Latest / River City Mystery - Investigating mysteries in southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky / The Murder of Blake Crews

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The Murder of Blake Crews · River City Mystery - Investigating mysteries in southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky

• 0:00
  Speaker: Every time we're together, it's
• 0:02
  Speaker: overshadowed by the fact that
• 0:05
  Speaker: someone's missing someone very
• 0:08
  Speaker: important and their life is
• 0:10
  Speaker: missing.
• 0:12
  Speaker: You know, maybe him and any children he may have had.
• 0:16
  Speaker: My husband lost his only son.
• 0:31
  Speaker: You're listening to River City
• 0:33
  Speaker: Mystery Podcast, the show that
• 0:35
  Speaker: delves into the Evansville and
• 0:36
  Speaker: surrounding Tri-State area's
• 0:38
  Speaker: mysteries, including unsolved
• 0:40
  Speaker: crimes, murders, and
• 0:41
  Speaker: disappearances.
• 0:42
  Speaker: A show that isn't afraid to jump
• 0:44
  Speaker: down the rabbit hole to
• 0:45
  Speaker: investigate reports of local
• 0:46
  Speaker: hauntings, sightings of UFOs and
• 0:49
  Speaker: cryptids, among other paranormal
• 0:51
  Speaker: phenomena.
• 0:52
  Speaker: With your host, co-founder of
• 0:53
  Speaker: the Humans of Evansville
• 0:54
  Speaker: Facebook page.
• 0:56
  Speaker: Law office worker by day.
• 0:57
  Speaker: Insomniac researcher of the unknown.
• 0:59
  Speaker: By night, Matt Deig, and that would be me.
• 1:03
  Speaker: And welcome to episode five.
• 1:06
  Speaker: On the evening of January 16, 2015, 20-
• 1:10
  Speaker: year old Blake Crews is housesitting for a so-called
• 1:12
  Speaker: friend in Henderson, Kentucky.
• 1:15
  Speaker: Blake had spent the entire day trying to unsuccessfully print
• 1:18
  Speaker: some business cards for a new business he was trying to start.
• 1:22
  Speaker: He wanted to start a business teaching drum lessons.
• 1:26
  Speaker: Blake loved music, and he was.
• 1:28
  Speaker: He was good.
• 1:29
  Speaker: He was a member of the marching
• 1:31
  Speaker: band at his high school, and he
• 1:33
  Speaker: was recruited by Kentucky
• 1:35
  Speaker: Wesleyan to help revive their
• 1:36
  Speaker: percussion for their band, which
• 1:39
  Speaker: he did.
• 1:39
  Speaker: And he did a good job of it.
• 1:41
  Speaker: And he was in jazz band and played in other several bands,
• 1:44
  Speaker: so that was definitely something he enjoyed doing.
• 1:48
  Speaker: So he really was looking forward to teaching drum lessons and
• 1:52
  Speaker: maybe making a little extra money at the same time as Blake
• 1:56
  Speaker: is Housesitting that evening.
• 1:58
  Speaker: I can imagine him sitting at the couch, maybe poking away at the
• 2:02
  Speaker: laptop trying to tweak his business card logo.
• 2:05
  Speaker: Maybe that design getting it just right.
• 2:09
  Speaker: He tweets at seven oh two p m
• 2:11
  Speaker: watching Groundhog Day on VHS
• 2:14
  Speaker: all night.
• 2:15
  Speaker: What happens between seven oh
• 2:17
  Speaker: two p m and midnight that night
• 2:20
  Speaker: remains unknown.
• 2:22
  Speaker: But what is known is that around midnight, a call was made to the
• 2:27
  Speaker: Kentucky State Police reporting a burglary in progress.
• 2:31
  Speaker: When police arrived, they found Blake Cruz lying in the doorway,
• 2:35
  Speaker: shot multiple times in the face.
• 2:38
  Speaker: The young man, who just a few
• 2:39
  Speaker: hours earlier was so excited
• 2:41
  Speaker: about starting a new chapter in
• 2:42
  Speaker: his life, lie dead in the
• 2:44
  Speaker: doorway in a senseless murder
• 2:47
  Speaker: that to this day remains
• 2:49
  Speaker: unsolved.
• 2:52
  Speaker: As I was doing my research, I
• 2:54
  Speaker: wanted to get to know who Blake
• 2:56
  Speaker: was.
• 2:57
  Speaker: I don't just want to view this
• 2:58
  Speaker: as another unsolved crime with
• 3:01
  Speaker: faceless victims.
• 3:03
  Speaker: I wanted to get to know what
• 3:05
  Speaker: kind of loss this was for the
• 3:06
  Speaker: community, his family, for his
• 3:10
  Speaker: friends.
• 3:11
  Speaker: I had the opportunity to speak
• 3:12
  Speaker: with his mother, Donna, his
• 3:15
  Speaker: sister Amanda, his friends Kyle
• 3:18
  Speaker: and Brandon, as well as some
• 3:20
  Speaker: other people associated with
• 3:22
  Speaker: this case.
• 3:23
  Speaker: And you're going to hear some of their interviews in this later
• 3:25
  Speaker: in this episode.
• 3:27
  Speaker: I don't want to get into the nuts and bolts of the case as
• 3:30
  Speaker: far as the crime scene and all of the suspects and everything,
• 3:34
  Speaker: I want this to be more of a I want this to draw attention to
• 3:40
  Speaker: the case itself and for the community to realize what kind
• 3:43
  Speaker: of loss this was, and maybe that would trigger someone to step
• 3:47
  Speaker: forward with some information that might lead down a path
• 3:51
  Speaker: where this case can be solved.
• 3:54
  Speaker: Blake's family and friends
• 3:55
  Speaker: deserve peace and closure and
• 3:59
  Speaker: justice.
• 4:01
  Speaker: They need to know what happened to Blake and why, and to know
• 4:04
  Speaker: that the person or people responsible pay for this.
• 4:10
  Speaker: It's been reported that this particular house that Blake was
• 4:13
  Speaker: watching is well known as being a bit of a drug house.
• 4:16
  Speaker: People coming and going at all hours of the night.
• 4:19
  Speaker: So it's easy to assume that this is some sort of a drug related
• 4:24
  Speaker: shooting, maybe gang related or something along those lines.
• 4:30
  Speaker: But this doesn't add up.
• 4:31
  Speaker: Based on my conversations with Blake's family and friends,
• 4:36
  Speaker: Blake was not a drug dealer.
• 4:39
  Speaker: He was not into heavy drugs.
• 4:41
  Speaker: He was a member of the marching
• 4:42
  Speaker: band at high school in the in
• 4:45
  Speaker: the college, he was a state
• 4:47
  Speaker: bowling champion on the academic
• 4:49
  Speaker: team.
• 4:50
  Speaker: He participated in the Science Olympiad.
• 4:53
  Speaker: He was active in his fraternity, the Sigma Nu fraternity.
• 4:58
  Speaker: He participated in mission trips and youth groups.
• 5:02
  Speaker: He was active in the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association.
• 5:06
  Speaker: He wasn't the type of person who
• 5:09
  Speaker: would be caught up in some sort
• 5:10
  Speaker: of a drug, drug shooting, um,
• 5:13
  Speaker: situation.
• 5:15
  Speaker: As a matter of fact, during his
• 5:17
  Speaker: junior year in high school,
• 5:18
  Speaker: Blake went on a mission trip to
• 5:19
  Speaker: Arizona.
• 5:21
  Speaker: And during that trip, he kept a journal.
• 5:24
  Speaker: And on one of the entries, he wrote may have fed four hundred
• 5:28
  Speaker: and seventy three families, but through those I fed my soul
• 5:33
  Speaker: through the tasks I did, I affirmed that my being here is
• 5:36
  Speaker: reasonable, that I'm here to do big things and change lives, not
• 5:42
  Speaker: just others, but also my own.
• 5:46
  Speaker: This young man obviously wanted
• 5:48
  Speaker: to do good things and had a good
• 5:49
  Speaker: heart.
• 5:50
  Speaker: And this is one of the main
• 5:51
  Speaker: reasons I picked this case to
• 5:53
  Speaker: look into.
• 5:54
  Speaker: Like I said, I don't want to go into the nuts and bolts of the
• 5:57
  Speaker: particular case and all of the details and the suspects.
• 6:01
  Speaker: I do suggest checking out Lorden Art's YouTube video.
• 6:06
  Speaker: John Lorden did a great job
• 6:08
  Speaker: going into all of the details of
• 6:10
  Speaker: the case.
• 6:11
  Speaker: I'm not going to do any better than he did.
• 6:13
  Speaker: So I have a link to the video in my show notes.
• 6:17
  Speaker: So I suggest checking that out if you want to know the details
• 6:20
  Speaker: of the case.
• 6:22
  Speaker: Kentucky State Police Trooper Corey King recently released a
• 6:26
  Speaker: YouTube video summarizing this case and giving an update.
• 6:29
  Speaker: And this is audio from that video.
• 6:33
  Speaker: Every parent aspires to witness their child's milestones.
• 6:37
  Speaker: But for the parents of Blake
• 6:39
  Speaker: Cruz, that has all been taken
• 6:40
  Speaker: away.
• 6:41
  Speaker: You see, Blake was brutally
• 6:42
  Speaker: murdered in cold blood while
• 6:44
  Speaker: staying at a home in Henderson,
• 6:46
  Speaker: Kentucky.
• 6:47
  Speaker: Here's the back story.
• 6:49
  Speaker: Our agency responded to a burglary in progress call in the
• 6:52
  Speaker: five hundred block of Fairmont Avenue in Henderson, Kentucky.
• 6:57
  Speaker: When responding troopers arrived, they noticed the front
• 6:59
  Speaker: door open to the residence, but inside was the body of twenty
• 7:03
  Speaker: year old Blake Cruz.
• 7:05
  Speaker: Blake had been shot multiple times, yet no one else was
• 7:08
  Speaker: located inside the residence.
• 7:11
  Speaker: Eight of Blake's so-called
• 7:12
  Speaker: friends were charged with
• 7:14
  Speaker: offences unrelated to his
• 7:16
  Speaker: murder.
• 7:16
  Speaker: However, it is widely speculated
• 7:18
  Speaker: that this investigation is drug
• 7:20
  Speaker: related.
• 7:22
  Speaker: Our agency has received numerous tips and our detectives have
• 7:26
  Speaker: exhausted those tips and leads to no avail.
• 7:30
  Speaker: I am respectfully requesting of you to help me not only bring
• 7:34
  Speaker: the person or persons responsible for Blake's death to
• 7:37
  Speaker: justice, but also the satisfaction of providing
• 7:41
  Speaker: closure to the Cruz family.
• 7:43
  Speaker: And if that's not enough, you
• 7:45
  Speaker: may also be awarded up to
• 7:46
  Speaker: fifteen thousand dollars cash
• 7:48
  Speaker: for the information that led to
• 7:50
  Speaker: the arrest and conviction of
• 7:52
  Speaker: those persons responsible for
• 7:53
  Speaker: his death.
• 7:56
  Speaker: Hopefully someone steps up and does the right thing and tells
• 7:58
  Speaker: the police what they know.
• 7:59
  Speaker: If they do know something, even as minor as it may be, it may be
• 8:03
  Speaker: that one little nugget that gets this case solved.
• 8:08
  Speaker: Donna Cruz, Blake's mom, agreed
• 8:10
  Speaker: to talk to me, which I very much
• 8:12
  Speaker: appreciate.
• 8:14
  Speaker: Donna, thanks for joining me on the show.
• 8:16
  Speaker: I'm very sorry for your loss.
• 8:18
  Speaker: I appreciate you taking your
• 8:19
  Speaker: time out of your day to talk to
• 8:21
  Speaker: me.
• 8:22
  Speaker: Now, one thing that stood out as I was looking into your son's
• 8:26
  Speaker: case was the fact that Blake didn't seem to belong in this
• 8:30
  Speaker: house he was in.
• 8:31
  Speaker: He doesn't seem like he was the
• 8:32
  Speaker: type of person who would have
• 8:33
  Speaker: been dragged into some sort of a
• 8:35
  Speaker: drug deal gone bad or something
• 8:37
  Speaker: like that.
• 8:38
  Speaker: Can you tell us a little bit about Blake and and what your
• 8:41
  Speaker: thoughts are on that?
• 8:43
  Speaker: Blake was never the type of person that you would ever
• 8:46
  Speaker: thought would have been involved in a situation like this.
• 8:49
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 8:51
  Speaker: He was, you know, he was a normal, normal, um, young adult
• 8:58
  Speaker: and enjoyed going out with friends and stuff.
• 9:00
  Speaker: But he had such wide circles of
• 9:03
  Speaker: friends because he was a
• 9:04
  Speaker: musician and he was a college
• 9:06
  Speaker: student and he was, you know,
• 9:09
  Speaker: involved in a lot of different
• 9:11
  Speaker: things when it comes to, you
• 9:13
  Speaker: know, just activities in
• 9:15
  Speaker: general.
• 9:15
  Speaker: Like I like you have read
• 9:17
  Speaker: before, you know, he did go on a
• 9:18
  Speaker: mission trip.
• 9:20
  Speaker: Um, he marched in band, but he
• 9:23
  Speaker: also was in jazz band and, uh,
• 9:26
  Speaker: he was heavily recruited by his
• 9:28
  Speaker: college to get their band
• 9:32
  Speaker: started again because they,
• 9:34
  Speaker: their band had, I don't have the
• 9:36
  Speaker: right term, but their band
• 9:37
  Speaker: needed restarting.
• 9:39
  Speaker: And, and he was recruited, given a really big scholarship more
• 9:44
  Speaker: than music majors, I was told.
• 9:46
  Speaker: And he was not a music major.
• 9:48
  Speaker: And he was, he was, uh, in
• 9:51
  Speaker: charge of getting that
• 9:51
  Speaker: percussion section going, which
• 9:54
  Speaker: he did.
• 9:55
  Speaker: And he did indoor drum line, which was a choreographed thing
• 10:02
  Speaker: where he played these tenors.
• 10:04
  Speaker: And he, he was in marching band for several years, and he could
• 10:09
  Speaker: play every style of music.
• 10:10
  Speaker: I watched his audition and I was
• 10:12
  Speaker: just flabbergasted about his
• 10:15
  Speaker: talent.
• 10:16
  Speaker: I had no idea he had so much talent until I saw him audition
• 10:20
  Speaker: and moved from one style of music to the next to the next,
• 10:23
  Speaker: and do about fifteen different styles of drums.
• 10:28
  Speaker: And then then he played in some little hometown rock bands and
• 10:32
  Speaker: performed at the Kentucky Farm Bureau, uh, thing.
• 10:36
  Speaker: Some of his best friends were a governor's scholars.
• 10:40
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 10:40
  Speaker: Right.
• 10:41
  Speaker: Nothing that we ever will do will bring back my son or
• 10:46
  Speaker: restore our life to its, you know, former condition.
• 10:51
  Speaker: It just isn't going to happen.
• 10:53
  Speaker: But it would be good to know the answers.
• 10:57
  Speaker: And for someone to actually be
• 11:00
  Speaker: held responsible for their
• 11:02
  Speaker: actions so that we can at least
• 11:05
  Speaker: close that chapter of our life
• 11:08
  Speaker: and finish living the rest of
• 11:11
  Speaker: ours.
• 11:12
  Speaker: And then my beliefs happen to
• 11:14
  Speaker: tell me that I'm going to see my
• 11:15
  Speaker: son one day, and then I'm going
• 11:18
  Speaker: to heaven and I'm going to be
• 11:19
  Speaker: with him.
• 11:21
  Speaker: So I know it's not happening here on earth.
• 11:26
  Speaker: It's just I just think that it's necessary for us to finish
• 11:32
  Speaker: living our lives to know and have someone held responsible.
• 11:36
  Speaker: An innocent life was taken, and someone out there is still
• 11:39
  Speaker: walking around having done that.
• 11:42
  Speaker: Oh, absolutely.
• 11:43
  Speaker: And I'm honestly surprised that
• 11:45
  Speaker: there haven't been any arrests
• 11:46
  Speaker: directly related to Blake's
• 11:48
  Speaker: murder.
• 11:49
  Speaker: Initially, there were arrests of
• 11:53
  Speaker: some of those people who were
• 11:54
  Speaker: initially in the house, but none
• 11:56
  Speaker: of them were charged with his
• 11:57
  Speaker: murder.
• 11:58
  Speaker: They were charged with failure
• 12:00
  Speaker: to report a death, and some
• 12:01
  Speaker: others received some drug
• 12:03
  Speaker: charges.
• 12:04
  Speaker: But nothing.
• 12:04
  Speaker: Nothing about the death specifically.
• 12:08
  Speaker: Now, Donna, I know you're you've
• 12:09
  Speaker: got your daughter, Amanda
• 12:10
  Speaker: Miller, Blake's sister, next to
• 12:12
  Speaker: you.
• 12:13
  Speaker: I wanted to give her an opportunity to chime in if she
• 12:15
  Speaker: had anything to to say about the investigation or about Blake.
• 12:21
  Speaker: Anything she'd like to.
• 12:24
  Speaker: She's going to talk here in a second.
• 12:27
  Speaker: She's a struggling.
• 12:28
  Speaker: I'm trying to gather my thoughts.
• 12:29
  Speaker: Um, I understand, I guess our our main questions or my main
• 12:34
  Speaker: question would be, um, with the involvement of the KSP in this
• 12:38
  Speaker: case, um and only the KSP in this, in this case which has
• 12:43
  Speaker: been apparent from jump.
• 12:46
  Speaker: Why is the city police not able to help solve this case?
• 12:51
  Speaker: I understand it's not within the
• 12:52
  Speaker: city limits sign, but if they
• 12:56
  Speaker: know their citizens best, then
• 12:57
  Speaker: why wouldn't they be of
• 13:01
  Speaker: assistance?
• 13:01
  Speaker: Or maybe they've not been asked or I don't know.
• 13:05
  Speaker: That is a big question for me.
• 13:07
  Speaker: We can't understand why there's three police agencies here in
• 13:10
  Speaker: this in this town alone, the the, the sheriff, the state
• 13:15
  Speaker: police and the city police.
• 13:18
  Speaker: And then you have other agencies.
• 13:20
  Speaker: Oh, also with that, why can't
• 13:22
  Speaker: everybody work together and
• 13:24
  Speaker: actually get a resolution to
• 13:26
  Speaker: this and, and figure out what
• 13:27
  Speaker: actually happened to, to our
• 13:29
  Speaker: son?
• 13:30
  Speaker: You know, that's one thing
• 13:31
  Speaker: that's just bothered us so
• 13:32
  Speaker: badly.
• 13:34
  Speaker: I, I can't even imagine the frustration that you all must be
• 13:37
  Speaker: feeling, thinking maybe they're not doing one hundred percent of
• 13:39
  Speaker: what they could be.
• 13:41
  Speaker: How often are you talking to the investigators?
• 13:44
  Speaker: Um, are you talking to them regularly?
• 13:46
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 13:46
  Speaker: Well, for the longest time I
• 13:48
  Speaker: would always contact the state
• 13:49
  Speaker: police and like I said, weekly
• 13:52
  Speaker: and monthly.
• 13:53
  Speaker: And now I think I'm down to, uh,
• 13:55
  Speaker: monthly and every other monthly
• 13:57
  Speaker: because they never have anything
• 13:59
  Speaker: to share.
• 14:00
  Speaker: Um, so, but early, very early
• 14:04
  Speaker: on, I asked for coordination and
• 14:07
  Speaker: it's essentially a political
• 14:09
  Speaker: thing.
• 14:10
  Speaker: Uh, you wouldn't believe all of
• 14:12
  Speaker: the things that I have heard
• 14:13
  Speaker: about this, uh, situation, you
• 14:17
  Speaker: know, and I know this isn't the
• 14:19
  Speaker: direction that you want to take
• 14:20
  Speaker: with your podcast, but it's
• 14:24
  Speaker: overwhelming when you have
• 14:25
  Speaker: something, um, that's happened
• 14:28
  Speaker: like this and then it just gets
• 14:30
  Speaker: bigger and bigger and bigger and
• 14:32
  Speaker: it turns into, well, this is a
• 14:34
  Speaker: political matter and this is a
• 14:35
  Speaker: matter.
• 14:36
  Speaker: We don't have enough manpower and this is a matter of, you
• 14:40
  Speaker: know, well, in the case has changed hands so many times.
• 14:43
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 14:43
  Speaker: There's been a lot of different Detectives assigned, which can
• 14:47
  Speaker: be good and or bad.
• 14:48
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 14:49
  Speaker: Uh, in a couple of ways, but, um, you know, um, all we want to
• 14:56
  Speaker: know is the very basic who's responsible for this and can you
• 15:00
  Speaker: have them prosecuted?
• 15:02
  Speaker: No, definitely.
• 15:03
  Speaker: We've just lost the most precious and dear thing to us,
• 15:08
  Speaker: and we're just expected to just accept anything that we get.
• 15:14
  Speaker: And, and we are just having a terrible time doing that.
• 15:18
  Speaker: Um, and hearing people talk to us about all the issues that
• 15:22
  Speaker: prevent them from solving the case and, and making that into a
• 15:28
  Speaker: big political or pissing match between police agencies.
• 15:35
  Speaker: Now, do you think there's a
• 15:36
  Speaker: particular reason they're not
• 15:37
  Speaker: coordinating or maybe not moving
• 15:39
  Speaker: along as quickly as you'd like
• 15:41
  Speaker: them to?
• 15:42
  Speaker: Is there something, like you said, political going on here.
• 15:45
  Speaker: I don't think it's for a particular reason, but I do
• 15:47
  Speaker: think the Henderson police could probably be very instrumental in
• 15:53
  Speaker: in getting some of these things solved, I really do.
• 15:57
  Speaker: Um, this happened barely outside the city limits.
• 16:00
  Speaker: Like I'm not even a mile outside of the city limits.
• 16:04
  Speaker: Right?
• 16:04
  Speaker: Yes.
• 16:05
  Speaker: Well, anyway, we have I have
• 16:06
  Speaker: contacts inside the police that,
• 16:08
  Speaker: you know, I talked to you very
• 16:09
  Speaker: early on and they they did not
• 16:11
  Speaker: sound like they were actively
• 16:13
  Speaker: working this case in any kind of
• 16:15
  Speaker: way.
• 16:16
  Speaker: So it led me to believe that,
• 16:18
  Speaker: no, this is not being, you know,
• 16:21
  Speaker: worked together.
• 16:22
  Speaker: This is not any kind of coordination whatsoever.
• 16:26
  Speaker: And I asked for coordination
• 16:27
  Speaker: very early on specifically, you
• 16:31
  Speaker: know, do you know if anyone else
• 16:33
  Speaker: has reached out to those
• 16:35
  Speaker: individuals who were arrested in
• 16:37
  Speaker: twenty fifteen, but not charged
• 16:39
  Speaker: with Blake's death to see if
• 16:41
  Speaker: they would provide any
• 16:42
  Speaker: statements We would love to see
• 16:45
  Speaker: that happen because the media
• 16:47
  Speaker: declined.
• 16:47
  Speaker: Actually, just just to be upfront with that.
• 16:51
  Speaker: And, and the one person that declined to do that was a
• 16:55
  Speaker: younger reporter who said that she was fearful of doing that.
• 16:59
  Speaker: Of course, I'm not a suggesting
• 17:00
  Speaker: that someone try to have face to
• 17:02
  Speaker: face.
• 17:03
  Speaker: I mean, phone calls and stuff
• 17:05
  Speaker: can happen, you know, but they
• 17:08
  Speaker: didn't feel comfortable doing
• 17:10
  Speaker: that themselves.
• 17:11
  Speaker: I don't think they were forbidden.
• 17:13
  Speaker: I just know it wasn't going to
• 17:14
  Speaker: happen through that particular
• 17:16
  Speaker: reporter.
• 17:16
  Speaker: But, you know, um, I feel like we have cried so much.
• 17:27
  Speaker: We've cried out, we've cried, our insides are just, you know,
• 17:31
  Speaker: destroyed with just all of the grief that comes along with
• 17:36
  Speaker: something like this.
• 17:37
  Speaker: And, um, no, Blake would never want us to be this way.
• 17:43
  Speaker: Um, no child would ever want their parent to be this way.
• 17:50
  Speaker: And, um, you know, like I said,
• 17:53
  Speaker: I, I changed part of me died
• 17:56
  Speaker: with Blake.
• 17:59
  Speaker: My daughter is pointed out that she feels like she's lost a part
• 18:02
  Speaker: of her mother.
• 18:04
  Speaker: And we've had issues spring up in our family that have created
• 18:11
  Speaker: problems, because this is just one of the most horrific things
• 18:18
  Speaker: to ever deal with.
• 18:20
  Speaker: I can't even imagine.
• 18:23
  Speaker: I'm wondering, does this affect
• 18:25
  Speaker: your ability to go out in the
• 18:27
  Speaker: public, like to go to Walmart or
• 18:29
  Speaker: whatever?
• 18:29
  Speaker: Are you looking around, maybe subconsciously looking around
• 18:33
  Speaker: and wondering, is that the person who did it?
• 18:36
  Speaker: Were they involved or are they not talking?
• 18:40
  Speaker: Does that affect your ability to function in everyday life?
• 18:43
  Speaker: Or have you moved past that
• 18:45
  Speaker: phase, or were you ever in that
• 18:47
  Speaker: phase?
• 18:47
  Speaker: I'm just kind of curious about how that not knowing how that
• 18:51
  Speaker: affects your daily life.
• 18:54
  Speaker: Uh, I don't know, maybe.
• 18:55
  Speaker: I mean, I in the first couple of years, all I could think about
• 19:00
  Speaker: is how did this happen?
• 19:03
  Speaker: Why did this happen?
• 19:04
  Speaker: How could I have stopped it?
• 19:06
  Speaker: There's a tremendous pain and
• 19:08
  Speaker: guilt and, and every emotion
• 19:11
  Speaker: that you can imagine, you're
• 19:15
  Speaker: never the same person ever
• 19:17
  Speaker: again.
• 19:18
  Speaker: Ever.
• 19:20
  Speaker: When I when my son died, a part of me died with him.
• 19:25
  Speaker: I can't even fathom what that loss must be like.
• 19:28
  Speaker: It's the worst nightmare of any parent to have to go through.
• 19:35
  Speaker: I was wondering, do either of you have a funny story you'd
• 19:38
  Speaker: like to share about Blake?
• 19:41
  Speaker: Well, there's a few.
• 19:42
  Speaker: I have two that stick out in my mind, and my mom loves the first
• 19:46
  Speaker: one, and it is the first one whenever, um, because he was in
• 19:50
  Speaker: band and they were having to do these band pictures, as you
• 19:53
  Speaker: know, you, you have your composite pictures that hang on
• 19:56
  Speaker: the wall in the school.
• 19:58
  Speaker: Um, and he and his friends
• 20:01
  Speaker: decided that they were going to
• 20:03
  Speaker: make horrible faces in them
• 20:05
  Speaker: basically.
• 20:06
  Speaker: Um, and everybody, uh, changed at a time.
• 20:10
  Speaker: Yes.
• 20:11
  Speaker: And everybody took it out except for Blake.
• 20:13
  Speaker: And then.
• 20:14
  Speaker: So imagine my mom's horror as
• 20:16
  Speaker: she's coming to the school to
• 20:17
  Speaker: look at pictures and this is all
• 20:18
  Speaker: she's seeing.
• 20:21
  Speaker: And so that one is just it just complete.
• 20:25
  Speaker: Blake.
• 20:26
  Speaker: Uh, that is absolutely.
• 20:27
  Speaker: Blake.
• 20:28
  Speaker: Um, he was just, he, uh, he marched to the tune of his own
• 20:33
  Speaker: drum, that's for sure.
• 20:35
  Speaker: And as cliche as that sounds, he was his own man.
• 20:40
  Speaker: I I'm going to just have to fill in something here.
• 20:43
  Speaker: Go ahead.
• 20:43
  Speaker: He was literally his own man
• 20:47
  Speaker: when he was about eighteen or
• 20:51
  Speaker: nineteen.
• 20:53
  Speaker: I used to love to shop and still love to shop at the goodwill.
• 20:57
  Speaker: Well, he decided he liked goodwill too.
• 20:59
  Speaker: He liked vintage things.
• 21:02
  Speaker: So one day he comes home from the goodwill, and I didn't know
• 21:05
  Speaker: he was going there.
• 21:07
  Speaker: And he has a pair of shoes that he called his chukkas.
• 21:11
  Speaker: I don't even know what a chukka is, except for it was like a
• 21:14
  Speaker: leather boot that laced up.
• 21:16
  Speaker: And he just loved them.
• 21:17
  Speaker: And he came home and he was slapping the inside of his hand
• 21:22
  Speaker: with the backside of his other hand, making that.
• 21:25
  Speaker: And he says, these were for bones.
• 21:30
  Speaker: I said, oh my gosh.
• 21:31
  Speaker: And he wore them and wore them and wore them.
• 21:35
  Speaker: And he actually was wearing those, I believe the night his
• 21:41
  Speaker: life was taken.
• 21:43
  Speaker: Um, but he loved those.
• 21:45
  Speaker: And I think we had to.
• 21:46
  Speaker: He wore them so much.
• 21:47
  Speaker: We may have had to get the tow
• 21:49
  Speaker: repaired because it came
• 21:51
  Speaker: unglued, but they were very
• 21:54
  Speaker: nicely made.
• 21:55
  Speaker: And then once he got a pair of
• 21:57
  Speaker: the most hideous, uh, crocodile
• 22:01
  Speaker: leather looking grey, um,
• 22:05
  Speaker: Italian shoes, and he had large
• 22:08
  Speaker: feet and he thought they were
• 22:11
  Speaker: just great.
• 22:13
  Speaker: I still have those.
• 22:16
  Speaker: And he thought he only wore them a few times, but he said he
• 22:19
  Speaker: would absolutely wear those and I didn't think he would, but he
• 22:24
  Speaker: did wear them a couple of times.
• 22:25
  Speaker: They were hideous.
• 22:27
  Speaker: They looked something like from what, the fifties maybe.
• 22:31
  Speaker: And they were terrible.
• 22:33
  Speaker: And then he'd go shopping out of
• 22:34
  Speaker: his grandfather's closet and
• 22:37
  Speaker: he'd grab all of his sweaters
• 22:39
  Speaker: with the elbow pads on them and
• 22:41
  Speaker: the big buttons, you know, the
• 22:44
  Speaker: kind that have the look like
• 22:46
  Speaker: leather buttons.
• 22:47
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 22:48
  Speaker: Oh, he loved those.
• 22:50
  Speaker: He loved all that vintage looking stuff.
• 22:53
  Speaker: And he just wasn't a things person.
• 22:56
  Speaker: He did like certain types of
• 22:58
  Speaker: stuff, but he didn't mind to
• 23:01
  Speaker: stand out.
• 23:02
  Speaker: He had red hair, and he chose his own haircut.
• 23:06
  Speaker: And everybody else followed him.
• 23:09
  Speaker: And he just.
• 23:11
  Speaker: He just was his own man.
• 23:14
  Speaker: He definitely sounds like it.
• 23:15
  Speaker: And it sounds like he also got
• 23:18
  Speaker: along with a wide variety of
• 23:20
  Speaker: people.
• 23:20
  Speaker: He made friends with all kinds
• 23:22
  Speaker: of people in the marching band
• 23:23
  Speaker: and all the different groups he
• 23:24
  Speaker: was in.
• 23:25
  Speaker: So it sounds like he made all kinds of friends.
• 23:28
  Speaker: Yes he did.
• 23:30
  Speaker: And one time when he was
• 23:31
  Speaker: carrying the fifth bass for the
• 23:33
  Speaker: marching band, he fell over a
• 23:36
  Speaker: kid Backwards, who was in a
• 23:38
  Speaker: wheelchair, and the two of them
• 23:40
  Speaker: were laughing until they about
• 23:42
  Speaker: peed on themselves on the
• 23:43
  Speaker: ground.
• 23:44
  Speaker: They thought it was hilarious, but Blake loved everybody.
• 23:48
  Speaker: He didn't look at people and noticed differences.
• 23:52
  Speaker: I mean, of course he noticed the kid was in a wheelchair, but the
• 23:55
  Speaker: kid was in the band.
• 23:57
  Speaker: And, you know, he just loved everybody.
• 24:01
  Speaker: He didn't he didn't, um, he didn't feel bad about people.
• 24:07
  Speaker: He didn't have.
• 24:09
  Speaker: He thought everybody was basically a good person.
• 24:13
  Speaker: He, he could have been an old soul, for all I know.
• 24:16
  Speaker: We have millions of good stories and good memories of him, and I
• 24:23
  Speaker: just wish that people would.
• 24:25
  Speaker: I don't know, I guess I guess I
• 24:28
  Speaker: feel like I mean, this is my
• 24:30
  Speaker: son, obviously.
• 24:31
  Speaker: I think he's the most important thing on the planet practically.
• 24:35
  Speaker: I have two living children that
• 24:37
  Speaker: are, you know, they are equally
• 24:39
  Speaker: as important.
• 24:40
  Speaker: And all my grandchildren, I have eight grandchildren.
• 24:43
  Speaker: So every one of them are so special and so important to me.
• 24:48
  Speaker: But obviously, I think Blake
• 24:50
  Speaker: was, you know, just he was just
• 24:53
  Speaker: super.
• 24:53
  Speaker: And I maybe I should think everybody else should feel like
• 24:56
  Speaker: he was that way too.
• 24:58
  Speaker: And I wish they would speak his name.
• 25:00
  Speaker: I think they might feel like they may hurt me if they speak,
• 25:03
  Speaker: speak his name.
• 25:05
  Speaker: But it brings me tremendous joy to hear them tell me stories or
• 25:09
  Speaker: to send me a picture I've never seen, or ask me for a bracelet.
• 25:16
  Speaker: You know, um, just any of those things just bring me joy.
• 25:24
  Speaker: And my hope is that the more people who hear this podcast
• 25:28
  Speaker: will maybe talk about Blake's story, and maybe it'll trigger
• 25:33
  Speaker: someone who knows something to come forward and and provide
• 25:37
  Speaker: that piece of information that breaks the case.
• 25:40
  Speaker: So, and, um, people need to realize what a loss to the
• 25:43
  Speaker: community this was not only to your family and to his friends,
• 25:46
  Speaker: but to the community.
• 25:47
  Speaker: I really do think it was a loss to the community, I really do.
• 25:52
  Speaker: I think he would have gone on to do something special.
• 25:54
  Speaker: What I'm not sure.
• 25:56
  Speaker: I really feel like he was a special person with, you know, I
• 26:01
  Speaker: just think he would have been very successful and helpful.
• 26:04
  Speaker: And I don't know, I mean, I sense that he might even, you
• 26:09
  Speaker: know, get, get near, uh, helping other people, like in a social
• 26:14
  Speaker: work kind of fashion, not being a social worker, but because I
• 26:18
  Speaker: didn't really encourage that.
• 26:20
  Speaker: It's, it's a hard way to make a living, actually, but, you know,
• 26:26
  Speaker: it is, it is.
• 26:27
  Speaker: But there's great ways in social work to help other people.
• 26:31
  Speaker: It doesn't have to be always Sad stuff or scary stuff or, you
• 26:37
  Speaker: know, and and he just really cared about other people.
• 26:42
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 26:42
  Speaker: Um, you know, I could see him
• 26:45
  Speaker: helping someone who was less
• 26:47
  Speaker: fortunate, but I could also see
• 26:49
  Speaker: him helping, you know, um,
• 26:52
  Speaker: people that, um, ah, you know,
• 26:56
  Speaker: like maybe autistic or, um,
• 27:00
  Speaker: intellectually disabled or
• 27:02
  Speaker: whatever.
• 27:03
  Speaker: Um, so I, I don't know, I just
• 27:06
  Speaker: think he had, he had his gifts
• 27:08
  Speaker: for sure.
• 27:10
  Speaker: And I think that he was well
• 27:12
  Speaker: equipped with gifts and someone
• 27:14
  Speaker: just robbed us completely robbed
• 27:18
  Speaker: us.
• 27:19
  Speaker: Um, I know that I said before, I
• 27:23
  Speaker: wish they would have come and
• 27:24
  Speaker: shot me.
• 27:26
  Speaker: I would have given him anything.
• 27:30
  Speaker: Someone out there knows
• 27:31
  Speaker: something, And there, for
• 27:34
  Speaker: whatever reason, not willing to
• 27:36
  Speaker: come forward with that
• 27:37
  Speaker: information.
• 27:39
  Speaker: I hope that someone hears this
• 27:42
  Speaker: and changes their mind, and
• 27:43
  Speaker: maybe this puts them over the
• 27:45
  Speaker: edge as far as what they needed
• 27:48
  Speaker: to hear to, to come forward and
• 27:51
  Speaker: say what they need to say to the
• 27:52
  Speaker: police.
• 27:53
  Speaker: Right.
• 27:55
  Speaker: And I just, you know, as these people grow older and they
• 27:59
  Speaker: become parents, maybe it will touch their heart as their child
• 28:05
  Speaker: gets older, if they can ever imagine what it would be like to
• 28:10
  Speaker: lose their child this way.
• 28:13
  Speaker: I don't want to leave this earth without knowing.
• 28:17
  Speaker: I guess I worry about that, but, um, you know, the hard thing
• 28:24
  Speaker: here is having these questions and presenting these questions
• 28:28
  Speaker: to people who might be able to shed light on them, and first
• 28:33
  Speaker: thing is just saying them out loud in the first place.
• 28:35
  Speaker: And you've helped us do that.
• 28:38
  Speaker: Thank you.
• 28:39
  Speaker: And I have reached out to all of
• 28:41
  Speaker: the individuals who were
• 28:43
  Speaker: arrested in twenty fifteen, um,
• 28:45
  Speaker: to see if they would like to say
• 28:47
  Speaker: anything to maybe clear their
• 28:48
  Speaker: name or to offer explanations
• 28:51
  Speaker: of, uh, maybe how that night
• 28:53
  Speaker: played out.
• 28:54
  Speaker: Exactly.
• 28:55
  Speaker: And I've heard back from one of them.
• 28:58
  Speaker: So I'm going to be talking to that person shortly.
• 29:00
  Speaker: So that should be interesting.
• 29:02
  Speaker: I mean, anything you're willing to do, our family just
• 29:08
  Speaker: appreciate so much.
• 29:10
  Speaker: Well, it's it's not that much and it's the least I can do to
• 29:13
  Speaker: maybe help bring some closure and whatever I can.
• 29:16
  Speaker: It's not it's definitely not little to us.
• 29:22
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 29:22
  Speaker: Just you calling us and asking
• 29:24
  Speaker: us to talk to you means a lot to
• 29:27
  Speaker: us.
• 29:28
  Speaker: So anything you do is huge to us.
• 29:32
  Speaker: Thank you.
• 29:32
  Speaker: And I want to thank you and
• 29:33
  Speaker: Amanda for joining me on today's
• 29:35
  Speaker: show.
• 29:35
  Speaker: I very much appreciate that.
• 29:38
  Speaker: I really can't thank you enough
• 29:40
  Speaker: for wanting to, you know, help
• 29:42
  Speaker: us out.
• 29:43
  Speaker: You're very welcome.
• 29:44
  Speaker: And I will pass any information I receive along if I talk to
• 29:48
  Speaker: somebody or have anything I think you may be interested in,
• 29:51
  Speaker: I'll pass it along to you.
• 29:53
  Speaker: Wonderful, wonderful.
• 29:54
  Speaker: I thank you so much for all your all your time and your insights.
• 30:00
  Speaker: I also had the opportunity to
• 30:01
  Speaker: speak with Brandon Beanie and
• 30:03
  Speaker: Kyle Putman, two of Blake's
• 30:05
  Speaker: really good friends, Brandon and
• 30:08
  Speaker: Kyle.
• 30:08
  Speaker: Thank you for joining me.
• 30:09
  Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:10
  Speaker: No problem.
• 30:11
  Speaker: Now, how did you guys come to know Blake?
• 30:14
  Speaker: Uh, well, I personally, I mean, I met him just through school.
• 30:18
  Speaker: I met him about freshman year of
• 30:20
  Speaker: high school and just mutual
• 30:23
  Speaker: friends.
• 30:24
  Speaker: We stayed at the same lunch
• 30:25
  Speaker: table, and that's how we got
• 30:26
  Speaker: close.
• 30:28
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 30:28
  Speaker: So this is Brandon, by the way.
• 30:30
  Speaker: But, uh, we actually, we were in band together.
• 30:34
  Speaker: I met him in probably seventh grade in middle school, and we
• 30:37
  Speaker: were both in, uh, percussion and we actually, uh, went through
• 30:42
  Speaker: band together all throughout high school and, uh, marching
• 30:44
  Speaker: band and all that stuff.
• 30:46
  Speaker: He was such a good guy.
• 30:47
  Speaker: And like I said, we, we all hung out with, uh, Jonah Poly.
• 30:51
  Speaker: He was a really good guy.
• 30:52
  Speaker: And, uh, he was a part of our
• 30:54
  Speaker: friend group with Kyle and, uh,
• 30:57
  Speaker: and Chris.
• 30:59
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 31:00
  Speaker: Um, that's a, that's another one that we need to touch on too, is
• 31:03
  Speaker: our friend Jonah Poly.
• 31:05
  Speaker: Him and Blake were very close.
• 31:06
  Speaker: They separated a little bit.
• 31:08
  Speaker: Like just life happened after high school.
• 31:11
  Speaker: Jonah went off to college and
• 31:13
  Speaker: started pursuing his career and
• 31:15
  Speaker: everything.
• 31:16
  Speaker: But yeah, pretty much we all met through going to the same school
• 31:21
  Speaker: growing up in Henderson.
• 31:22
  Speaker: I mean, I mean, he, he sounds
• 31:24
  Speaker: like he was in like a wide
• 31:26
  Speaker: variety of, you know,
• 31:27
  Speaker: organizations like a state
• 31:28
  Speaker: bowling champion.
• 31:29
  Speaker: And like, uh, he just had a wide net of friends and people he was
• 31:33
  Speaker: hanging out with.
• 31:34
  Speaker: That's why some people were kind of shocked.
• 31:35
  Speaker: He was kind of hanging out with
• 31:37
  Speaker: the people he might have been on
• 31:39
  Speaker: that last night when he, you
• 31:41
  Speaker: know, he was kind of friends
• 31:42
  Speaker: with people like you guys and
• 31:43
  Speaker: then, you know, hanging out with
• 31:45
  Speaker: maybe a little more shady groups
• 31:47
  Speaker: of people.
• 31:48
  Speaker: So. Well, it's not even that it was the shock factor of what
• 31:54
  Speaker: happened was, how could somebody have done this to Blake?
• 31:59
  Speaker: Because the man had literally no enemies whatsoever.
• 32:02
  Speaker: Yeah, not at all.
• 32:04
  Speaker: I mean, after knowing him for as long as we did, we would have
• 32:07
  Speaker: picked up on any slight enemy that he would have had.
• 32:10
  Speaker: And there wasn't one whatsoever.
• 32:13
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 32:14
  Speaker: And from what everyone I've
• 32:15
  Speaker: talked to, that's pretty much
• 32:16
  Speaker: the common theme is that he had
• 32:18
  Speaker: no enemies and everybody loved
• 32:20
  Speaker: him.
• 32:20
  Speaker: And it couldn't have been like a targeted thing.
• 32:23
  Speaker: He was, you know, do you guys
• 32:24
  Speaker: think he was just literally in
• 32:26
  Speaker: the wrong place at the wrong
• 32:26
  Speaker: time?
• 32:27
  Speaker: One hundred percent.
• 32:29
  Speaker: That's exactly what it was.
• 32:31
  Speaker: That's what we talked about.
• 32:33
  Speaker: There's no way that whoever would have done that, there's no
• 32:36
  Speaker: way that they could have known who Blake was.
• 32:38
  Speaker: Because if they if they would have known or recognized him
• 32:41
  Speaker: whatsoever, they wouldn't have been able to do that because
• 32:44
  Speaker: anybody that knew him knew what kind of person he was.
• 32:47
  Speaker: Right.
• 32:49
  Speaker: Do you I mean, and the details
• 32:51
  Speaker: of the case are pretty, you
• 32:53
  Speaker: know, sketchy.
• 32:53
  Speaker: There's not a whole lot, but it sounds like there were several
• 32:56
  Speaker: people who walked over his body and nobody called the police.
• 33:01
  Speaker: And it just, uh, is there a
• 33:04
  Speaker: thinking or, you know, do you
• 33:07
  Speaker: think that maybe someone does
• 33:08
  Speaker: know something, um, and just
• 33:10
  Speaker: isn't talking or maybe they're
• 33:12
  Speaker: afraid of retribution or, you
• 33:13
  Speaker: know, honestly, I, I personally
• 33:19
  Speaker: have no idea on that matter at
• 33:21
  Speaker: all.
• 33:21
  Speaker: I could give you the slightest bit of, but I really don't know.
• 33:25
  Speaker: I wish we did.
• 33:25
  Speaker: And beyond that, I mean, even
• 33:27
  Speaker: though like some people might
• 33:29
  Speaker: think they were shady or
• 33:31
  Speaker: whatever.
• 33:31
  Speaker: I we weren't personally close with many of those people
• 33:34
  Speaker: whatsoever, but anybody that was close to Blake, I couldn't
• 33:38
  Speaker: imagine walking in and seeing him in that state.
• 33:41
  Speaker: However, he was when they saw him, that that shock factor
• 33:45
  Speaker: alone is enough to traumatize and scare somebody in general.
• 33:51
  Speaker: Hey, do you guys have any special stories that you'd like
• 33:54
  Speaker: to share about Blake?
• 33:57
  Speaker: He was just a really outgoing guy.
• 33:59
  Speaker: I don't know if I really have
• 34:00
  Speaker: anything specific other than
• 34:01
  Speaker: being in band with him all the
• 34:02
  Speaker: time.
• 34:03
  Speaker: Uh, but, you know, he just he
• 34:05
  Speaker: was always, like, the funniest
• 34:07
  Speaker: guy around.
• 34:08
  Speaker: You know, he would make you laugh and make you smile no
• 34:10
  Speaker: matter what, no matter who you are, without even trying to.
• 34:13
  Speaker: That's what was so special.
• 34:14
  Speaker: It was just him being himself.
• 34:16
  Speaker: I would look forward to the, uh, we had like marching band
• 34:18
  Speaker: competitions and I would look forward to it just based off of,
• 34:21
  Speaker: uh, you know, being there with Blake and everybody else.
• 34:24
  Speaker: Like Blake was definitely one of my favorite people.
• 34:28
  Speaker: One, one particular, uh, memory that sticks out for me, uh, for
• 34:32
  Speaker: both of us to it.
• 34:33
  Speaker: Uh, we all, we all three and
• 34:36
  Speaker: another friend of ours, uh,
• 34:38
  Speaker: right after we graduated high
• 34:39
  Speaker: school.
• 34:40
  Speaker: This was about July twenty twelve.
• 34:43
  Speaker: Uh, we all took a trip to Chicago, Illinois.
• 34:46
  Speaker: We're all eighteen, got that freedom on us.
• 34:49
  Speaker: And we all went up to Chicago to
• 34:51
  Speaker: go to a music festival called
• 34:53
  Speaker: Warped Tour.
• 34:54
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 34:55
  Speaker: And that was just insanely fun.
• 34:59
  Speaker: I mean, just having your best friends around.
• 35:01
  Speaker: You're young.
• 35:03
  Speaker: Nobody's ever been to a big city.
• 35:04
  Speaker: And we go someplace like Chicago.
• 35:06
  Speaker: It was just.
• 35:07
  Speaker: Oh, man, it was so great.
• 35:10
  Speaker: Now, Blake had all kinds of interests.
• 35:12
  Speaker: He was in all kinds of groups and clubs and had all kinds of
• 35:15
  Speaker: different kinds of friends.
• 35:17
  Speaker: And music was a big part of his life.
• 35:19
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 35:19
  Speaker: Music was a big part of his life ever since.
• 35:21
  Speaker: You know, like I said, seventh grade.
• 35:23
  Speaker: Uh, that was a, uh, when he
• 35:25
  Speaker: started in band with me, music
• 35:27
  Speaker: and percussion especially, was
• 35:29
  Speaker: just a giant thing, a giant part
• 35:31
  Speaker: of him.
• 35:31
  Speaker: And I know when he went to
• 35:32
  Speaker: Wesleyan, he, you know,
• 35:33
  Speaker: participated in the band a lot
• 35:34
  Speaker: there too.
• 35:37
  Speaker: He, he had such a big heart too.
• 35:39
  Speaker: He had he had so many things that interested him and that he
• 35:42
  Speaker: could have pursued.
• 35:43
  Speaker: Um, I remember him talking about
• 35:45
  Speaker: going into the field of caring
• 35:47
  Speaker: for animals.
• 35:48
  Speaker: He at one point.
• 35:49
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 35:50
  Speaker: And he was so smart too, man.
• 35:52
  Speaker: He, he he was one that could have done anything and could
• 35:56
  Speaker: have left a good print on this world like that.
• 36:00
  Speaker: Like there's good guys.
• 36:01
  Speaker: And then there was Blake.
• 36:03
  Speaker: I mean, it like you can't compare the two.
• 36:07
  Speaker: Sometimes that's who he was.
• 36:09
  Speaker: And the fact that the person who
• 36:11
  Speaker: did this is out there free is
• 36:13
  Speaker: disturbing.
• 36:13
  Speaker: So hopefully we can get the word out and maybe this will make a
• 36:16
  Speaker: make a difference.
• 36:19
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 36:20
  Speaker: I mean, if this does, that's
• 36:21
  Speaker: great because anybody that knows
• 36:23
  Speaker: me and Brandon were not the two
• 36:26
  Speaker: the type of guys to do stuff
• 36:28
  Speaker: like this.
• 36:28
  Speaker: But when it comes to Blake, I mean, anything that would help.
• 36:32
  Speaker: Thank you for taking time out of
• 36:33
  Speaker: your day to talk to me, I
• 36:34
  Speaker: appreciate that.
• 36:35
  Speaker: Do you guys ever talk to any of
• 36:37
  Speaker: the the people who were at the
• 36:39
  Speaker: house that night that Blake was
• 36:40
  Speaker: shot?
• 36:42
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 36:42
  Speaker: I mean, I'm not in touch with too many of them at all.
• 36:47
  Speaker: Ones that I am.
• 36:48
  Speaker: I mean, we we had different relationships with Blake.
• 36:52
  Speaker: So it.
• 36:53
  Speaker: And it's still hard for any of us to talk about him because I
• 36:59
  Speaker: mean, it it hurts.
• 37:02
  Speaker: That's just the only way to put it.
• 37:03
  Speaker: I can definitely understand that.
• 37:05
  Speaker: And before I talk to you guys, I talked to Blake's mom, Donna,
• 37:09
  Speaker: and she had actually suggested I talk to you guys because you
• 37:12
  Speaker: guys were so close.
• 37:13
  Speaker: So I appreciate that you guys took the time out of your day to
• 37:17
  Speaker: talk to me.
• 37:18
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 37:18
  Speaker: For sure.
• 37:18
  Speaker: I because I want to see what she has to say too.
• 37:21
  Speaker: I mean And our hearts go out to her one hundred percent.
• 37:26
  Speaker: And we have all the love in the world for her.
• 37:28
  Speaker: And I hate how life and work schedules go.
• 37:33
  Speaker: We can't see or talk to her as
• 37:35
  Speaker: much as we'd like, but we still
• 37:38
  Speaker: have all the love in the world
• 37:39
  Speaker: for guys.
• 37:41
  Speaker: Thank you for joining me today on the show.
• 37:43
  Speaker: I appreciate it.
• 37:44
  Speaker: We appreciate you doing this too.
• 37:47
  Speaker: Thanks.
• 37:48
  Speaker: Take care.
• 37:49
  Speaker: All right.
• 37:50
  Speaker: Take care.
• 37:52
  Speaker: I attempted to reach out to the eight who were charged with
• 37:54
  Speaker: either drug offenses or not reporting the death of a person
• 37:58
  Speaker: to see if any of them had any statements or comments.
• 38:01
  Speaker: The only response I got was from the account of Jacob McLaughlin.
• 38:05
  Speaker: His girlfriend, Katie Robb,
• 38:06
  Speaker: actually contacted me from his
• 38:08
  Speaker: account and said that Jacob was
• 38:09
  Speaker: currently in a substance abuse
• 38:11
  Speaker: program, but that she wanted to
• 38:13
  Speaker: talk.
• 38:13
  Speaker: So this is some of our conversation.
• 38:15
  Speaker: I know the police are leaving a lot of details out because they
• 38:19
  Speaker: want different people.
• 38:19
  Speaker: You know, different people are coming forward and they want to
• 38:21
  Speaker: see, if they're just people of just like hearsay shit, like
• 38:25
  Speaker: bullshit, or they want to like, actually like find somebody that
• 38:28
  Speaker: actually knows something, you know what I mean?
• 38:30
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 38:31
  Speaker: Like, I know some of the
• 38:31
  Speaker: details, like they're leaving
• 38:32
  Speaker: out whatever.
• 38:33
  Speaker: Um, because I'm sure there's
• 38:34
  Speaker: like a bunch of wackos, like
• 38:35
  Speaker: going up there and telling them
• 38:37
  Speaker: all kinds of crazy shit, like,
• 38:38
  Speaker: ah, you know, conspiracy or
• 38:40
  Speaker: whatever.
• 38:40
  Speaker: But, um, I think that the police
• 38:42
  Speaker: are just basically, um, what,
• 38:46
  Speaker: waiting around for someone to
• 38:48
  Speaker: turn because, you know, the
• 38:50
  Speaker: reward went up to fifteen zero
• 38:51
  Speaker: zero zero.
• 38:51
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 38:52
  Speaker: And, um, I think the police
• 38:53
  Speaker: right now are just waiting
• 38:55
  Speaker: around for the right, the like
• 38:59
  Speaker: someone to feel guilty or want
• 39:00
  Speaker: that money enough to where
• 39:01
  Speaker: they're going to turn in whoever
• 39:04
  Speaker: whoever.
• 39:05
  Speaker: You know what I mean?
• 39:05
  Speaker: Somebody has to know, like, if someone didn't do this alone,
• 39:09
  Speaker: you know what I mean?
• 39:10
  Speaker: Like, somebody has to know.
• 39:12
  Speaker: Your boyfriend Jacob was arrested on drug charges.
• 39:16
  Speaker: Uh, how exactly was he tied in with this case?
• 39:20
  Speaker: Um, it really is a shame.
• 39:22
  Speaker: Like, um, I know it's gonna
• 39:24
  Speaker: sound typical, but it really is
• 39:25
  Speaker: a shame that he even got, like,
• 39:27
  Speaker: in this mess, whole mess to
• 39:29
  Speaker: begin with.
• 39:30
  Speaker: Um, he hadn't seen he, like, you
• 39:32
  Speaker: know, he had really hadn't seen
• 39:34
  Speaker: Blake in years or talked to him
• 39:36
  Speaker: in years.
• 39:36
  Speaker: Um, the thing is, is that they, um, the police interrogated him,
• 39:43
  Speaker: they picked him up from work and interrogated him for so long
• 39:47
  Speaker: that he had a seizure.
• 39:48
  Speaker: Really?
• 39:49
  Speaker: Um, yeah, he, um, um, the only reason I think, I mean, because,
• 39:55
  Speaker: you know, all the, the rest of the guys that were charged were
• 39:57
  Speaker: charged with, you know, failure to report a death and, um, all
• 40:01
  Speaker: like all that or whatever.
• 40:02
  Speaker: And I think that he basically just, um, had drug charges, like
• 40:05
  Speaker: they literally got him from work and interrogated him.
• 40:08
  Speaker: And, you know, I kept asking
• 40:09
  Speaker: him, he's like, he didn't know,
• 40:10
  Speaker: he really didn't know shit, you
• 40:11
  Speaker: know, and, um, the, and I kept
• 40:13
  Speaker: asking him like, well, why would
• 40:15
  Speaker: they?
• 40:15
  Speaker: And I believe him, you know what I mean?
• 40:16
  Speaker: Like, but I kept asking him because I was trying to piece it
• 40:18
  Speaker: in my head.
• 40:19
  Speaker: Like, why would they fucking,
• 40:20
  Speaker: you know, like, question like,
• 40:23
  Speaker: just pick you up out of no, out
• 40:24
  Speaker: of, you know, all these random
• 40:25
  Speaker: motherfuckers.
• 40:25
  Speaker: Like, why would they pick you up and excuse my language, but all
• 40:27
  Speaker: these random people and just, you know, throw you in the mix.
• 40:30
  Speaker: Like, um, I was like, did you
• 40:33
  Speaker: keep in contact with any of
• 40:34
  Speaker: them?
• 40:34
  Speaker: And apparently he had sold one of them, I think.
• 40:39
  Speaker: I believe he was the owner of
• 40:40
  Speaker: the home, the younger, younger
• 40:42
  Speaker: brother.
• 40:42
  Speaker: He had sold him some klonopins, a couple klonopins or whatever,
• 40:45
  Speaker: a couple days, maybe a week before this happened.
• 40:49
  Speaker: And um, also, um, he's kind of known for getting in like, I
• 40:56
  Speaker: mean, the guns are never like he's, he's known for like
• 40:58
  Speaker: basically buying guns and then like, either they're stolen from
• 41:03
  Speaker: him or like, you know, whatever.
• 41:05
  Speaker: And, um, uh, I guess, I mean,
• 41:08
  Speaker: that's the only thing I can
• 41:09
  Speaker: think of is like, the police
• 41:10
  Speaker: wanted to know who he had, might
• 41:12
  Speaker: have held a gun to recently or
• 41:14
  Speaker: traded or.
• 41:15
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 41:15
  Speaker: Um, and, you know, I'm sure that the police are, you know,
• 41:18
  Speaker: interrogating the others and they're like, well, because he
• 41:20
  Speaker: got arrested after them after the fact or whatever.
• 41:22
  Speaker: And, uh, and basically, um, that's all I can think of.
• 41:26
  Speaker: Like, um, you know what I mean?
• 41:28
  Speaker: Like just putting two together.
• 41:30
  Speaker: My, my sense.
• 41:30
  Speaker: I mean, I grew up across the
• 41:32
  Speaker: street from him and his mom,
• 41:33
  Speaker: Donna.
• 41:33
  Speaker: Oh, really?
• 41:34
  Speaker: So it's.
• 41:35
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 41:35
  Speaker: So it's, it's, and I mean, me and Donna are really like, well,
• 41:38
  Speaker: we used to be like, keep in touch, you know, and we're
• 41:41
  Speaker: really good friends for the, um, but it's just, it really is, I
• 41:44
  Speaker: don't know, it really is a, it's, I can't even explain it.
• 41:49
  Speaker: Like it, it could, it's like, it felt like it's going to be like
• 41:54
  Speaker: another Heather case where they're just going to see
• 41:56
  Speaker: posters for it everywhere, like years and years from now.
• 41:58
  Speaker: And it's just like, makes me so disgusted.
• 42:01
  Speaker: Mhm.
• 42:02
  Speaker: Well, I, I want to thank you for joining me today and sharing a
• 42:05
  Speaker: little bit of what you what, you know, I know you're going out on
• 42:08
  Speaker: a bit of a limb here.
• 42:09
  Speaker: So I appreciate that.
• 42:10
  Speaker: And I'm really glad you're doing this.
• 42:11
  Speaker: Like, I like, thank you for doing this.
• 42:13
  Speaker: Like, I really just hope it, um, I hope like that you, can get at
• 42:20
  Speaker: least somewhere with this.
• 42:22
  Speaker: I encourage anyone who knows
• 42:23
  Speaker: anything that they think may be
• 42:25
  Speaker: useful in this case, to call the
• 42:27
  Speaker: Kentucky State Police Post
• 42:28
  Speaker: sixteen at two seven zero eight
• 42:31
  Speaker: two six three three one two, or
• 42:34
  Speaker: call anonymously at eight
• 42:36
  Speaker: hundred two two two five five
• 42:39
  Speaker: five five and tell them what you
• 42:42
  Speaker: know.
• 42:43
  Speaker: You never know that little bit of information may be what it
• 42:46
  Speaker: takes to correct the case.
• 42:50
  Speaker: And that brings us to a close.
• 42:51
  Speaker: If you'd like to discuss this case or any of the other
• 42:54
  Speaker: episodes, you're welcome to join my discord server at RiverCity
• 42:58
  Speaker: Mystery.com/discord.
• 43:01
  Speaker: Until next time, take care.