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Ayla Wind · Justice For

• justice for: ⁓ I have been keeping a secret from you. You bitch. I promise it was for good and not evil. For the past two weeks, I've been working with my sister and others to investigate a missing person's turn homicide that just happened last month in May. When I say investigate, I mean investigate. I have been on phone calls with friends who have spoken to police. I have friends that attended the vigil, and I have been tracking down family members, putting together timelines and family trees. I have even been in contact with the chief of police himself. This case is new, it's active, and we already have one arrest. This is justice for Ayla Wind Schmid Welcome back to Justice for We are your hosts. I'm Jackie. I'm Sam What do you mean? What do you mean, Jackie? What do you mean? What do I mean? What do you mean? What do I mean? Jackie. Jackie. Yes. Jennifer. Now's the time that I'm gonna let you know that we now have an unofficial investigator on our team. What do you mean? Who do you mean? You? No. Bitch, what? I have actually had somebody in West Virginia investigating on the front lines for us. So before we get into all of that, we need a shameless plug really quick. please make sure you're liked, follow, subscribed everywhere you can, YouTube, Apple, Spotify. ⁓ Because you are not gonna miss the updates that are gonna end up coming of this case. And ⁓ you don't ever want to miss anything. We have discussions. I will be adding more posts, go order some merch, suggest a case. And I think I'm just gonna get right into this because Sam is absolutely perplexed. I don't do well with surprises. I know you don't. That's why I made you pinky promise me before we started this episode. She did. We were were just sitting down. I was pouring tea and she's like, Sam. I'm really not upset if it counts. I'm actually super pumped for this. Are you? I'm super pumped. So with that intro, it should be no surprise, and I think I mentioned it. ⁓ our case today takes place in West Virginia. Yeah. To be exact, the Green Briar and Nicholas County area, which is located in central southeast West Virginia, and it just so happens to be where my family lives, including our wonderful liaison, aka my sister. I'm mad at you. This case spans across two counties in West Virginia. And the two counties combined make up a population of about sixty thousand people. Okay. Why did I think it was gonna be so much smaller? It's spread out. Yeah. That's fair. That's totally fair. Okay. Specifically, our case today takes place in the town of Richwood, which is in Nicholas County. Richwood is definitely a small town. There are only four police officers on the Richwood Police Force. The community itself is super tight knit. I know Did you say four? Four. What the fuck? Okay. I know I say this a lot, but it's a town where everyone knows everyone and their business. But they take care of their own. In 2016, Richwood was just about completely destroyed by a flood. It took out the schools and so many houses and businesses. But Richwood truly showed what it was like to come together as a community and help each other out. Needless to say, the area is still recovering from that flood. In fact, just last August, they opened up the brand new Richwood Academic Complex, which is home to the elementary, middle, and high school. So it took them almost 10 years to reopen schools. Yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy. Richwood, like many small towns across the country, has been heavily affected by the opioid pandemic, with a large part of the population dealing with generational addiction. Okay. So for those of you who have never been to this part of West Virginia, it is absolutely beautiful. It's so green. There are lakes located in both counties that offer camping and hiking. And unlike Colorado's lakes, They have little man-made beaches where you can go swimming and it's awesome. I spent a every summer that I went to West Virginia, I was on the lake. Yeah. Or at the beach. I've even ran a five K at the summersville Lake. That's gross. And recently, ⁓ they ⁓ like it a state park. Mm-hmm. That area and so Airbnbs have been popping up there's beautiful hiking trails waterfalls and things to do. So it's just really getting more attention. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like touristy. Yes. Okay. Which is what it needs. Like honestly, it's a great beautiful place, yeah. And it would be amazing for the economy. Mm-hmm. All right. So now that we know where we are, let's get into it. ⁓ And I'm definitely gonna y'all to buckle up for this one. ⁓ I should have worn buckle shirt for this one. You'll need it for the next one too. ⁓ fucking period. The morning of Monday, May eighteenth, twenty twenty six. ⁓ my god. Yes. So three weeks ago? Three weeks ago, as of this recording, and it'll be three and a half weeks when you guys hear this. I think. Yeah. Richwood Police Department received a call from Stacy Wind stating that her twenty six year old daughter, Ayla Wind, was missing, and the last time she saw her was Friday, May fifteenth. Okay. Ayla's family and friends started posting on social media asking if anyone has seen Ayla. Ayla's older sister Courtney, who lives in Utah, posted this on Facebook. My sister Ayla Wind twenty-six, was last seen Friday, five fifteen in Richwood, West Virginia. Ayla Wind Schmid. She is five one, about a hundred and seventy pounds, Caucasian, jaw-length brown hair, has a loud laugh with a big smile. She was wearing green khaki capris, a t-shirt with a black hoodie that has flowers, patches, and pens on it. We are unsure if this is the outfit she left in, but she was wearing it. Okay. She has a small worn pink backpack, gray color lace up sneakers. She has a tattoo on the inner left arm of a crescent moon with lines cascading downward. She left without saying goodbye, getting picked up by someone we don't know anything about. She said she's going to the lake with friends, and she would check in on Saturday. She would never go a day without checking in with her son or partner, and she always texted my mom an update. She was supposed to pick up a rental car this morning and never arrived. This is unlike her. The police want us to call them back if she doesn't show up by noon. If anyone knows anything or has her social media Snapchat account, please send me a message. You just gave a lot of information to me. So she has a partner. She has a son. Why was she picking up a rental car? Because she was going back to Utah, moving back to Utah. Okay and her son and partner were already there, and we'll get into that. Got it. So Richwood police then put out a press release the morning of May twenty-first. Okay. So three days later. ⁓ the following details of Ayla's disappearance and a description of Ayla. Ayla was alleged to have gone camping for the weekend with an unknown friend at an unknown lake. Mrs. Wind did not know the exact time that Ayla left the house, but she believes it was between noon and two PM. The last contact with Ayla was via text message on Friday, May 15th at 4 36 p.m. saying she was stopping at the gas station to get some snacks. No other contact has been made since. The Richwood Police Department, along with the help of West Virginia State Police and the West Virginia Fusion Center, are actively investigating the incident. Ayla has been entered into NCIC as a missing person. Okay. ⁓ the West Virginia Fusion Center, I'm gonna talk about it again, is basically like their ⁓ forensics, like technology forensics. Okay. All the tracking of all of that stuff. The news of Ayla's disappearance was spreading fast and it was being shared everywhere online. Searches for Ayla were being organized and coordinated with the Richwood Police Department and Fire Department. Before we get into the search for Ayla, I want to talk a little bit about what was going online going on online during this time. Mm-hmm. If you hadn't noticed, the details that Stacy gave of Ayla disappearing are not a lot of useful information there. Just a lot of basic shit. Yeah. A lot of people on sorry. No, it is. And everyone noticed it. Okay. A lot of people in online on local groups were calling that out. Wait. Who posted this again? Her sister did, right? Mm-hmm. What's her sister's name? Courtney. Okay. But also Stacy, that's what the Richwood police put out is what Stacy told them. ⁓ Yep. Okay. Which is the unknown person, unknown lake didn't know the time, I wasn't home. I don't know what she was wearing. Hmm. So Stacy decided to respond to these people online who are calling her out for giving such vague details. ⁓ she got mad. She got big mad. Quote ⁓ I am her mother Stacy, and the the police are working on locating her phone now. She left Friday, May fifteenth, between noon and possibly two or four PM. I was working and did not see her leave or who she left with. She only told me she was going to a lake with a friend. Ayla lived with me and my husband in Richwood for the last two years along with her son. Her son is okay and safe with his paternal family back west. I notified Richwood PD Monday the 18th in the morning when she didn't return. She had plans to leave Monday morning to go back west. She did not have a car, but I was renting her a car to be picked up Monday. All her stuff is still here and packed. She only took her little purse backpack with her, as far as I know, on Friday. Her phone has been going straight to voicemail since Friday night. She did say she would be out of cell phone range on Friday, but said that she would talk to us Saturday. It is my belief she expected to be home Saturday and was at the mercy of whoever she left with or whoever they met up with. I wish I knew more. I wish I knew more. I have a lot of questions. Mm-hmm. Why did she wait till Monday to call the police? Because she was supposedly going to a lake where she wasn't gonna have service, which by the way, I would like to point out, summersville Lake does have service. ⁓ remember my sister sending us Snapchats on a paddleboard? ⁓ was on summersville Lake. That the best Snapchat we've ever gotten, by the way. ⁓ Yes. That on the lake that she sent that Snapchat. That fucking tickled me. She has answered my phone call. Paddle boarding on the lake. I had service running a five K around the lake. Mm-hmm. Everybody in Facebook can tell you they have service at both lakes. Valid. Okay. Cool. Cool, cool, cool. And West Virginia has shit service, by the way. Absolute shit service. So That's why it takes forever for Jen Snapchats to come through. Sometimes. But the other thing is she said she expected her to be home Saturday or Okay. Call the cops. Yeah. So they waited till Monday because she was supposed to pick up a rental car and go back. So they knew that she wouldn't miss that. And that's when it was a red alarm. I don't know. That seems Okay. That's suspicious. So back to the search. The West Virginia Mountain State search and rescue team even came out to lend a hand on Friday, May twenty second. where a search was done at the summersville Lake area. ⁓ nothing turned up. ⁓ plan was to meet the following day at Summit Lake at eight AM to search there. But around four or five AM on Saturday the twenty third, it was announced by the West Virginia State Police that the search was canceled. The search was canceled due to a report that came in on Friday evening about human remains being found at Summit Lake. The exact area they had planned to search the next day. According to Deputy Shane Boggs of the Richwood PD, ⁓ who was the lead investigator until the West Virginia State Police over the case, he said that in a burn pit they found a yellow cell phone and what appeared to be bones. After searching the area near the burn pit, they discovered a shallow grave with charred and decomposing remains. The cell phone found matched the description of Ayla's and other items in the burn pit, and the shallow grave consisted of charcoal, wood chips, a burned tarp, and what appeared to be a bed sheet stained with blood. On top of the shallow grave were two ferns, and they also found a manual for a child's booster seat. Okay. After a thorough investigation of the area and the items found, there was a strong belief that the remains belonged to Ayla Wind Schmid. Mm hmm. ⁓ I have seen I couldn't quite figure out how to word this, just because we don't know the exact condition of the remains. Like we have the descriptions. So I don't know. Like we don't know the state of like we know decomposing, we know chard, we know that there was some bones found. But don't know if like, you know, her hair was still visible or ⁓ You know, there was like you could see her tattoo maybe if they could still tell the size ⁓ it matched the description of her. ⁓ but they were pretty confident. I'm just confused how there were bones in a burn pit. Girl, ⁓ wish that I will unconfuse you on that. I will only confuse you more on that. ⁓ ⁓ there was enough they were convinced enough that they served a search warrant that day at the Wind residence. Period. And according to the criminal complaint, troopers say that chemical tests revealed human bloodstains all on the walls of the house, including bloody handprints in multiple areas of the house. ⁓ A lot of the blood was found in Ayla's room. Okay. Yep. They also found garbage bags containing a cut up blood stained mattress. And in the truck parked outside the house, they found two empty plant baskets that matched the shape and size of the ferns found on top of the shallow grave. They also found a booster seat that matched the manual found at Summit Lake. Okay. In a statement to troopers, Stacy said that she had bought charcoal, wood chips, and lighter fluid on May sixteenth before traveling to the Summit Lake area and camping in her truck for a night. When asked about Ayla's mattress that was missing from her room, she claimed to have given it to an unknown male on May twentieth. An unknown male. Yep. Wow. She she likes to use the word unknown a lot. Yeah. Okay. Fifty year old Stacy Wind was arrested that day for the first degree murder of her daughter Ayla Wind Schmid ⁓ And any sympathy that the community had for Stacy while searching for Ayla was gone. Did people have sympathy for her? They did, 'cause her daughter was missing and she was trying to find her. And Stacy didn't was now being viewed as a monster online. no. How awful. And this is when all hell broke loose on the internet and a divide formed. no. But ⁓ that's why there was two s ⁓ ⁓ we get into that, I need to give y'all some more information on Ayla. ⁓ Ayla Christine Wind Schmid was born on August eleventh, nineteen ninety nine. Yep. My birthday twin. Just by a few years. Yep, just eight years apart. And a Leo Queen, might I add. Just saying. We're dead center Leo's. I have nothing to say. She was born and raised in Utah, living there her whole life until a few years ago when she moved to Richwood, West Virginia with her dad Brad, her mom Stacy, and her partner Conrad. Okay. Ayla also had a son named Wally, who was her entire world. Like, she loved being a mom. Mm-hmm. Fun fact: Stacy and Brad are actually Ayla's adopted parents. ⁓ They adopted Ayla when she was an infant. Her bio mom is actually Stacy's younger sister who is struggling with addiction. And from what I have heard from family and Ayla, she is still an addict and has caused a lot of chaos in the family. Great. I watch just about every video on her TikTok. Once some things were kind of brought to my attention, which we'll get into later. Yeah. Okay. And in her TikTok she lays out all of her siblings, which is really confusing. Here's a picture. I still don't understand. I don't either. For the purpose of this episode and where the case currently sits, you only really need to know about Courtney, who is her older sister. Yes. The one that lives in Utah. And if you watch Ayla's TikToks, you definitely get the vibe that she and Courtney don't get along at all. I did not once hear her hear ⁓ I did not once hear Ayla say a good thing about Courtney in the TikToks that I watched. Not a single one. What? So you can imagine how shocked everyone was who knew Ayla when Courtney immediately set up a GoFundMe to help get her family from Utah to West Virginia to support her dad to get him transportation since the truck was seized and to help get the house ready to sell. As well as bringing Ayla's ashes back with hopes to have a memorial for her. And if there's anything left over, they will put it towards her son. Personally, and this is just my opinion. Reading the GoFundMe, it is sounding very self-serving to Courtney. Her name is mentioned just as many times as Ayla's name is. And just one more thing to add. Also, I was not the only one who felt that way. A lot of people did to the point where she had to turn off commenting on her personal Facebook page. ⁓ shh. ⁓ The GoFundMe originally started off only needing $3.5,000 and it ended up being set at needing $9,000. ⁓ So people started donating and she's like, ⁓ I can get more. That's what a lot of people were I will say though that I believe GoFundMe, even if you hit a certain threshold, it will per like I think it goes up. I think you have to adjust it up. It'll let it go over. You're right, it does go over. Maybe you have to adjust it yourself. Okay. So at the same time another GoFundMe was launched for Wally by Wally's grandma. That was strictly for Wally, Ayla's son. Period. It was for his future and making sure that he was enriched with the learning experiences that Ayla wanted for him. This GoFundMe is how we learned that Conrad and Wally were already moved back to Utah and waiting for Ayla to join them. Okay. But at this point in time, we didn't know when Conrad and Wally moved back to Utah, just that they did. Okay. So I think this is a good time to talk about the timeline and who lived in the house and when. Because we confused about this early on due to a statement ⁓ from a officer saying that after May thirteenth, Ayla and Stacey were the only two living in the house. Okay. Which was weird because we thought Brad and Conrad lived there as well. Mm-hmm. So I figured the best way to clear this up would just to ask the Richwood police directly. I didn't expect the chief of police himself, Mr. Dan Pitts, to email me back. ⁓ did. Yeah, there is, but I'm still happy about this, okay? No. I didn't think so. ⁓ ⁓ he emailed me back. That's crazy. ⁓ ⁓ the most important thing that he emailed in this, I'll quote There's overwhelming evidence indicating Stacey Wind is the only person of interest in the investigation. We reached out to the West Virginia Fusion Center and were able to gather a large amount of digital information, cell phone data, and social media accounts and other sources. Hmm. Yeah. I was like, all right, all right. Also in this email, he explained that the case is now in the hands of West Virginia State Police because Ayla's remains were found in the neighboring county of Greenbrier. Not in Nicholas County where Richwood is. Bummer. He also gave me his number and told me to reach out if I have any more questions. I love small town police departments. Spoiler alert, I had more questions. We'll get to those later. Of course you did. So it turns out that quote wasn't wrong about May 13th, because on May 30th, Julie Schmid, Conrad's mom, aka Wally's grandma, updated the GoFundMe with a full blown timeline of Conrad and Wally and Ayla plans. ⁓ out of nowhere. She she's probably been watching all the comments too, and it's just like, ⁓ think we need to put something out. And she did it so well that it wasn't even like here's this, like, ⁓ the way she did it was beautiful 'cause I don't I'm not gonna read you the whole thing right now because the beginning part of it belongs at the end of our episode. Okay. So I am just honestly so glad they did this because it helped us all figure out who was when and where, but it also may have confirmed a lie that Stacy told. ⁓ So in the updated GoFundMe, it's stated that Conrad first went to Utah in February to find a job and get settled. At Ayla's request, Conrad flew back to help her pack and make the journey easier for Wally. Wally and Conrad flew back to Utah on May twelfth. Okay. Ayla was scheduled to pick up a rental car on May fifteenth to load up a small suitcase of Wally's clothes, a few days worth of clothes for her, with the plan that they would move everything else later. So picking up the rental car on the eighteenth was a lie. According to this. Genius. Huh. Because Stacy and Corney have been saying the 18th, because that's what Stacy said. But all of a sudden on May 30th, we get an updated post of her just saying that that was the day. Hmm. The beginning of the post also starts with, it has been 16 days since Wally talked to his mom. And that would have been May 15th. Wally, Conrad, and Ayla had nightly FaceTime calls every night, so it would definitely be out of character and notice immediately if this didn't happen. So did Stacy spin the lake story and having no service at the lake to buy herself time, knowing Conrad and Wally would be calling to FaceTime on the 16th? Just just a thought. Just an opinion. Yeah. So just do with that what you will. Yep. Another part of the timeline that everyone was confused about was neighbors saying online that they saw Brad on the porch waving like normal that Thursday and Friday. And we all thought this was the fifteenth and sixteenth, you know, Friday, Saturday, or fourteenth, fifteenth. Fourteenth. Right there. But we were wrong. The neighbors were talking about seeing Brad on the twenty first and twenty second when sh the week she was found. What? So with all of this information, it would make a lot more sense that Brad left on the twelfth to take Wally and Conrad to the airport and then he drove to Utah. He either left then or on the thirteenth. Utah's over a thirty hour drive. Yeah. But we do know that Brad left the truck with Stacy and Ayla because he drove their other vehicle a purple van, and we know this because someone took a picture of a purple van with West Virginia license plates. Parked outside of Courtney's house in Utah and posted it in a true crime group that was created when Ayla went missing. That's wild. And Courtney got really pissed off at this and made a Facebook status flipping us all off for it. I mean she got doxxed a bit, but Nobody posted her address or anything. You couldn't see her house. It was like a street view. So like it wasn't even like a front onto the house. It was like an up street front of the van. You can West Virginia, you don't have to have license plates on the front of your car. So it didn't even show the license plate number either. Actually it was very well done. They could have really done a full on of Courtney's house. They have done the back of it. I mean they were polite about it. ⁓ good. In my opinion. But she f she did not think so. ⁓ With an emoji on Facebook. Right on. ⁓ So this makes us assume that when Stacy reported Ayla missing, Brad flew home to West Virginia. Stacy picked him up and then Brad was left without a vehicle when the truck was seized. Mm-hmm. That makes sense. That's logical. That makes sense. Took us a minute to get there. Okay. So now that we have all the family timelines accounted for till Stacy's arrest, let's go back to all hell breaking loose in the community and online. And those GoFundMe's I kinda skipped over real quick. Dada, she's just like, here's a quick picture. ⁓ here's another quick picture. Well, we were screenshotting it because they kept changing. Hmm. A lot of people started to call Courtney out online for the GoFundMe, saying she was just after money. Some people went as far as reporting it and getting other people to report the GoFundMe. She then said she would make a separate savings account for WALLE if people didn't want to donate to the GoFundMe. But that also pissed people off because that's what the other GoFundMe was already doing for WALLI, the one made by His paternal grandma. Yeah. That she still wasn't in charge of she would still be in charge of that one. Ugh. Go on. So that's when Ayla's friends and former classmates come out and start talking about the abuse that Ayla endured from Stacy. Telling people to look at her TikTok if they want to know about the abuse she grew up with. There was outrage growing. How could a mother do this to her child? And the word monster was being thrown around left and right. ⁓ All of this outrage over Stacy and the rumors of abuse swirling around It really rubs Stacy's siblings the wrong way. Stacy's brother Eric posted three videos and actually it's four videos because he added another one after I wrote this. ⁓ The first video was short and basically said he loves his sister, she is a sweetheart, but everyone has their breaking point, alluding to Ayla made her do this. So, I just made her watch it, guys. I'm not putting his videos in the episode. ⁓ they are out there somewhere. He has deleted all of them off his Facebook post, but they are still out there because the internet lives forever and people screen recorded them. ⁓ you will find out here in a bit. ⁓ So basically video was ⁓ my sister's sweetheart, I love her, everybody has their breaking point, and some people are really good at pushing people to their breaking points. ⁓ And this obviously went over so well with everyone. Not victim blaming. That he made a second video that was 17 minutes long. You know, for someone who's gonna stay off the internet. Yeah. And comment on it. He was very angry in this video and aggressive. And he essentially blames Ayla says that she is the abusive one and makes some serious claims about Ayla, all while defending his sister. Although he never claims her innocence, he says that she had to have done it in self defense. okay. This video starts some shit in the community and pretty much puts a divide of people backing Stacy and her family, which is mainly the family, or people wanting justice for it. Ayla. Mm-hmm. Stacy's sister also makes a very long Facebook post in support of Stacy, and if this was a podcast where we cared about the alleged murderer, I would read it. But we don't. And honestly the gist of it is that she is mad that people are calling her sister a monster and she is a sweetheart and they just don't understand. Okay. Eric then posts a third video and he's a lot calmer in this video and admits he came across really aggressive and angry and he did not mean to victim blame Ayla the way he did and that there is a lot more to all of this that will all be coming out. I'm not gonna lie. I was ten o ten out of ten not a fan of this guy at all after watching his first two videos. Uh-huh. I'm still not his biggest fan after the third video. Really not after the fourth. But I do have empathy for the guy. He has had a rough life and a rough family, and he is struggling with the reality of the situation that his sister is in. And the case is getting traction. People magazine have already gotten a hold of this. And his second video had 16,000 views within a day or two. I don't doubt that. So, like I said, he has since deleted these videos, but the internet does last forever. People screen recorded, they are out there. I'm not going to link them. I'm I'm not gonna do that, but go find them. It's not hard. This is where I'm gonna say that there are no solid documents of abuse on either side that I have laid eyes on or have been reported by a legit source. Sorry, Facebook and Reddit forums, and unless it's in a PDF, it's hear say for now. Yeah. So for legal purposes, the abuse on both sides is alleged at this point because there have been zero police report charges for any point in their in their lives that me, our investigator, or our team has laid eyes on. That doesn't mean they don't exist. It just means they could be sealed or not found yet. That is the part of this case that I believe will unfold in the trial. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Makes sense. Speaking of trial, Stacy has already had a court appearance on Thursday, May twenty eighth, where she waived her preliminary hearing and the waiv the waiver in magistrate court eliminates the need for a hearing where probable cause is shown and moves the case across the street to circuit court. Literally across the street to circuit court. She made me watch video of her walking across the street. ⁓ No. That was yeah, basically yeah, across the street. But it goes across the street from there. Or was it a parking lot? It was literally across an alley. I used to ride my scooter there as a kid, by the way. And then as a teenager I used to smoke over there. Life. Just found out it's where like the deputies go hang out and smoke, so it was okay. Okay. And ⁓ then it will go before a grand jury and eventually a trial. Mm-hmm. So there was a motion filed for a public defender for Stacy, but also her brother Eric has stated that they have come with it up with a ten thousand dollar retainer fee for a lawyer and he plans to start a GoFundMe for her lawyer fees, which went over really well with everybody online. ⁓ but BT Dubs, GoFundMe has really strict rules about what you're allowed to raise money for, and while you can campaign for legal fees, you can't if it's for a violent crime. I Googled it to double check. AKA first degree murder. Yes. So I don't believe that the GoFundMe will be able to be done, but also couldn't that ten thousand dollars have gone a long way for all the things Courtney listed in her GoFundMe? Crazy. Huh. Huh. We have found out that Stacy doesn't want any family to attend her hearings. Fun fact no one from the family attended her hearing. Uh-huh. Speaking of things no one in the family attended. Ayla's friends held a vigil for her on Saturday, May 30th. It was an absolutely beautiful vigil. They had a slideshow ⁓ of pictures of Ayla, they handed out candles, and lovely flowers were even donated. ⁓ I actually some pictures that were sent to me by her friends, ⁓ and it really beautiful. Chief Pitts was also in attendance. Okay. ⁓ And in the post about the vigil, was mentioned that family would be in attendance, so please be respectful if you're going to show up. But no family showed Yeah, no, our investigator quickly realized that there was no family in attendance. Did our investigator go? They did. ⁓ Lil little drive by early to kinda see what was going on. Mm-hmm. ⁓ And as watching, that there wasn't really ⁓ any showing up. So ⁓ they to do a drive by of the house. ⁓ And to our shock, there was a U Hall at the house and a few people loading the U Haul and hanging out on the porch. Two of these people happened to be Brad and Courtney. Now I understand there were already plans to sell the house prior to this, but what I don't understand is not taking a break for an hour or so to attend the vigil of your daughter and sister that her friends in the community decided to do. I understand possibly not wanting to be around strangers, but these aren't strangers to Ayla. I don't know. It just seems a little weird to me. I'm also surprised they were the cops released the house back already. Or did they get out of Very surprised with that, but with the amount of like Luminal evidence and everything else and the map I think that they have what they needed. I think they got what they needed, yeah. Okay. And we already have an arrest, so that's fair. That's fair. I just wasn't sure if they I mean the whole family dynamic is weird and complicated. Yeah. And insanely confusing. There seems to be such a clear line of divide. Family of Stacy is in support of Stacy, and community and friends are in support of Ayla. And it doesn't seem that we have trickles on either side, and I've never seen a clear divide like this. So I decided to reach out to Courtney to clarify some family dynamics and to give her an opportunity to give a statement. Girl, no way. And I honestly didn't even expect her to reply to me with how people have been to her online. But she did. Although she declined to comment for now, she added that it is all too fresh still. But isn't opposed to speaking with us in the future. Which total respect to Courtney for this. Yeah. 100%. This literally all just happened. It did. It did. And there has been a lot online and there has been a lot of people being mean and other stuff, but mad respect to Courtney for her response to me and the little brief snippet that we did have. Bro, that's crazy. So back to the other questions I had for Chief Pitts. Mm-hmm. Well, I did. I asked him about the autopsy, if it's been performed and if it will be released to the public. As of this recording, he has not gotten back to me about that. Okay. I have been trying to get in contact with Trooper Gordon from the West Virginia State Police because he gave some statements to People magazine and West Virginia State police have the case at this point. Yeah. So I'm waiting to see if he will talk to me as well. ⁓ I I'm hoping. Okay. So before we get into my favorite part of the episode, and it is extra special today, I wanna talk about the logistics. ⁓ huh. Because first off, I cannot for the life of me figure out how Stacy did this alone. Here is a picture of Stacy. Not to be rude, but physically, I don't see how she did this, since her and Ayla are of similar size and stature. I mean, Ayla is slightly slimmer than her. Yeah. Okay. They didn't have a driveway. The truck was parked on the street. Like, let me show you guys. ⁓ So that's the house. So you can't even like even to like a single road street. Yeah. And look, I don't know if that's the truck itself, but like that's where it would be parked. There's no driveway. See how close everything is together? Yeah. So like ⁓ ⁓ didn't have a driveway. The truck was parked on the street. How did she get Ayla into the truck without anyone seeing? How did she carry her or lift her? And the way the fence is, you can't like put back the truck up that way. No. Unless hear me out, 'cause we didn't see the back of the house. There's a trailer right behind it. I have a Google aerial view too, I'll show you. Like, how did she carry her lifter? My assumption is based on the evidence we know is that she tried to cut her up in her room on a mattress, which is why the mattress was, I'm assuming, was covered in blood and cut up. But something that a lot of people don't know is that it's hard to cut up a body. Yeah, you can't it's not as easy as what like Dexter makes it out to be. Which is why I say tried. But then we have a fourth video from Eric. Where he is calling out people for being sickos for saying that Stacy used an axe, he then says something very odd, which is Ayla's body was in one piece. Which doesn't align with Deputy Boggs finding some bones in the burn pit, which is why I tried reaching out to him because he was a responding officer to the human remains call at Summit Like. Yeah. And I have not heard back. Okay. I mean, ultimately. Sorry if you're gonna go into this. Like maybe her body could have been in one piece and 'cause they didn't say those were human bones found in the bird pit. It could have been other bones and just Assumed, you know, or something like that. Yeah. Because if you if those like beaches, people are probably having bonfires already. So she probably already saw a bonfire mm, sorry. Someone may have already saw the killer may have seen. Well, she was on a campground. Yeah. And she so it was like one of like the fire pits. Yes. So those bones may not even be hers. It could have been an animal. It could have been literally an animal. I'm thinking that if she did manage to cut up some part of her. Mm-hmm. Or you know, at least ha something. Put her in the burn print and realize it how long it was taking to actually burn a body. And it has to be a very high heat. It's not an easy thing to do. I'm wondering if that's why we have partially decomposed and charred remains because She'd been at the home for you know, she'd already started decomposing, then she tried to do this and like it was just one method after the other, didn't work. ⁓ in case you guys want to know how high a temperature needs to be to burn a body, go watch our Skylar Richardson episode. Thank you. Yeah. So and that that's one thing that I was thinking about during this. Was it Skylar Richardson? Or was it my combustion? Both. We've Neither one. So I mean, it's just very interesting logistically. Yeah. And that's why I No the you know, there's a strong suspicion online that she didn't do this alone. Which is why I reached out to ask if we have other people or more persons of interest. And there isn't. It's just I'm so intrigued to figure out how she did this alone. Yeah. Another thing no one has an answer to is motive. If you look at it the way Stacy's family wants you to see it, Ayla was abusive and sh this was self defense. If that were the case then, why didn't Stacy call nine one one and claim self defense? Why wait, take the body elsewhere, try and burn it, then come home, clean the house, try to get rid of the mattress. Yeah. Also, if Ayla was so close to leaving, why not just stay away from her till she leaves if she's the abusive one? Yeah. Especially if she was actually supposed to be leaving that day. Exactly. But if you look at it the way Ayla's friends see it, Stacy was always abusive to Ayla. It was convenient that this happened once they're they were the only ones living there. But that still doesn't make a motive. Unless you look at this TikTok video ⁓ that Ayla shared. I'm gonna play it, but I'm gonna tell you what happens. For those listening, Ayla's filming her dad drive off in the truck and then she goes on about how her mom got jealous of her saying bye to her dad and that mothers shouldn't be jealous of their kids. So if you take this video into account, and Ayla is about to leave for Utah and Brad's already in Utah, and I've watched her she's a very outspoken, opinionated, get it person and a lover. But she could have made a backhanded comment to her mom about being out there with her dad without her mom. And if Stacey really is jealous of their relationship, that really could have set her off. It's the only thing I can. Think of. Because that video keeps getting brought up a lot and a lot. And in the other videos I watched, Ayla and Brad are close. They, I mean, it's laughing. It's a good time, you know? ⁓ I mean, she has this one where she walks in the house and goes, Dad, bear man, and instantly he goes, Bear. Period. And like everyone in the comments was like, You made him say that. And she was like, Do you see this man? I couldn't make him say anything. So like I just they were they were fun on there. But Brad has also been silent. Yeah. In all of this. He he was an active online person and he has been I mean, he has had yes, this is my daughter who's missing and like shirt something, but he's been pretty silent. Yeah. And I'm wondering if the police have told him not to you know what I mean? ⁓ I guarantee it. But also at the same time, if you think about it, he just lost a daughter. And his wife And his wife now. Like, we don't know what their relationship was, but like They were very happily married, according to his post on Facebook. Like I found this whole thing of like they moved they searched forever. They bought their house in Richward Side Unseen, moved to their forever home. They love the little small town in this area. Like he worked from home. She worked like he was trying to find her knitting groups to like find her friends and stuff like that, because he's a homebody and why was Why they moving back? So was Stacy planning on also moving? Yeah, they were all moving back. I wasn't sure if Stacey was also planning on the Yeah, so there were plans to move the ha to sell the house and do all that. All that was already being planned. So that's Conrad and Wally went back early, then Ayla's gonna go, and that's why she's only taking a few things in her rental car. Because they were gonna move the rest of it once they sold the house and did all that. So again, grief is a bitch, dude. Like he just lost two extremely important people in his life. One of them who he will never ever be able to speak to again. Yeah. Whereas Stacy, he might be able to speak to her. And see her and like things like that. So it's a little different. But at the same time, like one, he's already having to grieve. And yeah. N not everyone grieves the same way. Who knows? But then, you know, we do what we do, but at the what what am I trying to say here? How large this has gotten, how big this has gotten. Yeah. And you know, small communities, they talk, man. I am Not only is he having to grieve I'm kind of alone. ⁓ but he's also having it being blown into this huge thing and now he's in the public eye, like I don't think I would want to fucking talk to anyone either. We're sitting here doing a podcast episode about it, so yeah. Yeah. We don't we don't do ones this early on. No, we don't at all. I I honestly didn't know how Sam was gonna react to how early and fresh this was, but I I ⁓ I would like to say that like Everything in this is alleged, but everything that I've spoken to you guys about has been in a news article. I have ⁓ screenshots, I have text messages, I have statements from either law enforcement or people who have put this out there and saying behind it. I have pictures, I have receipts for everything in this episode unless I have said that it is my personal opinion or what I think. Mm-hmm. A list TikToks still count as receipts. They are her personal thoughts and words. It is all we have left for her thoughts in saying this. And so it is important. Yeah. And do you have a spot for me to My for my thoughts. Yes, we are right at that spot. great. Do you want me to wait? Do want me to go? ⁓ The other thing that I'd like to add before Sam's thoughts is ⁓ one needs to be very heavily remembered in this. Yes, Ayla was twenty-six years old and a mom with her own son. ⁓ But no the age, ⁓ ninety a seventy year old, seventy and a fifty year old, ⁓ a is a parent and a child is a child. That power dynamic exists no matter the age. Yes. One hundred percent. That is one thing to be remembered here. If it comes out that Ayla was the abuser, okay. If it comes out that Stacy is the abuser, okay. We do not know which way this is going to go. There could be trauma bond here. There could be other things. It could be an even abuse on both sides. Yeah. We don't know, which is why I'm saying that there is no evidence of that other than talking rumors. Yeah. So, ⁓ just to make that clear, because I we pride ourselves on reporting neutrally. Yes. Even though we would love to sit one way or the other on some of these cases, we can't give it to you that way because it's it's up to you to make your own decision. And we have to present all the facts, not just some of the facts. And so we try to remain as factual as possible and build our own opinions based off of those facts. Yes. And in this, we don't have a lot of those facts yet, but I still have my own opinions. Which, what are your thoughts on everything? ⁓ I have a feeling, I have a very, very distinct feeling. feeling that ⁓ that I think it's a mutual I don't want to say abuse, but maybe Toxicity. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's how I feel unhealthy because family environment to be living in. Like me personally, I am an opinionated ass bitch and I'm very aware of it. Okay. I Ayla was too, and she was also very aware of it, and I love her for it. Yeah. I also know that I can be selfish. I when I get ⁓ Don't nod your head at them. I mean, I'm agreeing with you, but I also know what you're referring like I know what you're talking about. Like I I'm just being facetious, I'm sorry. So, like, I understand like yes, I can be selfish, and when I get overwhelmed and people are near me and then they ask something fucking dumb, I lash out. I get that. But that doesn't negate the fact that Stacy could also be like that. You learn these things from the people around you. Yeah. I'm not gonna say who I learned it from. The people in my life know. but you know when you get two fucking stubborn headed hot bitches in the same room, male or female, we're all all of us, and you put ⁓ together and they fucking just butt heads constantly, yeah, shit happens. But with that, Stacy could be telling her friends and her the community one thing. ⁓ who did I just say? Stacey. Stacy, yes. Stacey could be telling her friends family, the community one thing. And Ayla is telling them her side. So they're that's why it's so divided because it's one story, one story, and there's gonna be the fucking truth in the middle. That's that's the same conclusion we were kind of coming to while investigating this. And ⁓ the other thing that I I found interesting, I asked Ayla's friends this. I said because not a lot of them knew her family very well or had been around them, ⁓ they said that Ayla tended to keep her family and her friends very separate. ⁓ a friend from high school I'm gonna be talking about in here said that Ayla used to sneak out of her house to hang out with them and see them. Mm-hmm. ⁓ so it's just ⁓ she did very much keep her friends and family separate. So her friends don't have a lot of insights to this, and of course the family is staying locked up on their side, and I understand and I respect that. feel like you guys know, Jackie and I have been friends, we're going on two decades. ⁓ ⁓ ⁓ recently we were talking about our families, and I'm just like, wait. ⁓ did the same with me. Like so ⁓ We're still learning things about each other's family even though we know a lot about it. Yeah, absolutely. But like we also respect each other to that aspect, but we also know enough to where we're not gonna push, you know? It's like I waited over ten years to ask you how your brother passed away. Yeah. Because I was too scared to ask her and I just was like, sorry. This that was actually I feel like it was recent. It like it was actually it was like right after we started the podcast, I think I asked you or like a year into the podcast, I think I finally asked you. so like I don't know, just ⁓ it's just I just never felt I didn't know how to ask you that question. Yeah. But the thing is though Our families are s like my sister and her sister, we're we're fucking friends, you know? Yeah. Like the important people are the ones that we bring around. Yeah. And the non toxic ones are the ones we bring around. And I guarantee it's that kind of dynamic in this situation. So is that all your thoughts? ⁓ Yes. ⁓ For now. For now. Until we have more. I know I just hit you with a lot. ⁓ while showing her pictures, she goes, Wait, I'm sorry, excuse me, didn't they just find her body? And in my head, I'm like, What are talking about? Yeah. Like 'cause I totally forgot that when this first started popping off, my sister sent it to both of us and then me and my sister very quickly went to the sidebar with it. ⁓ but I was like, what are you talking about? I had no idea. I like saw the I was like, damn, that's crazy. I'll look into that some other time. And then my ADHD fucking took me off on another side quest. Mine took me here. Okay. So now for my absolute favorite part of every episode. It is time to talk all things Ayla. Perfect. And y'all know I love when I can hear from our victims' best friends because no one knows you better than your best friends. Mm-hmm. So I've spoken with a few of Ayla's closest friends and this is what they want the world to know about her. Ayla's two best friends, Fox and Hannah in West Virginia, had this to say about her. Yes, she's by Fox. That's amazing. Fox was the first friend that Ayla made in West Virginia. Fox said they instantly clicked over their style after complimenting each other at the store. They then suggested following each other on TikTok. And Fox mentioned that she had a roommate that Ayla would just love. ⁓ Her roommate and best friend. Well, turns out she was right because Ayla was already following her on TikTok. ⁓ my gosh. So the three instantly clicked on pretty much everything from style to political views. Hell yeah. And they went on to describe Ayla as a very strong, confident, opinionated person, which the girls vibed with a lot. They went on to describe she was an amazing mother to Wally, who was, like I said, her whole world. ⁓ Ayla this ability to love so strong and deeply you could trust her with anything. Knowing that she would be there for you to support you and encourage you through whatever life was throwing at you, no matter what she was already dealing with. This was echoed in the last phone call Hannah had with Ayla, and I believe Hannah said it best when she said that Ayla was a beautiful soul who deserved a long life, and she still had a lot to say and a lot to give. I also had this chance to speak with a close friend of Ayla's from high school who still lives in Utah. Casey said that when they met Ayla, they instantly clicked because their names rhymed. Well, Casey's dead name rhymed with Ayla's. I was sitting here did you didn't Yeah, I was trying to figure it out too when I first heard that also. That's not right. Ayla was the first one to give was one of the first people to give their full support and be on board when Casey came out as non binary in high school. Love it. And wanted to change their name. Casey and Ayla would walk to school every morning because they both had a later start. So they would go grab an energy drink from the gas station. They would sit in her car across from the park listening to music and of course taking turns at car karaoke. Hell yeah. She goes on to say that Ayla loved art and small things like trinkets, and she would find little things for the dashboard of Casey's car, calling them space cruise friends. ⁓ my gosh. Casey described Ayla as always being bright and colorful and full of love. Her laugh was the loudest and most lovable and distinct laugh that ever existed. Ayla was an absolutely amazing and beautiful soul, and she helped make friends that have lasted a lifetime. And they made so many memories that there's no way she could ever be forgotten. Ayla always wanted make people feel welcomed and made sure that she made safe places for other kids who were LGBTQ. And in Utah, that was not easy or ever well received. No. So one year for prom, Ayla made sure her whole front group felt comfortable in what they were wearing. And even if their families didn't agree. So the ones who wanted to wear dresses or heels or suits. And she spent the whole night running around making sure everyone still looked perfect and that they were having fun. I love that. And this like you said, that's not an easy thing to do, especially in Utah, man. No. And this never changed for Ayla. Her TikTok is full of support for all kinds of groups and organizations and she is loud about it and she is bold and Minus a bit of your millennial hating. Which some of it made me laugh really freaking hard, and other ones I was like, hey, calm down a little bit, all right? You don't understand. Girl. Other than that, like millennials have been through a lot, okay? I was watching your TikToks and I was like, ⁓ my God, we would have been best friends. And then I got to like four millennial tick bashing TikToks and I'm all, okay. Well, you know. Still probably be friends. I make fun of millennials all the time, but I'm allowed to. But some of the things she made fun of, I took offense to. And then she had one about millennials offended about everything. And I was like, ⁓ I'll sit now. She was an incredible person who knew what she stood for and wasn't afraid of standing up for others, speaking out against her own doings in this world. Mm-hmm. Ayla had three cats. And she absolutely adored them. And I'm happy to say that Kevin and Lucy are going to Utah to be with Wally and Conrad. Good. And Hannah and Fox are keeping Tyrion. Tyrion. Thank you. I knew that had to is that Games of Thrones? Yeah. It's always the Game of Thrones name when I can't pronounce it. She she said it to me and then she s I was like, who? And she spelled it out. I was like, ⁓ I keep saying Tyrone. I think Ayla would be very pleased with how her cats are being cared for and that it was A very large priority for Fox and Hannah to figure out where the cats were going. They were very worried about it. I when I spoke with both of them, it was both a a big topic. And then I had them send me their favorite pictures of them. And I have videos saved of her playing with her cats because she loved her cats. Like it reminded me of the Snapchats you send me of the cats. ⁓ my gosh. Okay. I love my cats dearly. I would do the same for you and your cats. I know. My heart absolutely breaks for Ayla's son, Wally, and her partner of eight years, Conrad. I would like to share what Wally's grandma added to GoFundMe that I mentioned earlier. ⁓ She that it was heart-wrenching to hear my son tell his little boy that his mama died. The pain in that child's cry is something I will never forget. It is to fully comprehend the depth of grief that they are navigating together. Wally's life is entirely different now. But he is grounded by the steady presence of his dad, surrounded by the new embrace of his grandma, aunts, and uncles here in Utah. During their eight year relationship, Ayla and Conrad were virtually inseparable. Whenever they were apart, they stayed on FaceTime together. So for us, seeing Conrad always meant hearing Ayla's voice in the background, too. Aww. And so yeah, I don't have any pictures of Wally out of respect. We do have some of like there's one That I will post of Ayla like holding him on the couch, but you can't really see his face and he's a baby baby. ⁓ he's been blurred out, like I showed in that GoFundMe, the other stuff. He needs to be able to live his life. Yes. and while I I do have the GoFundMe's in our show notes, you are never required to do any of them, but I have them up there because we did have a lot of focus in them. And I know people usually ask for the GoFundMe's if they're not linked. Yeah. So they will be in our show notes. I do say that. ⁓ I'm not even gonna ask y'all if we got justice for Ayla. Because it's loading and we need your help. We need her story shared and we need this case to stay in the spotlight so Ayla isn't forgotten and so that Wally gets justice for his mom because he deserves to see this justice play out. I don't want this to get buried. I don't want this to get forgotten. Yes. And honestly, had this not been going on during Crime Con, I feel like it would have been a lot I feel like it would have been everywhere. Is it not? It's in People magazine. It is in local news. I don't think we're really branching out of the state yet. But we're getting there. Hey. so I might have emailed Creepalacia. ⁓ And asked them if they had gotten word of this. ⁓ huh. 'Cause the way things weren't adding up at the time. Uhhuh. You know, just 'cause they're very West Virginia E and they have a lot of things at their disposal as well. So I had asked. ⁓ but yeah, this is where we're at. There is still a lot to be coming out about this. We will keep you updated. It will probably be shorter, little like short video posts. ⁓ unless we get some major, major updates released, then we will have a little mini episode we'll pull out for you. ⁓ But yeah, this was I did some investigating. She did. I I make Sam talk to all of you guys and message and do things because I don't know why it freaks me out, but it does. I'm also for some reason I'm really good with words. Like putting th I don't know. She's a lot better at it than I am. I'm except for right fucking now apparently. Very basic sometimes with it. So ⁓ this was my case today, guys. That's crazy, bro. Yeah. I hope you liked it. ⁓ so on this note, next week's case is going to be it's gonna be fun. It's weird, it's out there, ⁓ obviously, 'cause I was dealing with this and I needed something different. ⁓ yeah, so today was supposed to be a long recording day for us. And then I ended up writing a thirty eight page script. ⁓ Yeah, so that's not happening until next weekend and it might be a three part episode. We don't know. I'm gonna remove a few of those pages. Last time she said that, she added thirteen pages. I did. I was at twenty-five yesterday. so we'll see. On that note, make sure you're like, followed, and subscribed so you can see where all of this goes. You do not want to miss next week's episode. You're really not gonna wanna miss the three, eight, nine part episode that apparently we're gonna get over here. ⁓ So make sure you're liked, follow, subscribe, hit that plus button, hit that subscribe button, is free ninety nine. Share us. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, all that jazz. Yes. Get on there. Do your thing. And make sure you do it so you can come back when updates for this case happen. Because this is so fresh. Not even a month old. It was the eighteenth, so what? Yeah, when this episode comes out, it won't even be a month old. Yeah. Yes. So Alright, well have a wonderful Tuesday and we will see you next week. ⁓ my god, we will. Have a happy June. ⁓ my god, it's Pride Month. It is Pride Month. Happy Pride Month. Happy Pride Month, you guys. Have a phenomenal phenomena of day. And we will catch you guys next week, okay? Alright. Okay. Love you. Bye.