombs. They'd roped off the neighborhood. I didn't know that at the time. I just knew that they like roped off the neighborhood with crime scene tape. And I was told I couldn't come back. And

What happened was I got everything out of the house. I got the two dogs loaded up and sent to my brother's house for safekeeping. And then I remembered that Marley was – he was chipped. And so I was like, hey, can I please run back in there and just, like, get his chip information? Like, you know, if he's missing, I'm going to need that. Like, I just have to find my dog. And they were basically like, no, you know, whatever. We don't care. Go away. Okay.

And so I sat at the end of this crime scene tape for what felt like my whole life, just screaming Marley's name and crying. I remember sitting at my Mitsubishi Eclipse, rest in peace, and I was thinking, if I never see my dad again, I don't care as long as I see Marley. Like, Marley, my baby. And it was not long after that moment, I'm sitting at the edge of this crime scene tape in my Eclipse...

and Marley comes running out of the bush, shaking, covered in his own pee, and I just grabbed him and loved him forever. And now the dog that never existed is close to turning 18. So I have all sorts of feelings, and I'm not sure if you enjoyed that story, but Marley deserved to have a moment here. I

That dog. He's turning 18. Tell me what you guys think I should do. Like, I don't... Like, what do you do with a dog who's 18? Like...

Does he vote? Does he get an ID? I don't know. I don't know. It's just, it's crazy. He's 18. What do I do? I want to throw him like a cool birthday party. I don't know. You guys let me know. What should I do? Should I throw him a birthday party? Should I invite Detective Anderson? What should I do? Let me know on social media because I would love your ideas. I want to make it really special for him. You know, of course, he's going to live forever and we're going to have a

18 is big, so happy birthday to Marley many months early. Let me know what I should do for his birthday.

Honestly, this makes for a great segue into our segment of hope, because I will stretch that as far as I can. Now, this one was kind of all over the news, at least here. It is local to Arizona. I am getting my information directly from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at missingkids.org. They have a little blog over there, which is really great and informative for a lot of these cases.

Basically, two kids who have been missing for about six years have been found safe. Luis Ramirez was five, and his sister Camila was six months old when they were taken from a playground in Tucson, Arizona in May 2018 by their non-custodial parents. How this happened was really scary. When I worked with kids in foster care, you'd hear horror stories like this, but it...

It still just gets to me. So their non-custodial parents, excuse me, Luis Herrera Ramirez and Andrea Ramirez, were on a supervised visit in May 2018 at this park in Tucson, and they assaulted the DCS employee with, I guess, a taser device, and then duct-taped her to a tree, took the kids, and ran to Mexico.

So apparently it seems that part of the reason they didn't have custody of these kids is because they were facing charges of sex crimes involving a minor. It was unrelated to their kids, but they were facing these charges, grabbed their kids, and ran. But now investigators say that they developed new info in August 2023 and they were living under aliases in Mexico.

These investigators were able to identify someone they worked with, and the case was featured on America's Most Wanted in January. Then apparently in March of this year, a bunch of tips just started flooding in, and they found them. Obviously, that's why it makes our segment of hope. They were still working on this case so many years later, they worked with America's Most Wanted, all these tips came in, and bam, you have a solve. I say it all the time, and I will never stop saying it, you see something, you say something.

Whether that's a weird situation, a cell phone on the edge of the road, whatever it is, if it feels weird, just report it. You never know what it could lead to. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.