Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / Survival In The Outback - Ricky Megee

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Survival In The Outback - Ricky Megee · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Survival is always ideal when talking about true crime. If
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: a victim can make it through their traumatic experience and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: somehow managed to survive, then we have something to be
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: thankful for. In the case of Ricky McGee, he did
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: what he had to do to manage to survive. He
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: survived over a total of seventy days in the Australian outback,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: which is remarkable. But how he got there in the
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: first place is what really makes this case a very
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: bizarre true crime tale.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: My name's Ben and I'm Nicole, and you're listening to
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: The following podcast material intended for your audience listener discretion lies. Okay,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: before we go anywhere today, I have something hilarious I
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: need to share with everyone here, and it is regarding
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the show The Office.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I was like, where are you going with this?
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: But yes, I burst out laughing the other day. So
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: I was going through some Office episodes and I happened
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to Pawn season eight, episode number fourteen. So some context, Dwight,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: if you've seen the show, is leading a team to Florida. Okay,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: do you remember this episode at all? Any means? Okay,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: So he's leading a team to Florida. He gets to
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: select who gets to go with them, and that kind
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: of goes south. So Andy the manager at the time,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: because Michael Scott is now gone. So Andy the manager,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: he says, you know what, since you're not doing it,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: since going sideways, here, I'm gonna sec the team for you.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Here's the people. Dwight's pissed. He does not want these people.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: He wants his chosen team absolutely. So he takes the
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: people and he chose into the meeting room and tries
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: to give them an experience to frighten them away from Florida.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Convince him that this isn't a good idea to go.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so he cranked the temperature in the in the boardroom,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: he let loose a shit ton of mosquitos in there,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and he had photos on the wall behind him of
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: shitty things in Florida to scare them away from going
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to Florida. One of those things he used to scare
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: them away from Florida was a big poster of Casey
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Anthony plastered on the wall behind him of the boardroom.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I just noticed that. Yeah, oh my god, that is
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: to fuck.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: It's pretty good. It's pretty good. I mean it's rightfully
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: so up there.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but even Dwight knows Casey Anthony yeah is not good. Yeah,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: so that says a lot right there.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was funny. Actually, I can't remember what I
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: was doing, probably working at the time, and then you
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: were just like roaring. It was good.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: It made me laugh. It was good a lot. Sorry,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: I just wanted to get that off my chest because
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: it had to be said. We shared it over on
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Patreon with the screenshot of it and everything. Yeah, it
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: made me laugh so much.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I sure did.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, for sure, Bud. Yes, Okay, we
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: got to thank some patrons though. We're gonna stop talking
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: about the office here and Dwight Shrut and Casey Anthony.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: We had a couple awesome people sign up for over
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: on Patreon this week. We had Ryan Hanson and Fanny
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Prierr Preerer. I hope I said that last name right,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: forgive me if I didn't.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: It is our thing, it is.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: But they both signed up over on Patreon, so they
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: already saw that screenshot of Dwight and the Casey Anthony and.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: They're about to get a free episode, well not a
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: free I mean an exclusive there you go, exclusive episode.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: On Friday.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: They are last day of the month. They always get
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: that exclusive good for one episode.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Actually, shoot, it's gonna be Thursday. Then. I think I
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: told I was the one that was supposed to figure
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: that out.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I said Thursday, and you're like, no Friday.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: But for some reason, I think I was thinking the
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: first day.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Okay, well it comes out in the last day of
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the month.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Thursday. My bad.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: We're not telling them which one we selected, but we
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: did the other day. Let them go and tell us
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: which ones they wanted to hear. So one of the
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: people in Patreon got their episode they wanted to hear select.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Pretty exciting really, so that's awesome. It is super awesome.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: It is super awesome.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: So actually on Friday is that is December first, and
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: we have something happening then too. This is a big deal.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: It's it's a big undertaking.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: It is. I'm a little bit I'm a little bit
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: worried about it. I'm not gonna lie.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: We expect to not make one hundred percent on this,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: but we're gonna do our darndest. We are taking on
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: the challenge this year of vlog Miss.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Vlog Miss, which I didn't even know what the hell
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: was and now I do.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: It's a thing. So vloggers vlog every day of December. Yeah,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: some lead up to Christmas, some do afterwards. Whatever, we're
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: gonna go try and do probably like Boxing day, like
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: the day after Christmas something like that. But we're gonna
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: try and hit every single day in December leading up
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: to Christmas. There's probably gonna be some days we miss,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: but over in our YouTube channel is where we're gonna
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: be posting those looks.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Okay, so it's not the whole month of December, it's
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: just up until Christmas.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean some people do just up until Christmas.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Some people do the whole month of December. There's no
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: real like rule written rule.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Okay, I see you.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: And I haven't really talked about it yet. I just
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: kind of assume we do like something around Christmas.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: So okay, see, and I think I it was the
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: whole month of December.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean there's only a few days after Christmas
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: through sha so yeah.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean we do have our we have
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: our Wicked Life YouTube channel, and so it's just kind
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: of a way to put a lot of content out
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: there for the month and really show our life and
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: who we are and stuff exactly. So it's gonna be good.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So if you want to check that out YouTube
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: link down the description of this podcast, same with Patreon
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: link down below. Everything all our links down below, including
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: our other podcast, Fearful h I think we've got everything.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Out of the way, I think so. Yeah, yeah, I
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: got my one. I'm ready ready to.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Indulge, are you?
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: I am?
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Okay, we'll be back. Because we had such a wild
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: ride the last two weeks talking about the ad Hill.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Kids, Oh my gosh, no shit, I decided.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: To google out of my way and try and find
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: a survival story. Specifically, I wanted to find a survival
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: story that was within the last decade or two within
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: like say, two thousand and forward. So I found this
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: story of an individual named Ricky McGee who went through
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: some incredible survival in the year I believe it was
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: two thousand and six. So we're going to get into that.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: You ready, I'm ready, Okay, let's do it.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Well. Ricky McGee's tale unfolds as a peculiar and interesting narrative,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: to say the least. It's marked by extraordinary circumstances of
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: survival in the whole Australian outback for a total of
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: an astonishing seventy one days. Wow.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's impressive.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: He was devoid of provisions, equipment, and even footwear.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Yet the origins of his predicament, if you will, remain
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: shrouded in quite a bit of mystery.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Huh. So here, I mean, I'm not super familiar with
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: what the what Australia has for like issues, What do
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: you mean issues like predators?
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Everyone has the issues.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean predators or the environment or like the
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: climate or whatever.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Right, it's hot as fuck. They got spiders, they got reptiles,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: they got dingoes. I'm not sure what else they have
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: for carnivores specifically, but so it's a bit scary. Yeah,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: they have crocodiles. Oh shit, they have alligators. I can't
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: remember if they have alligators or crocodiles. Okay, they have
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: one of the two.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Huh yeah, Okay, So there are some some things that
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: you got to be afraid of for sure, definitely.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: So. Brian was born in nineteen seventy one in Gypsuln, Victoria, Australia.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: His early life was characterized by happiness basically until his
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: family made the move to Melbourne, where his father would
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: ultimately and tragically commit suicide.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Oh jeez, that's sad.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So despite this heartbreaking event in his life, Ricky
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: rebuilt and moved on with his life as best as
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: he could, as best anyone ked in those ccumstances, right,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: We all eventually do pass on, and we are all
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: bound to lose those who are close to us, and
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: he was, of course no exception. So Ricky would embark
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: on his career journey as well, and he would work
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: a variety of jobs. He found himself navigating roles such
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: as a carpet salesman, a prawn fisherman, nightclub doorman, and
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: even eventually a bailiff.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Okay, those are all so different, they are.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: That's a variety of jobs. He's building the diverse resume,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: for sure, and his whole resume and journey would take
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: him eventually a bit of a darker urn, leading him
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: to incarceration following a fight in Perth, as well as
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: drug related offenses.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Oh shit.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Now after that, in two thousand and six, at
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: thirty five years old, Ricky found himself residing in Queensland
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: looking for another start and a new job. Okay, okay, fresh,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: new start, getting back on track doing this thing.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: You can always restart, you.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Can, you definitely can. That's one thing that's sure in life.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: You can always restart. Well, you can't always restart, but
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you can always start anew Yeah.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: That makes sense, turn the page or whatever.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Exactly, new chapter if you will.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: So, after handing out resumes and even going through a
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: few interviews, I'm sure Ricky would soon receive a job
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: offer from the Government Department of port Headland, which is
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: in Western Australia, where he's currently residing in more Eastern Side.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: So often to seize the opportunity, he accepted the position
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: and commenced a lengthy drive, a familiar route he had
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: traversed multiple times before. The drive isn't anything to scoff
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: at either. I mean a lot of us are probably thinking, like, hey,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: you know a long drive. It's like a weekend road trip.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: You know a few hours this way might take you
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: on the day, or to get over this way. No. No,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: he's going from Queensland to port Headland and it's approximately
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: a forty two hour drive. Cool is shit, And between
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: the two it is three thousand, nine hundred and ninety
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: seven point nine kilometers, or for anyone who uses miles,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: it is two four hundred and eighty four point two miles.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: So is this kind of one end to the other
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: basically right?
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Yes? Pretty well. So, Behind the wheel of his two
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: thousand and one Mitsubishi Challenger, he navigated the Bunting Highway,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: which is a desert track that dominated much of his journey.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: It's kind I don't want to say it's a short
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: cut highway. I mean it kind of is, but it's
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: not like it's like, oh my god, he's taking a
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: short cut that no one knows about. It's a highway,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: you know, it's just not the main highway.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Oh okay, these are the best routes. Really.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: We've gone through a few of those. Yeah, sometimes not
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: on purpose, but we have. So he was going through
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: this Bunting Highway, which was an absurdly vast I don't
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: know the word really to put it. It was barren.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: This barren section of the outback in the Northern Territory.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: On this stretch of highway is where Ricky's story would
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: take a very bizarre turn for the worst. Ricky's eyes
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: were beginning to get heavy and blurred. He struggled as
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: something was pawing at his feet. All of a sudden,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: he realized he wasn't in his car anymore. He could
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: barely breathe, and everything was pitch black. He struggled and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: wriggled himself free from a black plastic wrap that was
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: wrapped around him, and he began to push through the
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: loose dirt that was covering him. He finally managed to
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: dig his way to freedom, and seeing wild dingoes running
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: away as they thought he was an easy meal. What
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: the Luckily he was alive, and he wasn't an easy
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: meal as they thought. Ricky was now standing over the
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: top of a shallow grave that he was laid in,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: covered with dirt and debris. Ricky stood there left nude.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Okay, for some reason, I was not
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: expecting this.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I don't think anyone really would be expecting that.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Wow. Well, at first, when you started something clawing at
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: his feet, I was like, holy shit, what's in his car?
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Like that's terrifying. But he wasn't even in his vehicle.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: He's not in his vehicle. Okay. So I wrote it
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: like that on purpose, though, so you would catch you
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: off guard when you realize he's not in his vehicle,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: So that may get your mind spinning. Did it work?
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's okay. Well, I mean his actual situation is
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: more slo of a nightmare. But imagine driving and something
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: squawing at your feet. I would lose my mind.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Probably you look down just realize your cat's in your
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: car or something like that.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Or I was thinking like a mouse or something. I'd
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: lose my shit. Probably you'd be in a car accident. Yeah,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I'm not into mice.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Definitely not.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Ricky looked around. He's standing on top of this shallow
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: grave that he was just laying in, and he didn't
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: know where he was. He had no sense of direction,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: he had nothing of any use on him. So he
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: picked a direction and began walk. Now, lucky for him,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: it was in the middle of wet season. It wasn't
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: as hot as it could be, and water or rain
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: wasn't as scarce as it normally is.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's good.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: Major bonus point. Like that's huge.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Climate in the Northern Territory during wet season, which runs
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: from November until April, typically has a high humidity and
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: monsoonal rains and storms that occur temperatures on average run
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: from twenty five degrees celsius or seventy seven degrees fahrenheit
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: to thirty three degrees celsius or ninety one degrees fahrenheit,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: which are much lower.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Okay, so I'm like, that's still pretty warm.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but we live in Canada. So now it basically
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: means that if he was stranded at any other time
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: of the year, there was a very good chance that
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: he would have died of thirst very fast. Okay, But
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: luckily for him, water was a relatively easy resource to
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: get a hold of it this time. So Ricky began walking,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: and he walked for days, making his way through the
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: brutal outback landscape. He endured a total of a ten
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: day trek through the north eastern fringe of the Tanami Desert.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Often he was being succumbed to heat exhaustion as temperatures,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: though on average should be lower, at the time, they
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: were soaring above forty degrees.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: CELSIU oh my goodness or one.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: Hundred and four degrees fahrenheit.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: I couldn't imagine just being in that all day, right, Like,
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: that's a that's pretty I mean, we're from Canada, like
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: you said, that's very hot. And then also just not
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: having supplies like water and food, and.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: And he's naked, he's newte he has no clothing to
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: cover or protect his.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Skin, and wondering where the hell he is being disoriented.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: You know, that's just a nightmare.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Yep. So state to sustain himself, Ricky resorted to a
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: diet of leeches, insects, snakes, ants, lizards, frog and whatever
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: edible plants he could find. It was a menu of
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: literally whatever he could get a hold of to survive
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: and give him enough energy to keep going.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, good for him, but oh that sounds horrible.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: That's why it's called survival, right, doing what you need
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: to do.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: He sourced water from various puddles, dams and water holes,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: scavenging for sustenance and bushes each evening, and consuming only
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: one meal a day, just enough to stay alive. In
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: the absence of water. He even resorted to drinking his
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: own urine. He would chill it in the evenings to
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: try and suppress whatever flavor it would hold.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Right, I have heard of that for survival. I mean,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: this guy's smart. Yeah, he seems like he's doing a
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: lot of things right.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: And There is a lot of survival experts out there
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: who have actually commended him for much of his survival tactics,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: for ensuring that he did source water, food, and what
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: we'll talk about here in the moment, even shelter, making
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: sure he took care of his necessities. So that's that
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: a major commending commendment. I guess on him for doing so.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: Because I find that super impressive, because I'm not sure
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: I would be able to survive that extent of time. No, really, no,
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: I don't think I could.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: No. Food and water were not his only issue, though
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: he battled as we were just mentioning the elements daily
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: as he baked in the day and essentially froze at night.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Deserts are notorious for being hot in the day and
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: cold at night. Right he fashioned temporary shelters from old
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: tree branches to try and keep warm at night as
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: he put his best efforts into getting as much sleep
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: as he could to rest before moving on again the
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: next day. Eventually, after walking for ten days, Ricky stumbled
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: upon a dilapidated windmill. Here he created a makeshift dwelling,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: used a feeding trough from cattle yards repurposed into what's
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: called a humpy, which is a type of shelter traditionally
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: used by Australian Aboriginal individuals. Okay, so he positioned a
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: shelter on top of a dam. So he had this
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: water source right beside his shelter.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Now, oh that's awesome.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And here is where he lived in his improvised
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: structure for ten more weeks.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: I thought for some reason, you're gonna say days, but weeks.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: He stayed there that whole time, eh, basically hoping to
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: get help.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Yep, hoping that this clearly is an area where farmers
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: have previously used. It might mean that people might make
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: their way through the area again. So as his strength waned,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Ricky struggled to cover any sort of significant distance during
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: his daily forging expeditions. At one critical juncture, we can
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: buy this whole ordeal, he faced a potential fatal abscess
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: under a tooth tooth, which he dug out and extracted
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: using his car keys as a crude tool.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Oh wow.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: As much as he tried to survive on insects and
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: creatures that he found on the desert floor, Ricky was
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: soon losing his battle and was gradually starving to to death.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Wasting away. I can't imagine being in a situation of
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: survival like this, like do what you need to do.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Not only is it like a matter of life and death,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: but there is major mental things going on here.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, do.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: You have the mental whereabouts to make yourself do the
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: things to survive? Let alone do them to begin.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: With, because really, no matter what you'd probably be you
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: would be losing your mind in some way, right just
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: even not having contact, not knowing where you are, wondering
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: if you are going to be found or saved, like, oh,
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: that is so daunting.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: It really is. So can you imagine just for a moment,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: thinking I could die from a small infection in my tooth,
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: so to save my own life, I'm going to rip
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: it out with that piece of metal.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: There's no way that I don't think that I would
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: have the strength to do that to myself. No, I
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: think it would probably just and I would end up
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: just like succumbing to that infection.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: I wonder how many people would actually have the strength
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: to do that.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: I think that would be like almost impossible. Would you
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: be able to do that?
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: It's so hard to think, you know, when you're in
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: like your home and like you have food and water
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: and stuff to put yourself in that situation because right
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: now I'm like hell no, But I mean yeah, if
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: I was starving to death, I would I would eat
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: a snake and I would eat bugs as well.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: But when would that instinct kick in? Because there's always
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: going to be that Like say it's the first day,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: the second day, third day, I don't whatever day, there's
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: one point where you get desperate enough that you do it.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: So where is that line? And for how many people
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: will they not be able to jump over that line?
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Yeah, because we live in
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: a society I mean not everyone does, thankfully we are
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: someone who do. We are someone we do thankfully we do.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: But we live in a society where it's like comforts
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: are everywhere. Hm, So to have all those comforts ripped
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: away from you, do we still have the instinct to
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: kick in to do those basic survival needs? Is it
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: still there?
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Some people it probably isn't, but who I don't know.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah. But then also sometimes people surprise you too. You
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: would think someone doesn't have it in them, but then
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: they do.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true. It intrigues me so much to wonder
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: what humans can do and what humans can't do.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because like you and me, I think ninety nine
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: percent of people would be like, oh, Ben would be
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: able to do that, Nicole would, right, But it's like, also,
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: who knows if we're in those situations? Who knows?
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Me? Maybe you're the survival one in my parents.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: That's a freaking reason I excel for some very odd reason.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Right, true, it's very possible. So well, Ricky was becoming
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: increasingly weak, and of course he was mentally drained as well,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: just kind of like we were talking about. He even
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: made a cross and he put it on top of
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: his shelter, oh, marking what he thought would be his grave.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Really basically praying his family would one day find his
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: body laying in his own grave that he made.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's pretty darn sad.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: That's super dark. Yeah, So by now ridiculously weak and gaunt,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Ricky also had the added worry of prowling dingoes wondering,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: you know, were they sizing him up for a meal
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: at the night. He's hearing them making the noise running around.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: I even did see one source, though I couldn't find
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: if it was for sure, but that he at one
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: point was even like holding up some sort of dish
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: or another piece of metal at the entrance of his
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: shelter ensuring dingos couldn't get in. They were like scraping
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: at the door sort of thing. Not certain if that
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: is fictional or factual, but that is something I did
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: see at one point.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Well by the sounds of it too, though, he might
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: not have been in the best of shape right, and
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: so they could have like smelt like thinking.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: That death is coming. So yeah, yeah, well, I mean
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: he was at this point literally teetering on the brink
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: of death, and in that moment he was rescued. He
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: was found approximately fifty kilometers or thirty one miles from
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna mispronounce this, but I'm gonna do my best
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: beer in Doo Doo Station and around five hundred kilometers
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: or three hundred and ten miles southwest of Catherine, Northern Territory, Okay.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: He was discovered by a local station hands and their
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: trainees who were known as Jackaroose. Basically, when found, Ricky
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: was in a dire state, starving, sunburnt, and suffering from
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: extreme malinutrition and exposure. Mark Clifford, who was the manager
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: of the station vividly described Ricky as a quote walking
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: skeleton upon his arrival at the stations, emphasizing that the
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: location of his discovery was one of the again, quote
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: most isolated places in Australia.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Huh So it's honestly like a miracle that he was
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: found then, by the sounds of it.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: It really is, especially on the brink of death.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: So it was on April fifth of two thousand and
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: six that Ricky reached the Royal Darwin Hospital after enduring
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: a stranded existence in one of the most remote remote
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: regions on the continent for a of seventy one days.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: His original weight when he was lost was two hundred
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: and thirty pounds. Upon his arrival at the hospital, he
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: weighed one hundred and five pounds. Oh seriously, he lost
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: over half his total body weight.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Oh man, that's a lot. Yeah, it is, and really
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: like quite a short amount of time, really, yeah, not
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: that he was out there for a short amount of time,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: but to lose that much weight, oh my word.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Well over you were looking at one hundred and twenty
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: five pounds in seventy one days. Wow, that is wild.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he really really wasn't having near enough finding near
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: enough food then no.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: And even when you do find enough food, there there's
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: a question of is there enough fats in the food,
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Because I mean, yeah, you can have all the protein
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: you want, fat is something that you need to keep
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: yourself going.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: Well, then how many calories is he also burning to
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: get this food exactly?
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: You need to make sure that your intake is much
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: more than your out to output. So that's a big
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: thing in survival is making sure that your calories weigh
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: against what you're burning.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I think that would almost be the hardest
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: thing because you're having to probably exert a lot of
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: calories to find the smallest amount of food.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: You are at a certain point you have to wonder
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: is it even worth going out of your shelter to
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: find food. If he's finding like a little lizard every day,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: it's probably not worth really going out for it very much,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's that certain It's a fine line.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: It's a very fine line.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Now, despite his severe malnourishment and sunburn, Ricky managed to
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: stay very well hydrated due to the season throughout his
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: whole ordeal. He did not require significant medical intervention, which
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: is lucky. Medical staff characterize him as emaciated but very
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: well hydrated.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: Okay, so that's good because you can't last years long
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: without water.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Correct. So while at the hospital, Ricky underwent interviews with
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory Police, shedding some light on the perplexing situation
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: and circumstances that led him into this survival situation. Now,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Ricky admitted that the events that followed were a little
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: bit hazy, but at the time when he was rescued,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: he apparently told the rescuers that his car had broken
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: down on the highway when he was driving, which doesn't
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: line up with what I already said, but I'll explain, okay,
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: So that was originally what he said. However, he then
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: changed his story, reportedly telling the Washington Post that his
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: car didn't break down, he actually had been drugged by
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: a hitchhiker and left for dead.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Huh okay.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: In the the following days, Ricky provided additional details, recounting
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: how he had picked up a lone Aboriginal hitchhiker whom
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: he suspected of drugging him, possibly through a drink that
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: he allowed the individual to pass him while he was driving,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: so he's like, hey, you passing my drink sort of thing,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: adding another layer of like complexity to the story. But
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: in twenty ten, a few years later, Ricky came out
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: with an autobiography which is titled Left for Dead How
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: I Survived seventy one Days Lost in the Desert Hell.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Ricky introduced another version of his story in the book.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: In the book, he claimed that what happened was he
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: had stopped for three men stranded on the road without
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: any gas and offering them for a ride to the
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: gas station. During this encounter, he suggested the possibility of
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: being drugged or even being stabbed with a syringe of
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: some unknown substance. According to Ricky's book, he experienced a
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: state of feeling quote dizzy and confused before blacking out entirely.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Upon regaining consciousness, he found himself in a camp with
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: his captors, who possessed a gun and provided him with
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: some water. Eventually, they departed, taking his shoes and clothes,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: but not stealing twelve dollars and thirty cents of his
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: that was in his pockets.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's what I was assuming, Yeah, Okay.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Then once again he blacked out and that's when Ricky
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: mentions the part of the story where that I described
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: waking up naked in the makeshift grave, covered in a
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: black plastic sheet with some rocks and dirt thrown on
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: top of him, and the dingoes scratching him.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay, see, I have to say, affirst, I was
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: just so enthralled by the surviving story that I forgot
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: that some shady shit happened at the beginning, And now
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: I'm just like, oh, yeah, right, this is a true
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Prime podcast.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Yep. Caught you off guard almost.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: That's so weird.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's not really surprising though, when talking about
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: the true crime portion of this. No, I don't think
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: anyone's really questioning his survival because I think that's very clear. Yeah,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: but it's people are kind of raising some eyebrows and
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: are oddly doubting his story, especially considering he was changing
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: his story so many times.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that's a bit odd. I mean I can
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: understand maybe it not being totally right at the beginning
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: because he was like pretty unhealthy, right yeah, but then yeah,
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: for it to change another two times, I suppose, or
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: three times, that's a bit odd.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: M hmm, Well, changed two other times just at one
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: point he just added on to that story a bit, okay,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: So he said it was a hitchhiker, and then later
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: it was an aboriginal hitchhiker, right, and then it changed
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: from that to three guys out.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Of gas in the book, so there was technically like
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: three stories, right, correctly. Okay.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Now, some people believe that Ricky did not in fact
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: have trouble at all. Instead, he simply put himself all
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: through all of this to try and sell a story
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: to a commercial television station. They believed that no crime
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: was actually committed against Ricky, and that he actually went
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: out into the outback willingly to fabricate the story and
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: sell it, sell the rights to the story.
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: But he was out there and to the point where
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: he was going to die though, correct. So that doesn't
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: that's hard to digest for me.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: I agree very much. So unless maybe he was suspecting
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: of it being easier to survive, Maybe he suspected to
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: be found sooner. Maybe he planned on being found and
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: then he really did get lost, and then he really
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: was screwed over.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, he could have honestly actually got disoriented.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Maybe he picked the rainy season for a reason. Huh,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: maybe it wasn't pure happenstance. Now, I don't want to
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: question him at all, but these are questions that people
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: are asking, and I'm I'm so thankful that he survived
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: this because clearly he went through some shit. Clearly he survived.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: That's amazing. I'm so stoked for that. But there's some
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: questions that that are definitely being raised, and they're raised
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: for good reason.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: Okay, well, can I ask a question? Go ahead, and
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: maybe it's something you're going to get to later. But
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: because he was on his way across the country to
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: go for a new job. Correct, yes, did he was
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: this new job actually a thing.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: As far as I'm aware? Yes?
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Okay, Okay.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Now, apparently the authorities in Australia also had their reservations, oh,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: regarding this, the whole story and everything. Quote, they had
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: doubts about the story because of Ricky's previous minor drug convictions.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: So basically they're judging a book by its cover right there.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: But I mean, it's not surprising that Ricky of course
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: denies any of these allegations and his account that he's
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: misleading or fabricating anyone that sort of thing. Basically, saying, no,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: this really happened. I survived. I was attacked, if you will. Reportedly,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: he even offered to appear on live TV and eat
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: frogs to prove that he was telling the truth. Oh
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: my goodness, though in my opinion this wouldn't prove anything.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: No.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: I understand he's implying to show the extent of what
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: he needed to go through to the public without any hesitation.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: But to me, it almost makes it look more like
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: he's chasing fame than anything.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And also, isn't that a thing people do eat
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: frog legs?
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, But I think he's meaning like, just give
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: me a frog and I'll just eat the thing, like
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: To me, it's more like a fear factor thing. Yeah,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: I'll eat a frog. Give me fame, I'll eat a frog.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: You know. I guess I.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: Don't think that really is about to show.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: That he survived, sort of, yea.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: If anything, I think it's giving more credibility to the
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: story of him doing this to sell for fame in
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: my opinion, not to say that's the case, but it
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: leads more that way.
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: So something else that doesn't help Ricky's case is that
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: he was not doing it for money sort of thing,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: because the ABC Radio reported that he had told his
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: story for them free, but only after trying to get
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: them to purchase a story from him for fifteen thousand dollars.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: He had told them that his cost was fifteen grand
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: because another new source was offering him fifteen grand, so
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: he said, if they match that price, he would sell
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: it to them, and they said no, so he proceeded
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: to do it for them for free. AKA there was
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: no other source willing to pay.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: The fifteen k Okay, that's weird. Yeah, okay.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: So Ricky eventually wrote the book that we mentioned earlier,
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: and he moved to Dubai to work in construction. Now
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: an interesting fact, because I have mentioned a few things
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: that go against Ricky here. His car reportedly was never.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: Found, okay, And if it was just broken down on
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: the side of the road, you'd think it'd be found, yeah,
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: like fairly easily. Yeah, and it would be known that
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: he was missing a lot sooner. Yes, huh, Okay, that's okay.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: But there's a couple things that don't make sense to me.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: I couldn't find anything in regards to research on these,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: but these are a couple questions I have. So I
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: don't have any facts to back these up. I have nothing.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: These are just questions I have that are unanswered. So
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: assume his car is missing, right, So to drive a car,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: what do you need? Yes? Well okay, yeah, but what
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: do you use in your pocket?
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Keys?
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: What did he use to pop out his tooth case?
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: So he had the keys on him? So where did
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: his car go? How could the car have driven away
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: without the keys?
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: Shit? See? Because I was thinking, gosh, where was my head? Okay,
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: it was there and then it was gone? Okay, So
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: what I was thinking is that, say, if he didn't
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: even have his car, or that he kind of just
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: showed up here whatever, and he did plan this to
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: do this whole big thing, would he even have his keys? Then?
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: But I guess he could have just ditched his car
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: somewhere or something, right, He.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: Could have he could have sold it. He could have
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: put it to an auto records or I don't know what.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: But then either way, if his car was stolen though,
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: like abducted or whatever, or he sold it or anything
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: like to that extent, would he still have his key? Though?
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: Was it his car? It was his car?
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: There's a photo of him that I I saw holding
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: up his abscessed tooth and a car key.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: Huh.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: He's holding them up to the camera, so clearly it
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: was his car key because he himself is presenting that.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, unless say he did get broken down,
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: right and then someone just later like hijacked his car,
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: is a possibility too. Yeah, I would say that's true.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: It was sitting there long enough someone's like, fuck, I'm
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: just gonna take this.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: But let me ask another question here. So he had
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: his car keys right in his pocket. Yeah, he was naked,
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: get everything stolen from him?
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: What the fuck?
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: But he had his car keys, not to mention, they
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: didn't steal the twelve dollars and thirty cents that he
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: specifically stayable.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: All that one way over my head.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Those are more questions I have.
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: That doesn't make any sense.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: He's out in the desert naked, yet not only did
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: he have his car keys, not only did he have
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: the twelve dollars in thirty cents, he did still manage
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: to keep track of and keep said tooth.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, well, keeping the tooth makes sense, yes, because if
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: he was in that shelter, Rady could have just held
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: on too, But how much true you have had his
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: keys in his pocket and change if he was naked. Yeah,
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: that makes zero sense.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: It doesn't.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Wow. You just blew my mind and just blew your herd.
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: For some reason, I didn't even catch on to that.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure people who have listening did, but
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: I'm just like almost embarrassed.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: I didn't know he's been out in the Australian Outback
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: desert for let's say, because he was a total of
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: seventy one days. Let's just say it was day sixty
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: or fifty five. Okay, day fifty five, Okay, you know what,
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: let's even cut it down. Let's just say it's day thirty.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: So he's been out there naked thirty days, just carrying
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: these car keys around.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that doesn't make any sense for what really, for
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: what reason either would you hold on to those?
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I do understand it's survival exactly it is. However,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: it makes much more sense to have them in your pocket,
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: especially if he wakes up in a ditch and he's
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: just naked, like the car keys are there, What did
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: he like dig around in this grave and find the keys? Well?
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and if someone had buried him too. I don't
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: think they would leave the keys with him.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: No, what do they do? They stripped him naked and
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: took the keys out of it, out of the pocket,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: and gave him the keys and buried them. No, they're
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: going to take his clothes and like.
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: And the keys so they can discard of the vehicle.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, probably to drive away if they stole it.
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, this is hurting my brain this one.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: There's so many if and or butt situations and ways
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: we can say, well, this could have been, this could
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: have been, But it's all stretches. He was stripped naked,
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: the keys would have been in his pocket, the car
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: was apparently stolen, they would have needed the keys for
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: the car. Why does he still have his fucking keys
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: to rip out his abscessed tooth thirty fifty sixty seventy
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: days later. Does not make sense.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: No, unless you found a r random key, I.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Very much so doubt it.
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm just almost playing Devil's advocate, because like,
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: how why on earth would anybody put themselves through that situation? Though,
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: I don't even think you would want to put yourself
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: in that situation to potentially get a payout because I
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: don't know how that necessarily would be making you money,
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: how that can make you money. I mean, I guess
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: now he's written a book and he's made money. Yeah,
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: from that.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: I'm imagining, and I'm gonna I'm gonna go out on
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: a limb here if if his story is not true,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: if he is fabricating something. I'm wondering if he was
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: not in fact on this shortcut Bunteen Highway. He was
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: actually on the highway that's much more north and he
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: had seventy one days to walk. He walked to go survive.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: And up there on a different area completely is where
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: he abandoned his car, perhaps to a scrapyard, who knows,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: And he walked and did the survival thing, and he's
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: going to sell the rights to this, and shit goes south.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: He gets lost, he's actually having to survive, and he's
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: lucky he got found, and people are asking what happened,
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: what happened, and he's just, hey, I was a victim
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: and want to make some money off it.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: Like he was almost embarrassed.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: That maybe I'm just again playing Devil's advocate here, I'm
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: throwing stuff out there. He very much so could be
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: a real victim. I'm not discrediting him on that, Yeah,
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: but there is some fishy stuff at play, And what
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: if this was an option? Have we considered something like that?
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, But I also think in that kind of situation too,
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: you would probably be like hallucinating and stuff. Things would
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: probably And then if you're if you're that hung like
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: just starving right and mel nourished and everything, like, your
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: mind would be could be making up things.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: And you have a very good point, very good point.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: Maybe he doesn't even remember the real story what happened
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: to him. Yeah, maybe what he remembers is a fabrication
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: of his own starvation and survival instincts and his brain
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: trying to protect him. So maybe the reason why things
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: don't line up is because his brain won't let him
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: even know the truth.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because I could. I mean, I freaking say,
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: and like hungry for an hour, my brain is all
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: like messed up and foggy, and I'm freaking hungry and
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: just like bitchy, and so I mean I feel like
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: that that kind of hunger could do some really weird
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: things to your mind. And just that that being alone
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: that long too.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we all saw that one with Tom
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Hanks Al Wilson.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, with the with the volleyball. Oh man, yeah, right,
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: like it does stuff to you. Now.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: I'm super thankful he survived because I am not questioning
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: one iota that he was in a survival situation.
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he killed Like, that's amazing he killed it.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: I don't think other people would be able to serve.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: Not many people would be able to survive like.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: That, even on the off chance that he was out
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: there for whatever financial gain. And he's like, yeah, someone's
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: gonna find me soon, and I'm not going to bother
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: walking over this way to the town that's fifty miles
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: that way or whatever. I'm just gonna sit it out
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: and stick it out. He's he's going to die if
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: he isn't found. He's literally in a survival situation. Whether
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: he knows it or not. He survived and is lucky
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: to be alive, and I'm thankful that he did. Yeah,
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: but something's not adding up with the story, and I
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: can't fathom why. Yeah.
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: See, I don't know. I'm I give people like too
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: much of the benefit of the doubts sometimes, well, and that's.
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: What I'm trying to do as well. Trying to give
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: him the back of the doubt.
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: I just feel like there might have been some serious
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: brain fog, because, I mean, he was traveling to a
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: new job, so it doesn't make sense that he would
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: end up doing this. I could not just I can't
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: have that add up in my brain. Why someone went
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: on on to do that? Did he happen to do
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: you know if he happened to suffer from mental health
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: issues at all?
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: I'm not to it was just.
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: Drug stuff, right, I think it was just some minor, minor,
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: minor stuff. Okay, huh, I don't know. This is hard.
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: This is a hard one.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: Here. There's two options here, well, I guess there's three.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: Option number one, someone committed a crime against against Ricky. Easy.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: Option number two. Ricky's trying to pull a fast one
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: and he's trying to well he's basically being the criminal himself,
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: which I think is the lesser of the options. Really
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: an option three, Like you say, the brain fog, he's
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: out there for whatever reason, and amnesia, mirages, starvation, malnutrition,
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: all this shit is just preventing him from remembering correctly
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: on how he got there in the first place.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: Because I even think that, I mean too if he
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: ended up having some trauma from an attacker or whatever. Right,
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: he could have even not ever remember what happened, because
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: like he got hit in the head or whatever, and
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: by that time he was found like his head injuries
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: had kind of healed to an extent.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Yes, he might not have had a gash in his head,
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: but he might have had a minor concussion.
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: What if he fell asleep at the wheel when he
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: was driving. That's a long ass road trip. What if
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: he went off the road in a relatively deserted section
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: and then his car burned up and the frame is
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: unrecognizable and all this sort of stuff, and it's just
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: left there out and who knows where right now, And
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: then he was disoriented and walking through the desert, and
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: then he had these dreams of feverish dreams when he
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: was first out there and recalls this weird encounter with
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: these guys on the side of the road and stripping
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: him down and all this sort of stuff. Yeah, and
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: we do know that things like I can't remember the
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: exact term, but extreme hypothermia will actually make an individual
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: feel like they're hot and they will do what strip
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: it gets cold in the desert what if he got
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: he was becoming cold and he stripped his clothes.
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah. The fact that he still had his keys though,
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: and change and stuff is a bit weird. I don't know,
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of things in here that don't super
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: make sense. I would almost like to read his book
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: and then decide, but I agree.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: I don't think a decision can really be made until
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: we read his book. I wanted to read his book
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: prior to this, I didn't have the opportunity. So I
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: think I'm going to be reading it here soon.
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, over the Christmas break. Eh, yeah, the holiday break,
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: So. Anyway, hopefully you guys had enough to process. There
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: was not too much of a mystery in this one.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: Hopefully your brain isn't mush right now like mine is.
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: But this was kind of a nice break because, like
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: you said, the last two weeks were a bit hellish.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so something a little bit easier to listen to
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: and something that's a bit more thankful that, no matter
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: what the case, Ricky survived and that's the most important thing.
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, yeah, well done.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Well, if you guys want to check out more.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: Like Nicole had said earlier in the episode. Patreon is
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: getting an exclusive episode at the end of this month,
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: as they always do. The link is down in the description.
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: YouTube channel is down there where we're going to be
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: doing vlogs all Christmas long, and of course we're having
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: a lot of other videos posted out there as well.
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: In fact, I just put up one there where we
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: made a list of different gear that we think is
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: crucial for podcasting. So how you can get started in
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four with your own podcast.
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, So go check that out.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: Link is in the description. And of course we appreciate
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: you being here, whether you're here still as we're chatting
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: and rambling right now, whether this is your first episode
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: or you've been here this whole entire time since episode one,
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: you're amazing and we appreciate that so much.
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: We sure do. Yeah, and we'll be back next week
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: with an with an episode I'm doing.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: No, you're putting it out there publicly.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: Hey, well, I've already started it, so it's gonna happen.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: All right, no holding back. Now. Nichole's hosting the next case,
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: So here we go until until you do your case,
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: Stay wicked.