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Hi, and welcome back to The
Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing

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people, unresolved cases, and UK
true crime. Today we're going to be

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exploring an unidentified person case. The
Sudbury Unidentified Man, as he's come to

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be known, was a mystery from
the beginning, but some theories have come

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to the surface. This episode is
about an unidentified person with some reference to

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injury, sustained and non graphic dismemberment
of a body, so listed discretion is

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advised. The River Stour is around
forty seven miles long and is located in

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East Anglia. It passes through the
counties of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex.

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Sudbury is a market town which sits
on the River Stour and therefore is a

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large feature of the town, so
much so that Sudbury used to be an

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important riverport. On the twenty seventh
of August twenty twenty, a passer by

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who was close to the river spotted
something floating. The member of the public

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had noticed two bin bags and to
them they looked a little suspicious. This

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person was suspicious enough about the bags
that they decided to report them to a

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ranger who at four point thirty five
pm that day, contacted police officers attended

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the scene, which was reported as
being between Meadow Gates and Croft Bridge.

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The bags were retrieved from the river
and the contents were checked inside. Officers

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discovered human bones and immediately the scene
was cordoned off. The discovery of clearly

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human bones was a rare occurrence,
especially in that area when police needed to

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try and figure out what exactly they
had. Reports from the day that the

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bags were found indicate that police were
clearly treating this as a murder investigation.

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From the outset, divers from the
Metropolitan Police's Marine Policing Unit was called out

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to assist the investigation and scoured the
river for any other evidence that they may

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be able to recover. This would
prove to be fruitful as this police search

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recovered another bimbag to add to the
ones already found. Who was this person

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and how had their bones ended up
in the river in bimbags. The remains

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themselves were sent off for a post
mortem to try and establish some more about

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the victim and to try and identify
a possible cause of death. The objects

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inside the bags themselves were immediate interest
to the police, given that they may

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point to how this crime had been
committed or who buy In this case,

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there was a lot of evidence left
behind. The bags had been weighed down

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using bricks, indicating that whoever had
been involved in this crime had taken a

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lot of time to try and conceal
the body from being found. These bricks

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were identified as Eastwood's flatting bricks and
as well as these bricks, there was

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also further carrier bags which had been
filled with decorative stones. The bags which

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these bricks and stones were found in
were also of interest. One of the

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bags was white with the word thinking
of Bobs on the side. This bag

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was known to have been produced between
twenty thirteen and two thy fifteen. There

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was also a bag from the shop
Boots from around twenty twelve, and then

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generic blue carrier bags which were known
to come from market stalls or corner shops.

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As well as this, officers discovered
a number of air fresheners in the

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bag which were used in commercial toilets. These reportedly gave off a very strong

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chemical smell. Police investigated the source
of these air fresheners and found out that

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they were sold only business to business
and were made by Jays at a factory

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of mold in North Wales. These
products became obsolete in twenty eleven and so

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this gave police a possible indication for
when these products were being put inside the

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binbags. The analysis of the remains, however, would of course be key

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to trying to understand who this person
was, and his DNA was taken and

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ran through the UK Missing Person's Bureau
in the hope that they would be a

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match. In September twenty twenty,
however, it was revealed that this search

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had not revealed anything. There was
no match. Detective Chief Superintendent aim And

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Bridger of Suffolk Police said the MPB
holds records on every missing person in the

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country and where DNA profiles have been
obtained, these are held on their database.

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We have run the initial profile we
have of this individual through that database,

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but have not had a match at
this time. The use of DNA

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forms a central part of the effort
to identify the victim in this case.

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This includes comparisons being made across a
number of both national and international databases and

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is likely to take some considerable time
to complete. He also stated we're continuing

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to appeal for anyone with information about
this shocking discovery. To come forward,

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someone must know who the deceased was
or have information about who deposited the remains,

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So please come forward and talk to
us. Any information you give us

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will be dealt with in confidence.
Police were able to say that the victim

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was of an athletic or a muscular
build. This was a key detail for

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anyone that might think they knew this
person and could help someone to come forward.

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The same BBC article from September twenty
twenty stated that both Corey mckeeg and

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Luke Durbin had been ruled out as
being this unidentified man. In the next

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couple of months of the investigation,
the police tried to trace as many people

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as possible in an effort to identify
the man. They also appealed for anyone

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who may have been in the area
at the time, such as a man

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that had been spotted swimming in the
river around a week before the remains had

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been found. The main stumbling block
was trying to establish when the man had

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died, given that this would really
help the police to discover which timeframe they

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were looking for. While they were
waiting for this vital information, they were

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asking for anyone with concerns about a
missing relative or friend, or anyone who

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knew someone acting suspicious to come forward
as anything at that point could help the

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investigation. It would take a year, however, for police to release the

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information about the victim that their investigation
had discovered. The forensic tests established that

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the man had died between the years
two thousand and eight to twenty twelve,

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meaning that when they'd found the victim
he could have been dead for between eight

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to twelve years. The tests also
established that the victim was in his late

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fifties to early sixties when he was
killed. He was of a medium build,

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was of North European heritage and was
around five feet nine inches tall.

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Assistant Chief Constable Amonbridger stated, we
said this would be a long and methodical

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process and it's proven to be just
so, especially due to the type of

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specialist forensic testing that has been and
continues to be taking place. Many of

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the results that have come back then
need to be subject to further tests and

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so we still have a distance to
go. At that time, Suffolk Police

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had taken nearly one one hundred and
fifty statements in reports and looked through two

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hundred and thirty missing person reports However, they were yet to establish who this

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victim was. More information would later
be presented about the postmrtem and the forensic

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testing that had been done on the
bones. It was confirmed that the body

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had been dismembered and this had been
done cleanly. At the joints. They

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had recovered part of the skull and
jar, as well as the right and

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left arm bones and the partial wrist
bones. The complete lower right and left

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legs and feet were also found.
The arms, legs, and feet were

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partially and one of the wristbones had
a healed fracture. The arms and feet

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were noted as bending inwards and upwards, which was possibly a result of the

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way in which they'd been stored.
Detective Superintendent Brown stated it would appear the

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remains had been stored in dry,
airless conditions for a number of years before

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someone decided they needed to be disposed
of. It could be that the people

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responsible for his death took the decision
to move the remains, or that someone

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discovered them and, not wanting to
engage with the police, decided to simply

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dispose of them. There was some
evidence found on the skull. The part

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that was recovered had twenty seven deep
lacerations on it. This, however,

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was not fought with the victim's cause
of death. One interesting absence from the

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bin bags was the victim's hands.
The police believed that this could have been

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a deliberate action on the perpetrator his
part and was a way of further trying

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to conceal this man's identity. Police
have discussed their hypothesis, saying, our

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leading hypothesis is that this individual is
very likely to have been the victim of

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organized crime. The way the body
was dismembered and the fact the hands are

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missing bare the hallmarks are being done
very deliberately and by people who knew what

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they were doing. In twenty twenty
one, police arrested a twenty six year

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old man in connection with the case. Is reported that this man was arrested

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in Sudbury and that he was also
being charged with possession of Class A drugs

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with intent to supply. Another man
was also arrested on drugs charges, but

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was not arrested in connection to the
Sudbury murder. The twenty six year old

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was never charged with any crime in
relation to the unidentified man, and the

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evidence for his arrest was never divulged. Police, however, did search a

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proper in Sudbury. Following the arrest. Police further appealed for anyone to come

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forward if they knew someone in their
late fifties to early sixties who they were

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concerned about or hadn't seen in a
while, as they may be able to

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help the investigation. They also wanted
to know if anyone in the area had

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noticed any binbags in unusual places such
as ditches and hedgerows. In twenty twenty

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two, police released an image that
they wanted to distribute to the wider public.

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The image was that of a man
and a woman walking a dog and

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pulling a suitcase. This couple were
spotted on CCTV from the nineteenth of August

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twenty twenty eight, days before the
bones were recovered from the river. The

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police stressed that they were being treated
as witnesses and not suspects, and hope

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that they may have seen something of
note from the time. Police have confirmed

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in an article from October twenty twenty
three that searches for this man's identity are

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ongoing and that missing person reports from
local, regional and national databases are being

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checked regularly, as well as DNA
comparison from the UK and international databases.

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So far, these searches have drawn
a blank. The case was also featured

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on Crime Watch Live and shown across
the country in the hope that this would

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jog someone's memory of a relative acquaintance, our colleague that they may have lost

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touch with between the years two thousand
and eight in twenty twelve. As of

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March twenty twenty four, however,
there has been no such breakthrough. Unidentified

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person cases are heartbreaking and I always
feel particularly bothered by them. I always

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hope that they can be identified in
the end, as I always think about

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this person as someone's son. He
may have been a dad, a brother,

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or an uncle. He was known
and loved by someone, and the

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fact that this victim was in his
late fifties to early sixties means he lived

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a life somewhere and must have been
known to people over those years. The

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fact that organized crime may have been
involved in this means unfortunately, their knowledge

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of how to conceal crimes and evade
the justice system means that this victim has

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gone unnoticed all of these years.
Who was this man, how and wir

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had he become victim? To what
police believe may have been an organized murder

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or committed by hardened criminals. Police
have stated until we know who this individual

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is, we can't bring justice to
them or their family. Who will also

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allow us to understand their lifestyle and
allow us to look at other lines of

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inquiry to establish what may have happened
to them, who may have been responsible

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for it, and to ultimately bring
those people to justice. If you knew

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a man aged in his late fifties
or early sixties at that time who suddenly

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disappeared without a trace, then please
contact us. This is the most crucial

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part getting answers for this victim's family
and possibly also getting justice for what happened

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to their loved one. The police
do have DNA for this person and so

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they just need a match. If
you think that you know anything about this

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victim or this crime, please contact
police on one oh one. Thank you

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for listening to this episode. If
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show notes to visit Patreon and see

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on YouTube and follow us on social
media as our ways. I'm Caprice and

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this has been unseen the bo